Electrical question

[Abbey Marie]

Gunny, and others: is it ok to plug a surge protector into an extension cord, instead of directly into an outlet?

thanks!

[Bilgerat]

@Gunny (http://www.debatepolicy.com/member.php?u=30), and others: is it ok to plug a surge protector into an extension cord, instead of directly into an outlet?

thanks!


You could, but why?

[Balu]

@Gunny (http://www.debatepolicy.com/member.php?u=30), and others: is it ok to plug a surge protector into an extension cord, instead of directly into an outlet?

thanks!
The only restriction is - the surge protector (fuse) must be placed before the consuming device (load) in the circuit.

[Gunny]

@Gunny (http://www.debatepolicy.com/member.php?u=30), and others: is it ok to plug a surge protector into an extension cord, instead of directly into an outlet?

thanks!

Depends on what you are plugging in. You should use a surge protector for electronics. Unless you like replacing them. AN electrical surge will destroy electronics in a second. Mine are on a separate outlet from anything else and check your ground. Electricity goes to ground. While it looks all whacky in the sky. it seeks the shortest route to ground and has a predetermined path before you ever see it.

A surge protector with a fuse that shuts down is worth the extra coin.

What you are looking to do is not overload your amperage. That trips the breaker. In layman's terms ,,, don't put your bathroom heater, hair dryer on the same breaker. Anything that is a heating device uses a lot of amperage.

[Balu]

An example:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uxYO4_Hzk_8/TvQdIWp0-2I/AAAAAAAAAhw/QdrjUz4enp0/s1600/Surge+Protection.png

http://powerelectronics.com/images/feat4-0809-protector-02.jpg

[Abbey Marie]

You could, but why?

Daughter has a sparking outlet, so she wants to run an extension cord to a different outlet to plug in a portable heater.

[aboutime]

Personally Abbey. I wouldn't recommend doing that. It sort of defeats the purpose of the surge protection that would eliminate overloads, or sudden surges from the FUSE BOX. And it would protect whatever you are using from Lightening Strikes as well.
I suppose you could do it, but you need to know if the surge protector isn't working properly as well. Using an extension cord may defeat that.

Otherwise. Why would you need to do it in the first place?
I am not an electrician, but familiar with the use, and safety aspects.

[aboutime]

Daughter has a sparking outlet, so she wants to run an extension cord to a different outlet to plug in a portable heater.


Abbey. A SPARKING OUTLET? Is your FIRE INSURANCE paid up?

Do you have SMOKE DETECTORS?

Not joking, but it sounds like you have more problems than wondering about a surge protector.

[Little-Acorn]

Gunny, and others: is it ok to plug a surge protector into an extension cord, instead of directly into an outlet?

thanks!

Yes, it is.

The surge protector undoubtedly has a three-prong plug, and the extension cord must have the same on both ends. Don't use an adapter.

[Little-Acorn]

Daughter has a sparking outlet, so she wants to run an extension cord to a different outlet to plug in a portable heater.

JESUS H. CHRIST!!!!

Fix that "sparking outlet" immediately or sooner!!!

If your car had flames coming out from under the hood, you'd fix that wouldn't you? And NOT drive the car until you did???

[Balu]

Daughter has a sparking outlet, so she wants to run an extension cord to a different outlet to plug in a portable heater.

Do repair or get repaired an outlet first!
There are poor contacts there.

[Gunny]

Yes, it is.

The surge protector undoubtedly has a three-prong plug, and the extension cord must have the same on both ends. Don't use an adapter.

Hard to tell without actually looking. She lives in the NE. Old or new house? Those old houses are wired all kinds of screwy and they used to use the neutral as the ground. Most are 2 prong.

I'm just tossing out basic info. First rule of thumb in both the military and electrical work is "situation".

Not to mention I HATE residential service work because you never know which whackadoodle you're going behind. I've seen some mind-boggling do it yourself crap. It ain't no fun getting hit because of a goofball.

Basic rule of thumb is as I said ... don't overload your amps.

[Balu]

Abbey,
Another hint.
If everything is OK with your electricity, all the outlets and forks must be cool when appliances connected via them are in operation.

[Gunny]

Abbey,
Another hint.
If everything is OK with your electricity, all the outlets and forks must be cool when appliances connected via them are in operation.

You don't have a clue what you are talking about.

