Holey Plugs, Batman! But... what are they for?
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- čas přidán 8. 10. 2021
- The answer may surprise you.
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Maybe some day I'll talk about the fact that all these outlets are technically upside down.
I mean...
That's also a misconception, it's only upside down in some states and uses, it's not standard in the NEC code
Are you on Electrician Talk? I've referenced your videos there. The general consensus is in favor of pin down.
No I'm not on Electrician Talk, but I've noticed that pretty much every commercial building I've run into lately has them installed ground-up, and the printing on every receptacle I've encountered is right side up only when the ground pin is on top. Even the GFCI outlet shown here with the power switch, which is ~ 10 years old, has the "TR" logo upside down because it was installed ground-down.
For the record, I don't care about this, and until manufacturers of 90 degree cords and wall warts start making them to work with ground-up installations I'd still want the standard "face" orientation in my home. But it seems pretty clear that it's frowned upon, if not explicitly wrong.
@@TechnologyConnections it's so when a liquid spills on top of it it touches the ground first, and then the hot or neutral.
My son discovered a great use for the holes. You can insert a small paper clip through both holes at the same time so when dad unwittingly plugs it onto the wall, it emits a bright blue/white flash and scorches the plug, wall plate and wall as well as tripping the circuit breaker all with an incredible but brief sound.
Jesus christ that must have been terrifying for you considering you come from the stone age
RIP son.
@@drewm8502
Absolutely terrifying! :)
The clips are probably generating electrical/current arcs
lmao
"I suppose mayonnaise is an off-white jam..."
Sir, I'm going to have to ask you cease this train of thought *immediately*.
Jam is made from fruit. Mayo is made from eggs.
@@rosskwolfe Eggs are chicken fruit
@blalo'u You didn't stop it soon enough! Next, someone will say it's actually jelly! Oh no!!!
@@g.m.2427 I... can't say that's wrong exactly...
@@g.m.2427 So babies are people fruit?
"I suppose mayonnaise is an off-white jam" is one of the most upsetting sentences I've heard in a while.
But is it an instrument?
@@trickvro definetly
Fun fact, if you have one of those tiny novelty padlocks for a girls' diary, you can lock it through the hole, preventing it from being plugged in.
Weirdly specific...you can just use a zip tie or literally anything else
@@johnf817 um, it's pretty easy to "unlock" a zip tie. What would be the point?
Correct 😊
"through the magic of buying multiple"
will never get old I swear
It's like cooking shows when they've already made the oven cooked thing.
Except when he does not: czcams.com/video/udNXMAflbU8/video.html
@@karl-linusamsler836 a terrible oversight on his part :(
yo this comment chain went places O_O
At
Back in the 80s when I was a child, my parents would put a tiny padlock (like the ones used on luggage zippers) through the holes in my TV's power cord as punishment. So I always thought the holes were to prevent unauthorized use of appliances.
Did drabbit make Krav for mits!?
lockouttagout holes
You should have just replaced the plug if you couldnt remove the lock.
@@mernok2001 back then most appliances had fixed power cord.
My parents went a step further and just took the power cord for my PlayStation as punishment in the 90's. Joke was on them however, we had a VCR that used the same polarized C7 connector as the PSX, which I used to game on until they came home from work.
Those holes are very useful in the construction trade for me. Not only can you lock out a plug, but we own Pro-Lock extension cords which seem to utilize these holes to lock whatever you've plugged into them in place.
Mayonnaise being called an off-white jam has ruined my brain. Lmao 🤣 I love the information TC gives, but the jokes just make this channel peak entertainment ❤️
Is mayonnaise an instrument?
"Dude, no way I'm watching a 20 minute video on the holes in power plugs." ~20 minutes later. "He got me again!"
Thank you! (See my comment)
The bloopers at the end always make it worthwhile
Yep. Exactly what just happened to me at 2:30 in the morning. He got me again!
@@earthlingjohn Well, I knew the answer and I just couldn't stomach his usual string of puns, so I skipped it.
He's a good guy, but he has a knack for taking 20 minutes to give a 1-minute answer, riddled with countless gut-wrenching puns. Sorry. I chose the other pill this time. #Matrix
The hole is for the tiny padlock to prevent someone's PlayStation from being plugged in :D
My mom would take the cord to my nes / sega. Haha
I was thinking that as well I know moms who would have done that but we are in the uk so they just cut the plug off
My grandma even locked the TV.
Mom did that once to my ps2 joke's on her my printer used the same cable so i just swapped them
actually, that's not too far off. It's not too common in residential/consumer use, but Lock Out/Tag Out (LOTO) locks are frequently used in industrial settings to ensure that heavy machinery isn't plugged in and turned on while someone's inside doing maintenance.
“Oh well, at least it’s not 240v coming out of there” 😂😂😂😂😂
In Australia our plugs and receptacles have angled live pins, so they are always polarised correctly since they cannot be plugged in upside down (even if no grounding pin is present) 🙂
And you can bend them so they are not angled to use them overseas!
pretty big tho
"Through the magic of buying 2" will never not be amusing to me.
It's better than the full "through the magic of buying 2 and being able to write off both on my taxes" tag line.
Fun fact: there are extension cords that utilize those holes and will lock with a button on top. They're great with hand tools to avoid accidental unplugging while working
I was just going to comment that! I'm curious if the lock actually indexes with the holes or if it's a tighter friction lock?
