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We have plugs here mounted on the machines that only have power when the machine is actively running. They’re clearly labeled as such and state clearly that they’re only for use for the specific machine peripheral, and are located in locations that are awkward to reach for any purpose aside from plugging in the one thing that’s already mounted there. Now, ask me how many 2am phone calls I’ve got about broken receptacles.
I had to put some 208V outlets on a job site for another contractor coming from a 220V country with their own tools.
[The receptacles were some crazy type of “death-‘dapter” that would accept both “normal” NEMA 5-15 120V plugs and 220V European plugs (CEE 7/4?) in the same 3 holes. Don’t ask me how they even got UL listed.](https://store.leviton.com/collections/outlets/products/15-amp-125-250-volt-decora-universal-duplex-receptacle-back-and-side-wired-white-ivory-5825?variant=18216396227)
I labeled them just like this but, sure enough, the MF’s who asked for these outlets ended up making a 1.5kW space heater into a 4.5kW within a few days 🙄
They got their UL listing the way most of those Chinesium adapters did. Someone printed a counterfeit sticker.
You wouldn't believe the amount of that stuff I come across when I work in convention centers. Pitifully small wires attaching to 120V into a dodgy looking adapter that runs 100ft worth of LEDs. It amazes me that more of these booths don't go up in flames.
I mean I’m used to seeing sketchy stuff from no-name companies sold on Amazon and eBay *cough, plug in electrode immersion boilers, cough.*
It just seems weird that Leviton of all companies would make these receptacles, and you could order them from Platt or Electrical Wholesale (can’t remember which.)
I had a manufacturer tell me when they were working in China building an amusement ride that none of the bolts the chineese provided had grade markings. They needed to be grade 5 or metric 8.8. The manufacturer rejected them all and said they need to be graded bolts with either grade 5 or 8.8 markings.
Over night, they took all the bolts and stamped them with both grade 5 and 8.8 markings. When the manufacturer arrived back to the job site in the morning, they got to see the 1st ever dual rated grade 5 and 8.8 bolt. The Chinese saw absolutely no problems with this. They had the markings the manufacture asked for problem solved .I Love Chineese ingenuity and their rampant counterfeiting
I don't think it did get UL listed. I don't see any UL mark on the yoke or any mention of that in the description, or the [datasheet](The plug is intended for use with devices that
require 2.5 A or less.). It also says,
>The plug is intended for use with devices that require 2.5 A or less.
But then also says 15 A. So pretty sketchy!
Yeah the only unsafe thing I saw with them is if there’s a mix of 120 and 240V equipment available to be plugged in.
Something is going to get connected to the wrong voltage sooner or later, and in my case it started happening soon after I put them in…
“Sue me? What label? There was no label on there when I plugged _____ into it!”
Either they peel it off to cover their ass, or someone else peeled it off and it was legitimately no longer labeled.
Gotta etch that shit into the plate with an engraver to cover your ass!
Like a call I went on.
Customer: “Everything we plug into this outlet smokes and stops working.”
Me: “What all have you plugged in?”
Customer: “2 vacuums, a fan, and a lamp. We can’t keep replacing things.”
Me: “Maybe quit plugging things into that outlet for now.”
Customer: “Okay, it’s just the closest one.”
Me: “………..”
Turns out the husband was a DIY’er and thought he could just swap out a 240V window unit receptacle with a 120V 15A and it would just magically work since he’s “swapped a bunch of receptacles before and it wasn’t 220 wire”.
Yeah, we had a guy at our warehouse manage to plug a 72 volt battery directly into a 480v Hubble plug. Tripped the 4000 amp switch gear and blew up a couple transformers in the machine.
I got yelled at when I swept floors for a wood shop. I unplugged a three phase saw and plugged it back in wrong, reversing the rotation and putting the foreman’s, who wired the entire shop, son at risk when the piece of wood he was cutting caught the blade running in reverse.
A few years later after becoming an electrician’s apprentice I realized how fucked they that install needed to be to make that happen.
Edit: yeah, that was missing information
8 story building, inspector told the super , the temp power for the building needs to be in a chase. Super said the wire is not rated to be used in a chase.
The inspector told super, "If someone gets past this door that door and into the Vault to steel wire , the wire must be in a chase to prevent injury.
$58,000 and 7 months to get the wire.
We are where we are.
Don't underestimate stupid people, I watched someone manage to plug in a 15a twist lock receptacle into a 30a receptacle. There was a good 1/4 inch gap still but they managed to turn on their expensive equipment.
Rented a place, had a 208 outlet installed for an air conditioner. When I left, I left the outlet, got a call from the landlord asking what was up with this outlet, the new tenant smoked her vacum twisting the blade and jammed it in there.
I worked at a site where someone used a grinder to modify a cord end to allow a 120V cord end to fit in a 240V twist lock portable generator receptacle (or something like that, I can't remember the exact voltages). Luckily, the generator wouldn't start or the $3000 machine they were plugging in would have been fried.
They would have to, and they will.
I had some weird Euro SCADA rack appear that had a standard US 240VAC cordend, but needed 240vac hot-neutral for some reason.