[NightTrain]

Daughter has a sparking outlet, so she wants to run an extension cord to a different outlet to plug in a portable heater.

Yikes! Huge fire hazard! I trust that she killed that outlet via the circuit breaker, right?

And, yes, plugging a surge protector into an extension cord is just fine.

[Abbey Marie]

Yikes! Huge fire hazard! I trust that she killed that outlet via the circuit breaker, right?

And, yes, plugging a surge protector into an extension cord is just fine.

No, it's still on.

ETA: circuit breaker to that outlet is now off. Thanks everyone for your advice. Now I can sleep...

[Gunny]

No, it's still on.

ETA: circuit breaker to that outlet is now off. Thanks everyone for your advice. Now I can sleep...

I'm sorry. I misread your original statement. I have little rugrats that have all kinds of stuff that glitters and glows. I thought you said sparkling, not sparking.

You have to replace the device. And I would not use it until you do. Receptacles (plugs) go bad. Costs about $5 for a new one. If Russ needs help replacing it, let me know. I can probably walk him through it.

[Balu]

Yikes! Huge fire hazard! I trust that she killed that outlet via the circuit breaker, right?

And, yes, plugging a surge protector into an extension cord is just fine.
I think everything is rather routine. The outlet input tubes were worn out plus oxidized (this tubes or the contact pair screw-wire). Tight contact disappeared. The resistance started increasing. The input outlet tubes (or the contact pair screw-wire) began heating and lost springiness. The contacts were becoming poorer and poorer till they start sparking.

[Gunny]

I think everything is rather routine. The outlet input tubes were worn out plus oxidized (this tubes or the contact pair screw-wire). Tight contact disappeared. The resistance started increasing. The input outlet tubes (or the contact pair screw-wire) began heating and lost springiness. The contacts were becoming poorer and poorer till they start sparking.

It is not routine. For one, we use alternating current (AC) in the US. Last I was around any of you, you're still using direct current (DC). Whole different game. We had to use transformers to step our voltage down from 240 to 120 so we didn't blow up our stuff. You also use a high leg transformers while we use a Wye 3 step.

You on the wrong topic to try and screw with me. Best get back to your political BS. My grandfather was an electrician and I was his helper starting around 6 years old.

[Elessar]

My Grandfather was a master electrician.

We grew up in houses with the wiring Gunny speaks of. Older ones
used fuses which were simple to replace.

Replacing a socket or light switch is simple....shut off the power.
My present house, whoever wrote the guides for the breakers must have been
writing in Martian, so I just shut off the whole house and work by flashlight if need be.
One thing I am uncertain of is replacing breakers. I let a pro do that.

Always put the surge protector directly into the socket. Never use an extension cord
first and then add the SP. Doing it otherwise defeats the purpose of the SP.

You can always ask a pro to make an SP with a longer cord. Most are barely 2 feet long.

[Gunny]

My Grandfather was a master electrician.

We grew up in houses with the wiring Gunny speaks of. Older ones
used fuses which were simple to replace.

Replacing a socket or light switch is simple....shut off the power.
My present house, whoever wrote the guides for the breakers must have been
writing in Martian, so I just shut off the whole house and work by flashlight if need be.
One thing I am uncertain of is replacing breakers. I let a pro do that.

Always put the surge protector directly into the socket. Never use an extension cord
first and then add the SP. Doing it otherwise defeats the purpose of the SP.

You can always ask a pro to make an SP with a longer cord. Most are barely 2 feet long.

Breakers are easy. You shut off the main. Depends on what brand of box you have but most breakers snap or screw in with a single screw. What you have to be careful of is making sure the connection is solid. Any gap in the connection will cause arcing which will start a fire.

[Balu]

...Always put the surge protector directly into the socket. Never use an extension cord first and then add the SP. Doing it otherwise defeats the purpose of the SP. ...
Can you explain the difference if the resistance and inductance of the extension cord may be assumed equal to Zero?

[Abbey Marie]

The silver lining to all this is we took the time to check all the circuits (?). Former owner had some listed incorrectly. And #2 appears to be attached to nothing. Weird, right?

[Balu]

The silver lining to all this is we took the time to check all the circuits (?). Former owner had some listed incorrectly. And #2 appears to be attached to nothing. Weird, right?
I think that in absentee, without seeing the circuit, no one can give you a proper advice.