Came here to same the same thing, I in fact used it today with my grinder
I've literally never seen these in the US. I had to go to Japan to see them for the first time.
@@rocksntwigs Don't know about the US, but extension cords with locks are fairly common in Canada. Some have the button lock/unlock as Patrick mentioned, and some have a sweep lock.
Came to say the same thing - I've got replacement cord ends that lock into the holes for retention. Works great for power tools in lieu of switching everything over to the superior twist lock plug and outlet.
I worked at a plant where they put plastic ties through the holes on malfunctioning or under maintenance piece of equipment. Usually with a tag with a initial, date and reason, so the equipment couldn’t accidentally be plugged in.
I definitely love all the information you give and the science you do but god damn, your sense of humor is next level and your deadpan delivery is impeccable!
The opposite of “through the magic of buying two” should be “through the misfortune of only buying one”. 😀
Get the spammer outa here
@@jacksong6226 On desktop: mouse over the comment, click the 3 vertical dots, then "Report". Then choose the reason (I went with spam).
@@AaronOfMpls it is technically considered pornography, spam doesnt even get removed except by the channel's moderation
"The toads over at NEMA" is an unreasonably good joke.
but nematodes are not reptilians...
@@Ugly_German_Truths Neither are toads...
Toads are amphibians.
@@syriuszb8611 Damn, i wanted to type amphibians ... no idea what i was watching at that moment, the TC video was already finished... must have been good to distract me so much. Meh, won't correct it now you already did.
Not if you're not American and have no idea what NEMA is!
@@paulhaynes8045 The joke doesn't need you to know what NEMA is though. It's literally nematodes, and that's a delicious pun.
The lack of outlits holding onto plugs is definately a huge feature of my childhood home. It's also common on some of my power strips that are less than 5 years old.
Thought I knew all about home receptacles. Man, was I wrong!
Great video! Your format is perfect. Don’t change a thing. Very clear with just the right amount of explanation.
When I was a kid, back in the 1960s, we had a record player that would shock you if the plug was upside down. Touch the tonearm and get shocked. It made playing records an adventure. I don't think we ever told our parents. I haven't thought of that in decades.
In those days, if you lost a kid, you'd just make another one.
@@AnimationByDylanIn my mind, you’d make both another kid and another plug.
Gotta get that sweet sweet US patent.
Edit: for the plug that is….
One of the common uses for the hole is in locking vending machines so they can't be unplugged. And yes, outlets with contact bumps very much used to exist. They tear up your plugs with micro arcs.
Yeah I saw the video and remembered that I had an old two prong plug outlet from the 60s in my parts stash, sure enough I found it and tried a plug in it and it clicks into place when inserted. I looked inside and it has the little bumps on the contacts
Even if, it would be extremely easy to do the same with cheap blocade (I assume you need remove or have specialized outlet anyway) and use is so obscure that having dedicated universal solution is still pointless.
I use the holes and a small lock to prevent some things from being plugged in. Simple little lock out/tag out for home things that need repair
@Indiana Gividen Same here. I have a 100' extension cord with a locking lever that I bought maybe 10 years ago. It's a great feature, because it keeps my power tools from getting unplugged at moments that might become problematic.
I have lived in a few rental properties with what I always called “butter plugs” most of them were quite old and probably had dozens of people living there over the decades. And well, as you noted in the end, probably just wear on the sockets. Never to the point where they would fall out without help but they usually weren’t hanging on very well.
The US has so much cheap crap nowadays. I had a unit where one of the light switches was sparking when I tried to turn it on and off. One unit the fuse box was sparking randomly. Apartments use all the cheapest things in them. It’s genuinely terrifying to think about.
What's scarier is a lot of newer homes are also built with cheapest options with the expectation that who ever buys the house will remodel everything, but the buyer isn't informed of just how much they should remodel. This especially seems true for low income houses in cases where the buyer will be less likely to afford the remodel.
@@StaratopiaJust replace them next time you paint the room.
I have encountered sockets where plugs absolutely would not stay in the socket. It's especially problematic with heavier plugs like USB cubes, scent plug-ins, or those big boxes with the lil wire coming out (as you can see, I'm layperson 😅). You plug it in, and it slips right back out without even touching it. I believe I've had some in my apartments (up in Indiana, don't think I've struggled in my place in Georgia, but I've only been here about a year), and I've absolutely struggled in hotels/motels. I think he addressed this in a later video and hypothesized it was due to such frequent use, which I'm inclined to believe. I typically go hunting for a socket that sticks, or I have to get an extending cord and plug everything there. Actually... now that I think about it one of my current extention cords is very buttery (thank you for the new lingo!), and my phone chargers are constantly coming out, and that sucker is parallel to the ground and command stripped to my night stand at head level, so there's no wild angles putting unnecessary strain on the plugs!
Nowadays?? This has always been a problem in the US
never new this channel existed and is pretty good so far. relaxing tone learning a few things and funny from time to time. I like it
Fun fact: Hospital grade receptacles grip the plugs quite a bit tighter than residential or commercial grade receptacles do. Hospitals even periodically conduct a pull test on each receptacle to make sure they are within tolerance.
Makes sense. With all that oxygen occasionally floating around I imagine sparks could be a very bad thing.
You also don’t want various important equipment to unplug accidentally.
they also have a redundant ground wire
Dang, beat me to it! And those 'hospital' receptacles are usually Orange....so you know they are high-retention.
