Quote:
Originally Posted by Herald1360
Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki
I've always wired plugs with equal-lengths to the terminals.
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Surely equal lengths to the terminals only works if the terminals are laid out for equal length wires.
Normal best practice is to cut the wires to such lengths that the line and neutral wires follow paths with equal amounts of "slack" and the earth wire has additional "slack" so that in the event of a cable pullout the earth lets go last. |
I should really have said "equal slack in all three conductors" rather than 'equal lengths'.
My argument being that _any_ pullout following cord-grip failure is an issue - both from the safety/hazard PoV and the fact that the equipment will cease to function. A partial-pullout of a short-wired 'live' - causing arcing but not immediate failure-to-function - is to me a serious hazard issue!
Equal-amounts-of-slack-in-all-conductors means any tension is spread equally over all 3 terminals - so the chance of a pullout of any conductor is reduced: equipment will continue to function (albeit with somewhat reduced safety but no immediate hazard) until the next inspection.
Though, like I mentioned, this sort of thing never appeared significant in the "top ten" reasons-to-reject during PAT or any other inspection.
[#1, from memory, was 'outer jacket damaged' - usually because some room-temperature-IQ type had dumped a steel filing-cabinet on top of the cable].