[Elessar]

Can you explain the difference if the resistance and inductance of the extension cord may be assumed equal to Zero?

Of that I am honestly uncertain. Maybe Gunny or NightTrain can better answer that.
All I can imagine is that most extension cords are thinner wire diameters and cannot handle a heavy
demand load.

[Balu]

Of that I am honestly uncertain. Maybe Gunny or NightTrain can better answer that.
All I can imagine is that most extension cords are thinner wire diameters and cannot handle a heavy
demand load.
Correct!
But we are speaking not about amperage, but about voltage stability, elimination of voltage jumps. Aren't we?

[aboutime]

Correct!
But we are speaking not about amperage, but about voltage stability, elimination of voltage jumps. Aren't we?


NO Balu. Abbey asked a simple question about using a Surge Protector with an extension cord.

You are talking more like....Asking for the TIME, then telling someone HOW THE CLOCK WORKS.
Do you understand? Abbey asked a simple, common sense question. NOT HOW ELECTRICAL POWER manages to move through the Wires.

[Elessar]

Correct!
But we are speaking not about amperage, but about voltage stability, elimination of voltage jumps. Aren't we?

As far as I recall amperage can be limited by the breaker. You put a 18 gauge extension into a socket, then connect it
to a SP that has 14 or 12, you risk overheating that extension cord.

As I said, Gunny or NT might be better sources.

[Balu]

As far as I recall amperage can be limited by the breaker. You put a 18 gauge extension into a socket, then connect it
to a SP that has 14 or 12, you risk overheating that extension cord.

As I said, Gunny or NT might be better sources.
This is another question we are not discussing here. This is a question of a number of appliances to be connected in parallel in a circuit, which may reduce the total resistance and cause the increase of amperage thus make the wires even burning.

[GravyBoat]

@Gunny (http://www.debatepolicy.com/member.php?u=30), and others: is it ok to plug a surge protector into an extension cord, instead of directly into an outlet?

thanks!

No, you might fry the country's entire electrical grid doing that. Actually, I don't think that's a problem, the very wiring in your house is like a big extension cord, the outlet is just an arbitrary ending point. Where you add the surge protector makes no difference to the electrons.

Hey, how did the electrician win the presidency? He won in the Electron College.

[Gunny]

This is another question we are not discussing here. This is a question of a number of appliances to be connected in parallel in a circuit, which may reduce the total resistance and cause the increase of amperage thus make the wires even burning.

Do you just have to add yourself into everything you know nothing about? Go re-read my posts. I'm not typing them again. We us AC and you use DC. Completely changes the rules.

The breakers are designed to trip if you overload them. Simple as that. Thebreaker is more important than the circuit. The biggest menace are people like you that don't know WTF you are talking about and trying to sound like an expert.

Do you actually know how much applicability electrical theory has in real time? Almost none.

[aboutime]

Do you just have to add yourself into everything you know nothing about? Go re-read my posts. I'm not typing them again. We us AC and you use DC. Completely changes the rules.

The breakers are designed to trip if you overload them. Simple as that. Thebreaker is more important than the circuit. The biggest menace are people like you that don't know WTF you are talking about and trying to sound like an expert.

Do you actually know how much applicability electrical theory has in real time? Almost none.


Gunny. Give Balu a break.:laugh: They just discovered what electricity is...WHEN THEY HAVE IT DURING THEIR HOURS.
Of course. I believe Balu still doesn't know the difference between AC and DC.
Unless...he likes music...:laugh:

http://youtu.be/v4EFddbHkRo:wtf99:

[Balu]

I believe Balu still doesn't know the difference between AC and DC.
Unless...he likes music...:laugh:




I have to disappoint you, Sir. http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/standart/dntknw.gif

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Types_of_current.svg/300px-Types_of_current.svg.png


http://electricalschool.info/uploads/posts/2010-06/1277050635_1.jpg


http://electrono.ru/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/555-1-25.png

[Gunny]

I have to disappoint you, Sir. http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/standart/dntknw.gif

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Types_of_current.svg/300px-Types_of_current.svg.png


http://electricalschool.info/uploads/posts/2010-06/1277050635_1.jpg


http://electrono.ru/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/555-1-25.png

I can post pictures. I can cut n paste data. I also can build a residence from the ground up. And I do commercial work. All those pictures mean is not a damned thing. Cut and paste theory is NOT reality.