@@dougankrum3328 hospital grade receptacles are indicated with a green circle on their face regardless of face color. To my knowledge the only face color that matters is when they are red which indicates that it is fed from an emergency source of power. The receptacle will still be live when general power is out in the hospital assuming the emergency systems have functioned properly. I think the orange receptacles you are thinking of are isolated ground receptacles which have an orange face with a green triangle indication on the face. These systems have two grounds. One for grounding metal boxes and raceways and one insulated ground going straight to the ground prong on the receptacle. These insulated grounds are generally treated differently back at the panel than your general grounds.
"The toads over at NEMA" is such an incredibly underrated line!
Is it a riff on nematodes?
The video's been out for less than 24 hours... how could any line be underrated?
C. elegans is my favorite species of nematode
@@MrEazyE357 Yes. It's even a setup line for a later payoff
@@jfo738 Is Arabidopsis thaliana your favorite flower? =D
Lock out Tag out kits have locks that lock onto plugs using the holes on the plug for putting the device out of service when broken. we used them at work.
Thank you for the reminder that I *really* should get around to replacing the loose outlets in my old room back at my dad's house 👍
I suppose they got a fair bit of use, over around a decade, but I'm still surprised that they're apparently so worn that I've actually had a plug fall out with barely a tug 0_0
"It's always been like that, no one knows why."
Reminds me of an anecdote.
A little girl, seeing her mother cut off the top ¼ of the Thanksgiving turkey, asked why. The mother said, "I don't know, my mother always did it." After thinking about it, the mother wanted to know, so she called her mother (the little girl's grandmother) and asked. The grandmother said, "I don't know, my mother always did it." After thinking about it, the grandmother wanted to know, so she called her mother (the little girl's great grandmother) and asked. The great grandmother said, "I did it because my baking pan was too small."
Mind if I steal this story for use elsewhere? It's very good
@@Copyright_Infringement Have at it. It's not my joke. There's probably many variations of it, but the punchline is the same.
Ha! Women. They don’t change.
@@Copyright_Infringement I've heard many versions of this story. I'm not sure anyone knows who wrote the original. I also find it ironic that someone with your username would bother to ask.
version I heard is, never leaving stuff in the kitchen without a bowl on top. Daughter doesn't know why, but keeps up the habit through adulthood. One day she asks, and is told "because we had cats".
In my experience, it's so you can twist bare wires through the holes for extra sketchy situations.
Ahh yes that famous picture of a PlayStation 2 being used this way.
I did that all the time in my misspent youth!
To be fair, that's what I've always assumed they are for!
lock out tag out
This comment has me concerned...
This is the first video that I’ve seen by this creator and I have to say that I was immediately drawn in. The presentation and cadence reminds me a bit of an Andy Rooney segment from 60 Minutes. I’m now subscribed and looking forward to even more great content!
Hmm, now Imma have to go check out Andy Rooney
Some extention cords have a lever that locks your device together so you don't accidentally lose power by kicking the cord out of the extension cords socket. By using those holes with locking pins activated by that lever.
I actually have an extension cord with a tiny lever which, when turned, pushes a pin through the holes, so whatever is plugged into the cord can't come unplugged. Very handy for electric lawnmowers!
I have a similar extension cord. It locks both male and female sides together so it doesn’t accidentally get unplugged!!
That seems like a safety hazard
@Enderlance why?
@@wolverinechris2 then again, you could also unplug the extension cord itself.
bros got a wired lawnmower lmao
"...mayonnaise is an off-white jam."
Never say that again.
🤣
_...mayonnaise is an off-white jam._ 🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭🤭
YES. Didn't like that.
I didn't wake up today thinking I'd have to contemplate my definition of jams. He can keep that opinion in his pocket.
Then what is it? It's the best explanation I've heard so far, and if you have nothing better to offer... do try to live with the knowledge that I will spread the word of the off-white jam! ;)
@@herrpez you stop that.
Call it a puree, pudding, paste, or a weak flan, but a jam it shall not be. 😜
Interesting and consise study on holes in plug pins. One thing to add, UK plugs all have third ground pins and no holes. Keep then coming guys. Thanks. Dave
The worst outlets I've come across, are the ones in airplanes. They more often than not are worn out and the plug wont stay put. You'd think those outlets would be built to a higher standard. I love your videos!!!!
I actually discovered the exact wiring error hinted to at 2:05 in my house, when I was (I think) less than 8 years old. My parents, who knew I could be trusted to stay safe, had given me an outlet tester to mess around with. (I was an interesting kid, and I liked things with lights on them.) I proceeded to plug it into outlets all over the house, much like TC did with the lamp cord, only ever seeing both green LED's light up.
That is, until I got to the ones in the basement. When I plugged it into any of those outlets, only one of the green lights turned on, as well as the orange one, which I was excited to see lit up for the first time. "Oh, how interesting," I thought to myself, looking at the sticker with the light combinations to see what it meant. It said that this pattern means "Hot/Neutral Reverse". Now, I had no idea what that meant at the time, but since this was called an "outlet tester", I correctly reasoned that it must mean something was wrong with the outlets. I told my parents, who were previously unaware of this issue. Some time after that, we had an electrician at our house, and one of my parents mentioned this to him. Sure enough, he confirmed (and fixed) the wiring issue.
Oh god I read it wrong, and I thought your parents had gave you and outlet TOASTER, and i was imagining you as a little kid running around the house plugging a toaster in every possible outlet.
@@bernardorodriguez405 wtf I made the same mistake and didn't realize it until I read outlet tester for the second time later in the paragraph
@@bernardorodriguez405 That is adorable
@@bernardorodriguez405 It's an outlet toaster a fancy name for a U-shaped piece of wire?
@@unfa00 I'm gonna say... yes, yes it is.
I love the phrase “by the magic of buying several of them…” gets a smile from me every time 😆
I bet you still giggle at peak-a-boo, right?
@@danielduncan6806 *Fun fact:* you don't have to make fun of people for finding something funny just because you don't yourself.
(also it's "peek-a-boo" because your peeking at something, not at a mountain peak)
@@furtislast4920 Heheh, yeah, "peak-a-boo" just sounds like they're abusing sound equipment.
I got a laugh when I heard it, too!
@@danielduncan6806 yes. The answer is yes. 😂
These mysterious holes are part of the pin production process ( production in product ) these pins are made from a long flat strip. The holes are a part of the feeding system to the stamping mold. They act like a gear feeding the strip into the STAMPING mold, BUT they also guarantee the exact length according to spec. ( length tolerance )
These tricks are often used in mass production.
this.
I think you meant blades. The flat blade plugs have holes at least here in America. I don't think the pin type have holes. I was also thinking of those foreign plug adapters. I think some countries are using pin plugs.
@John60s70s I think he meant bladeish pins. Except for the ground, those are pinish pins. :) 😁
@@John60s70s : In electrical connectors a male contact is a pin, regardless of shape.
When I was in the Air Force working as a Precision Measurement Equipment Repairman, at the end of shift you were required to unplug all equipment on your workbench. It was a common prank to put a piece of solder through the holes on the next guy’s soldering iron and wait for them to plug it in. Makes for a real wake up call.
When I was a kid, my dad put a mini pad lock through the TV plug to stop us from watching it. This is also how I learned to pick a lock with a paper clip.
"The todes over at NEMA" is a phenomenal joke
Honestly, my first thought was that I wouldn't be surprised if the entire motivation for creating this video was to be able to finally use that joke.
NEMAtoads meep meep
terrifying pfp
@@ApolloSniperman nematODES but what is a todes? or ist it toads over at NEMA?
@@stefanmenzel263 Toads? Todes? Chodes? At this point, who even knows? Surely not I.
This video is years old and this has probably already been mentioned, but the holes also save on material. Sure, probably very little, but when you can squeeze a few more units out of a run, it seems like a no-brainer.
When you can get an extra blade every 999 or 9,999 blades, it seems worth it.
I am in metal forming and it makes perfect sense to have the holes as a reference point and register to align the blades for molding the housing. A hole is much easier to make and use accurately than the outside perimeter would be.
Never really thought about this. I always sort of assumed the holes were there as a janky lockout mechanism. When I worked for a pro AV company, in rentals and productions, they'd put a zip-tie through the holes on any light, amp, etc. that was needing repair. Sort of a last resort in case no one realized it was something that didn't work.
There are locks that can fit onto a plug as a lockout/tagout measure, and the locking lugs do fit right into the holes.
That's actually a great application
Sure is a better solution than doing absolutely nothing about it then laughing heartily when the next poor bastard plugs it in and makes a big bang. Ask me how I know....
Yep, AV here too. Most commonly motorized projection screens that were abandoned in place for a large format display instead; unplug the screen and zip tie through, plop back above the tile.
Ditto, we use tamper seal tags on faulty plug in equipment. Do not use until fixed.
I’ve seen people use them to “lockout” plugs by using zip ties or actual padlocks to prevent someone from inserting them into an outlet.
when traveling my dad never brought an adapter for his european razor.
Instead he would use a plug and offset it so that he could jam his european plug ontop of it.
I just thought i'd share that
I hope they're not using zip ties. That's sketchy as hell. Someone can just walk up, cut the zip tie, and plug it in. Although I'm not sure I'd trust a lock that small either.
By using a ball bearing inside the outlet, kind of like how a ratchet locks a socket in place, could be a great way to utilize the holes and keep the plug from being removed accidentally. Then when you want to disconnect from the outlet, just press a button on the face to take the pressure off of the ball bearing, which would allow you to easily remove the plug.
Ball bearings on reasonable stiff springs would hold the plug in the correct position. The ball bearings and springs do not need to conduct the electricity, the usual contacts would be used for that. It would require the same amount of force to remove it as it did to plug it in, so I don't think a release button would be necessary. This could well have been why the holes were created, but the additional cost of adding two ball bearings and two springs to every socket would be why it never caught on. In any situation you should not pull out a plug by holding the wire.
In Brazil we developed a design for the plug that is way more secure. The contact will not get eletricity until the plug is fully inserted into the slot that prevents the contact from being exposed.
I have an extension cord that specifically locks into those holes, removing the plug from the cord requires you to press a button. I bought it a few years ago. It's awesome, I wish they all did that.
We have these hundred-foot outdoor winter extension cords. On the inlet end is a little switch thing you can turn that shoves a pin through the holes of a connecting cable, helping prevent it coming unplugged.
Makes sense for an extension cord but a little dangerous for a wall outlet because that is an extra step incase of dangerou.
Yea, I was just coming to the comments to say the same thing. I personally love it for using things outside in the winter, it really helps.
I bought an extention cord from Lowes in 2015 that has a locking lever that seems to engage the holes.
I think I just always assumed that the holes were a cost-saving measure - it's only a bit less metal, but even something like 5% less material used in manufacturing adds up over millions of units.
Those blades are most likely manufactured by a subtractive manufacturing process called punching; a positive shaped punch (looks like the blade) and close-fitting negative die come together from opposite sides of the sheet stock and shear through it faster than you can blink. Subtractive manufacturing means you start with more material than you need to make the part; the extra is waste. Sure, those hole blanks are a tiny bit less material in the useful part, but that waste material required energy use to melt, cast, and roll it into the sheet stock that blade was punched from, and the waste has to be recycled in order to be useful again later, thus requiring application of energy twice before becoming an actual part. Then there's the energy it takes to punch it out, just to "throw it away"; not much energy in the scale of things, but not negligible. It also requires more complicated tooling design to remove the material, which isn't cheap either, in both production and maintenance. Depending on the type of punch press blanking the blades out, the holes may either be a second punching operation, a complicated concentric 2-stage punching die, or a die set through which the material advances, simply being struck twice in different areas of the die. Manufacturing processes always require time and energy to perform, which costs money, so removing that material has to serve a purpose or the energy expended on the feature is a waste of money.
@@ryanschmidt1437 your response makes a lot of sense. is it possible that the material from the holes is simply more valuable than the energy cost of recycling the 'waste' parts created by punching them out? making it more cost effective to punch them out and melt them back down than to buy new material over time?
lol I should have read yours before my reply. I had thought if someone had said thr same as I that he’d have been further down the list. 😁
The saving will vaporize with the cost of the tooling.
assumed manufacturing just before he said it.
Excellent explanation in this video.
I did electrician training during the mid 1960s. The basics are the same, but the devices and some of the standards have changed since then. I am in my 70s now...
I have bought some devices where there were no holes in the plug contacts. From what I was taught is inside the outlet are a small rise or bump or dimple inside the contacts that squeeze the plug contacts. This offers a bitter grip to help prevent the plug from falling out of the outlet. There are some types of socket units where the contacts are without any bump or dimple inside. The pressure of the contacts is holding in the plug contacts.
The idea of the polarized plug is to have the ground on the chassis or frame side. Fully electrically isolated devices where the electronics inside are electrically floating technically don't need a polarized plug. Many of the small wall chargers don't require a polarized plug.
My house had builder's grade outlets from the 90s and in just 20 years they were all worn to the point of not providing any friction to hold the plug... Over the course of a few years I've replaced a handful of them one-by-one until I finally just went and bought a cheap multi-pack... Probably not the best receptacles, but they seem a lot better than the ones we had in there and are working well so far haha. You mentioned that they should last "decades". I don't know if 2 decades is within that expectation, but hopefully these new ones will be a little more durable.
9:05 "Sadly, I did not buy two of these"
Aww, the magic is gone...
"Mayonnaise is an off-white jam." has "Hot dog is a sandwich" energy.
Well said.
pfft Hotdogs are German tacos
@@cmelton6796 lol, German tacos xD
Hot dogs are sandwiches.
@@cmelton6796 Sandwiches are sauerkraut
An intense observation of minutiae. However, still fascinating. I really admire the tongue-in-cheek humor and deliberate, distinct speech patterns.
I just wanna say I love your videos and I hope you continue to make them for a very long time!
15:34 ""I'd welcome any nematodes out there to fill us in on any details" is one of the funniest puns on this channel
Though the subtitles render it as "NEMA toads".
When I was little my Dad would put those tiny luggage padlocks through the holes of those cables for my PC and game console to prevent me playing games too late into the night.
I learned to just swap the cables.
I learned how to pick (actually bypass) the locks my parents used.
@@derrickfoster644 LPL: Origins
@@Havron only if I kept up with it I could have worked on a pick with LPL or maybe Bosnian Bill.
The locks my parents used were so comically bad that they could easily be opened with a binder clip handle. Or by simply pulling on it.
@@user2C47 I believe I used a cross stitch needle put in till it stopped wiggle back and forth and it would open. Most likely they were master locks
There are some commercial plugs that do have index nubs which fit into the holes. It makes the plug legitimately difficult to get out. They're meant to be used for plugs on the ceiling. It keeps cables off the ground so they're not a tripping hazard and the cables can hang down without falling out.
Once, I needed a longer electrical cord and didn't have a complete extension cord to use. The cord I had was missing the female socket. So I stripped the wires on the cut end and used the holes on the male plug's prongs as a place to loop them through for a secured connection. I soldered them and wrapped them with several layers of professional electrical tape which is made of rubber and stretches. I've been using it for years. So I found a use for those holes.
I've actually used a Lockout/Tagout kit that had locks that fit over the plug and lock on using the holes, preventing one from plugging it in. Good way to make sure the new guy doesn't try to use a broken grinder.
Correct. Lock out tag out
Certainly the intended use of these holes
Having worked with a hc yes that is what the holes aka connection point interuptors are for
Definitely gotta LockOut/TagOut that hair straightener
That's a good use for that
I've seen the holes have a zip tie through them as a safety feature. Basically stopping a child from secretly opening a box item and then just plugging it in.
A few hours ago I bought a blender that had a such a tie going through the plug holes; I removed it with scissors. Weirdly, I watched this entire video without thinking about it, but I remembered it when I read your comment.
I've seen, and have done so myself, taking tiny lockout locks and locking out the plug itself. OSHA seems to accept it, sooooo 🤷♂️
@@robertjenkins6132 I hate it when people destroy perfectly reusable zip ties. Such a waste of plastic.
A locking-socket extension cord turned up in my store last month. It has a sliding sleeve which causes two pins to engage those holes. Works a treat AFAICT.
I have one utilitarian extension that has a locking pinching thing built into it for things you find yourself dragging around the shop or up a ladder. It even utilizes a button for release.
As a European, I was wondering at the beginning of the video: "How is it possible I've never noticed US plugs are polarized, i.e. they have blades of different size?" A while later it was clear why: All such plugs I've encountered in person (not many, really) were in phone chargers and similar stuff.
Yeah not all of the two blade plugs are polarized. They’re generally only polarized if needed…A lot of modern supplies don’t require it by design, but some items its done for safety. I can totally see why you’d not notice.
Lol similar comment like mine spotted, after commenting 😅😂
I'm American and never even knew that.
Its hard to notice even if you’re American. Sure we notice the occasional rare plug needs to play the usb game but you don’t really question it. And just quickly forget about it.
Pretty much. It usually applies to things that have a metal chassis and are frequently touched, especially if they have no surrounding external circuitry that regulates current draw. Things like lamps, toasters, old radios, and such.
The "mayonnaise is offwhite jam" line made me laugh out loud literally.
Your style of blunt double-meaning-humor and straight faced delivery is unique, refreshing, and makes your videos seem shorter than they are.
I also thoroughly appreciate how in depth you go, leaving no stone of information unturned.
and no outlet unplugged ;)
In a pinch, the holes can also be used as sort of a back-up, lock-out/tag-out aid. A simple zip tied tag or even one of those little TSA luggage locks can be passed through the holes while a device is being serviced and no other LO/TO system is available. This of course, to prevent a device from being plug in by a passerby while the Maytag Man is all up inside the machine. Can't energize an appliance if it don't fit in the outlet.
Locking extension cords. I have 2 of them that I lock with a button end to end for my grass whipper. They don't disconnect when locked. Also, locks in drill cord. Very useful.
Can't believe you're the first comment here referencing this. It's common in construction to have locking extension cords, so the don't come apart while dragging your saw or drill around.
Alternative title: Technology Man makes sure all of the outlets in his house are getting some at least once.
Alternative title: Man does not know what jam is.
@@oskarwinters1873 Eggs are technically chicken fruit. They contain a "seed" inside (the actual chick) and and the egg itself contains the seed, kind of like a fruit
As a Yuropean, I find these videos absolutely fascinating. Such holesome content.
*Yuropean*
@@ZaHandle Ürøpæan, yes
Yurope is Yuuuuge
@@ktxed my rope is bigger!
@@vidareggum6118 how many football stadiums to the rope ?
Makes it easy to insert test probes to measure resistance of the thing with the plug, also offers a bit of contact cleaning,
❤ Those holes are for a lockout. You get a lock that fits the holes diameter and place it through the holes and lock the lock.
No one will be able to plug it into power.
As a retired progressive die maker, my guess would be that these holes could be used as pilot holes in aligning the progressive strip of brass (or whatever material the 110v plug contacts are made from) as it moves from station to station through a progressive die.
Basically, a huge coil of brass of the thickness needed for the contacts is fed through the progressive die, one station for each press cycle, until it comes out the other end, or is cut off as the last operation to drop in the parts bucket.
The very first operation is to punch out the pilot hole in the brass strip (the hole in question), then the strip feeds to line up that punched hole under the first pilot pin. That first bullet nosed pilot pin and the rest of the pins throughout the progression precisely line up the brass strip, for whatever operation is needed next, by entering the pilot holes to move the strip into perfect alignment.
I expect that the competition for these simple parts is so fierce that as little scrap as possible is the goal, otherwise the pilot holes would not need to be part of the finished part, and the carrier full of holes would go into the scrap bin for recycling. No carrier needed would mean less scrap and a cheaper part. NEMA knows this, so just as you said, they call out where the holes can be located so as not to end up where electrical contact is to be made.
Here is an example of a progressive die that may clarify my explanation, but this part uses two carrier strips, one on each side of the part, where pilot holes are located, and the final part is cut out between them as the last step: czcams.com/video/tc5zhOKnCyk/video.html You can see the part drop out of the die and the two carrier strips exit to the right and into a scrap bin!
Here is a guy giving a good verbal and visual explanation of how a progressive die and the pilot holes work: czcams.com/video/NuFpzJLMnFs/video.html Explaining the top half of a die is included in part 2: czcams.com/video/esbMnrKBUvE/video.html
The bottom line is I'm guessing the finished 110v plug contacts contain the pilot holes, rather than to be cut off of a carrier strip, to cut scrap costs!
One side benefit of the manufacturing use of the holes, is that it saves huge quantities of metal. When hundreds of billions of plugs have that hole, that metal adds up to $.
Err... that's only true if the prongs are rolled that way initially. The bulk of them seem to be "punched" and it's unlikely that the place doing the punching is also doing the refining of the metal in the first place, allowing them to collect the blanks and throw them back in the melting pot. I suspect THE OPPOSITE is true. That through some weird tradition of them always having holes, they now add them increasing the cost of manufacturing (if only slightly) and winding up with a lot of wasted brass.
@@DanielBrownsan side note, most plugs in America arent made from brass, they use cheaper metals like aluminum or steel, mostly when i see brass plugs its on older items, some high current stuff or quite a few extension cords otherwise they use cheap metals or the weird case of using aluminum coated copper or brass which kinda defeats the point since using brass or copper provides a lower resistance, but plating the metal with aluminum actually brings the resistance right back up again.
I think its more of a cost saving measure because you can use a jig to make thousands of plugs reliably and not have to check the actual quality of each plug. Save money with less workers and save money on materials and reduced waste.
@@DanielBrownsan the tooling to make the holes would probably cost more than any benefit from recouping material cost.
@@TheRamblingShepherd you're ignoring the 'economics of scale'. If you're only making a few hundred, yes, you couldn't pay off the tool. But when you're punching millions, the savings can add up. And when you amortize the cost of the tool over several years... Honestly, if a tool is bought to do this, somewhere in the company it is saving them money.
The factory I work in uses them as a lock out tag out mechanism for certain small pieces of equipment. If you put a lock out tag thru the holes it can't be plugged in while being maintained.
Coming to America from Britain where everything is overengineered I was amazed at the flimsy domestic plugs and outlets.
As someone who has been to the US as a tourist: Imagine trying to use a well-worn hotel room socket with the weight of a travel adaptor (hard mode: BS 1363 travel adaptor) combined with a typical USB charger. I didn't experience them falling out but the angle was often precarious leading to poor connection or exposing the live pins for extra excitement. And this was with the wall sockets.
When traveling, a small roll of tape with aggressive adhesive has many uses. Duct tape, gaffer's tape, aluminum foil tape.
@@lorenzoboyd6889 Why my, just bend the pins a little like I do.
It will plug as hard as a circuit breaker switch.
that's so smart. just don't bend it too hard or it'll probably lose it's structure
@@lorenzoboyd6889 if I have this problem again I'd probably just get a small trailing extension lead, would take the weight off the socket then
Had similar experience in Japan. Often required some creativity to make it work
The holes are for when my grandpa wanted to "get some electric" and he just wound a couple of wires through the holes and suspended the plug between a couple bricks. He lived till 103.
What do you mean? He plugged an outlet into an outlet to get an outlet?
Wait.... what? What did he do with the electric?
@@BenderdickCumbersnatch he got it
I've done that a few times. Don't know if I'll live to 103, though.
@@kngofbng what does it mean? How do you do this
a good use for the holes in future, if we are thinking of ways to use them. The uses would be to have a small bump of insinuative material on the contacts or under them them that fit into the whole, preventing the contacts from making contact until the plug is fully inserted
I was remind of this video today while running plugs under my couch. They are just big enough for a coat hanger, that is a lot easier to slide under and pull abs then the plug comes though.
"All your years of watching Technology Connections, what have you learned?"
"...Mayonnaise is an off-white jam."
Yes lmao. I really paused it and asked myself if it was really a jam for a minute
Egg jam!
I actually have an extension cord with a tiny lever which, when turned, pushes a pin through the holes, so whatever is plugged into the cord can't come unplugged. Very handy for electric lawnmowers!
There's always that one receptacle in hotel rooms which is fully worn out. Can you guess which? It's the one housekeeping uses for the vacuum.
From my experience, many sockets at airports and on planes also have this problem.
That must suck
Well you gotta use something, and naturally you want to find the outlet that's the most centralized in the room so you don't have to move the plug a bunch of times (esp cause they don't exactly give you all day to clean each room)
As a hotel housekeeper... i almost never use the same plug in every room as a default. All depends on where i have to start the process of cleaning... which often depends on where the mess in a room is.
@@wolfsbaneandnightshade2166 how long the cord is and how big the room is would vary that as well; kinda inconvenient to use outlets that you can’t reach the whole room with
For manufacturing alignment in molded plugs, having the holes identical across competing pin suppliers is important to get the right size .
One way to reduce the risk of touching live is to sleeve the pins like in the 13A British plug and the 2.5A Europlug . This requires the stem of each pin to be slightly thinner so the sleeved part of the pin is no thicker than the exposed tip, thus with folded-over metal, the stem would be narrow and single layer . The length of the sleeves need to be standarsized by NEMA, while the manufacturing techniques would be shared with all other bladed plug types (Australian, Japanese, Chinese etc.).
I asked my dad that question lots of times since he had his own electric shop. Dad told me the holes were a relief cut to lessen the pressure on the two blades...so thats gospel to me.
Growing up in a developing country, I always saw those holes being used to hook/attach/tie bare wires for quick connections. I never questioned that purpose until I became fully aware of how dangerous that practice is!
Holes are used to separate tip from the rest of the connector. In other words holes are to create fuses: if wire is shortened and you insert cord into outlet tips make contact and metal around holes melts like fuse.
The us is a developing country, you're from the us?
@@cupuacu4life13
He means like brazil
@@flyingsky1559 owie
I’m younger so maybe it’s different, but we used type n or type c plugs without holes.
"It typically takes decades for a receptacle to wear to that point"
*laughs in cheap apartment*
Sameeee
Our house was built in late 2003 - just as all manufacturing moved to China. I've had to replace every receptacle that has seen even moderate use.
Yup.
As someone who recently moved into an apartment with really bad outlets, learn how to replace them. It's honestly really easy if you're even moderately handy, and not at all dangerous if you just turn off the breaker before working on anything (I cannot stress this enough, get an outlet tester. For like $10 you can get a tester that will tell you if an outlet has power and if its wired correctly). The actual parts are like $1-2 each, for like $10 I replaced all the worn out outlets in my apartment, and now none of my plugs are falling out.
Yeeep.
"Mayonnaise is an off-white jam" is my new "Sneezing isn't normal"
I never sneeze.
@@TechnologyConnections it's unnatural
As a kid, I remember being told in health class that the reflex to close your eyes when you sneeze is there because if you didn't, your eyeballs would pop out. Which is a hell of a thing to drop on a ten-year-old with seasonal allergies.
@@TechnologyConnections Witch!
@@TechnologyConnections ey VB watchers
"... mayonnaise is an off-white jam" might be the most upsetting thing I've ever heard you say on this or any other channel, even in brief guest appearances like on that losing connection gameshow Tom Scott did that time.
Absolutely. It would be a jelly if anything, because a jam would be mayonnaise with hard boiled egg bits in it
15:50 i remember using a power chord that had an on/off lock switch to secure the plug in place,to prevent it from coming off and having to be connecting it over and over again
Very thorough analysis, but I might capable of adding a solutional point of view HERE!
The holes actually prevents to some degree the accidental slip-out of the blades. That is why on non-important devices or low-energy devices (like small transformers) they do not have holes. You want to easily take them out, and there is no importance in an accidental pull-out.
In addition to that, there is a sensation of having pluged it in comletely when one passes the holes. It is a psychological factor. You feell the "click" and you know you have made contact, then go pass it and you know it is connected and energized.
From these two. The most important seems to be that a soft or medium accidental pull won't take the plug out. And also, a simple distant pulling should not be used (and thus is prevented by this design) because you need to GRAB the plug completely to overcome that resistance instead of pulling the cord from the distance (which involves various different risks).
I hope you like my insights, would be an honor to me to get a like from the author and the audience. Thank you! Keep plugged in to these channel. It is a lovely nerdy depiction on how geniuses think!
I've seen the holes used to ensure that a device can't be plugged in by inserting a small lock or zip tie with tag on - Lock Out/Tag Out.
Some Bunn Coffeemakers come with a warning tag ziptied through the holes on the plug, telling the buyer to make sure to read at least the quick instructions before plugging it in. This is because if the user does not fill the reservoir before plugging the machine in, it will rapidly burn out the heating element and be a fire hazard.
@@Woden325 That makes sense...in a way...seems like a design oversight. I've had my crews zip-tie tags to the plugs through the hole of bad equipment to keep it from being used. I never assumed they were put there for that reason - just a "happy accident".
@@justinahole336 It's one of those feature/bug situations. Basically, the coffee maker keeps a reservoir of water hot all the time for rapid brewing. This is the opposite of a typical home coffee maker, where it's only switched on when someone is ready to brew. Hence the warning note on the plug (and another one stuck over the power switch).
When you said the plugs without holes seem wrong, I really related to that. The few times I’ve seen them without I always associated them with cheapness or laziness.
Wait that right side pin is LIVE? I can't even imagine how many times I've almost touched that damn thing trying to pull a tight plug at a weird angle
The receptacles shown especially the commercial grade, are upsidedown. U.s. wiring code states that the grounding pin to be mounted at the top. That way if a 3 pronged cord is plugged in the grounding pin is at the top of the receptacles. If it becomes loose the exposed part of the plug is the grounding point and helps prevent an accidental contact electrical shock. If you go to any hospital, Doctor's office or major company, if you look at the receptacles, the round ground hole is at the top. 15 amp or 20 amp receptacle all the same way.
Me: "Why is there a 20 minute video about two holes in plugs?"
Also me: "imma watch the whole thing"
Listen, I have sat and listened to this man read the manual to his microwave for 30 minutes. He has an incredible talent for making the banal interesting and engaging.
@@finalvistas9087 haha absolutely! He has a wonderful talent! His videos pair well with my ADHD. I'll be out in my day, think of something about a mundane object. I get home and find he's got a video on it. A legend.
Sure everyone was thinking the same thing. It’s to bad plugs with out holes look cheap
It has over a million views
Basically.
Living in NZ, where our slots are slanted away from each other and always have a power switch, this is like watching TV from an alternate dimension.
as dankpods said "make it aussie" before bending the plug on a switching supply with pliers.
Is Jacinda Ardin's brother Canada's Trudeau? They look like peas in a pod.. But a very twisted sick evil pod. In India which is 220V we used plug in dip in the cup water boilers to make tea. They energize the cups which were stainless steel so if u accidently touch the cup it doesn't tickle.
@@HappyBeezerStudios I think in the stupid iPod accessories video
You are now entering.. The Twilight Zone
I will tell you of a very practical (useful) purpose for the holes. In more than one occasions in my life, I have had to join a power cord to and extension cord. I have used to holes to place the wires of the extension cord and secure it with electrical tape.
Thanks, I was wondering about what they were for. We don't have those in Australia, but sometimes I get cheap adapters bundled in with stuff I buy
Did it take anybody else until "NEMA toads" to get the original "toads over at NEMA" reference to hit? 😀
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nematode
I got it. very clever
Nope! Giggled the first time.
I thought he just used toads as a term of endearment. 😁
@@SnailSlugSlut Same.. It just didn't even register.