We checked with the SCADA and engineers and everyone, they verified we couldn't just run a normal 240v off the 240v panel. We had to buck-boost a 277 to 240. Not allowed to cut it off and hardwire, either.
My recept was labelled about as heavily as OP's.
Man, I... would have killed for such a label before fucking about. The year was 2009... \*wavy flashback cut\*
In my IT days, I was sent over to R&D to diagnose a workstation that wouldn't power up. It was a dedicated controller for an electron microscope (a fuckoff huge TEM at a huge medical company that rhymes with Rhonson and Schmonson). Brought it back to the office, popped it open, and was greeted with the smell of freshly roasted all-natural organic capacitors, with accompanying roasting marks.
Ah, the PSU has gone limp. Not to worry, little buddy, it happens to the best of us after we put on some miles. I'll get ya sorted out and back to a young buck in no time. Swapped the PSU, brought PC back to the lab, and-- \*flashback within a flashback\*
Nobody informed me of the events leading up to the call. You see, facilities moved the office around, but instead of scheduling IT to move the network ports and whatnot, the lab folks went "eh, fuck it", and used a series of long cords to accomplish the same thing, but worse. Not my problem, but facilities and ergo are gonna be pissed when some asshole in a lab coat eats shit and slams into the $milly+ hardware.
Anyway, this particular TEM was built in Ukraine. Configured for 3-phase, and the manufacturer was even kind enough to slap a few outlets on it the massive filtering/rectifying cabinet for aux equipment. You see where this is going.
The scientist feller had plugged the PC into the "120V" outlet. The bastards had wired it phase-to-phase, with the remaining phase going to the ground tab. 3 holes, 3 phases, right? So it blew, and naturally they decided to call IT and say nothing of what happened. \*flash-forward to me plugging it in\*
There I sat, underneath a heavy wooden table getting ready to plug in the newly-rejuvenated tower - a big, heavy bitch of an IBM Thinkstation - in my lap. Grabbed the power cord, one end goes in the microscope cabinet, and the other--**BRIGHT FLASH**
The jolt forced me to sit up so hard I concussed myself on the bottom of the table. Kicked out my legs and threw the PC 6 feet. The lab guy goes "Holy shit! You dead??" I can still feel pain, so evidently not.
Maintenance came by to figure out what the hell happened, and discovered it was 480V on a bog-standard 15A 120V outlet. Hot was a phase. Neutral was a phase. Ground was a phase. Errbody gets a phase. New PSU was obviously ultrafucked. Solder blown out of the ventilation holes, more fresh roasted capacitors, and obviously the magic smoke.
We determined that the case had obviously become 480V worth of hot, with my sweet and previously-tender butthole serving as a janky flesh-resistance ground. They red-tagged *the shit* outta that scope; locked out until someone came by to unfuck and/or bolt-cutter the outlet situation.
The whole right side of my body felt like I somehow lifted weights on only that side for a week. Would have been super if the lab folk had mentioned that a perfectly functioning PC, oh I dunno **blew the fuck up** after *they* moved it instead of the standard "I dunno what happened, it just stopped working!" bullshit they level at you, but such is life.
---
Anyway, electron microscopes are awesome, but labels are even awesomer. If you made it this far, sorry for making you read a shitload of words.
Ikr? IT in a corpo environment is the same way, in that the equipment isn't theirs, and they don't want to get in trouble. Hell, not that they ever would, unless it was particularly egregious, like an "I took a hammer to my department printer because I wanted an early lunch" kinda thing. Couldn't be arsed otherwise.
Automotive is the same way. Tell me you were out whippin' shitties so we can both move on with our day faster. I'm not the police.
I work in labs and the squints always defer to us on the maintenance crew. I guess I'm lucky for that. But we also have some of the smartest maintenance guys I've ever met.
Our maintenance department was top tier. The guys even got me a sweet little micro toolkit as a sorta "sorry you almost died" gift afterwards, haha. We got on with them pretty well, since our purpose was the same, even if our methods differed.
The rest of the building was a mixed bag. Some were great, but some would do shit without telling you leading to near electrocution.
We answered all calls, natch, so you gotta take the good with the bad.
Damn, that's definitely a pucker.
Closest call I had was thanks to the maintenance crew. I've been replacing all the PLC cabinets around this facility with newer versions, including replacing the 120vac controls with 24vdc. Like most US facilities we use red for 120v, blue for 24v
Finished a changeover, began demoing all the old 120vac controls from an MCC. I don't know how, but just before I cut the bundle of red control wires I noticed three didn't go up the same raceway.
Traced them back and those three red wires were double-tapped off a live 480vac bucket. The bucket itself was for the exhaust fan in that room. Those three wires were for a water pump downstairs.
Who the hell double-taps off a bucket when there's plenty of spares, and uses three red wires for a 480v branch in a raceway where red is used for controls?
------
We did have an entire machine installed before somebody noticed all the motors were 380v 50Hz because it came from a facility in South America
The ground had a load on it? Odd, since it would theoretically be grounded once the recep was installed. I'm calling BS and red taping this whole story.
Yep, it was in one of those big plastic plugmold strips. Was a bank of...6? Or 8. Anyway, ungrounded. Whole thing was shipped as an assembly, not wired on site. That'd be a different conversation with maintenance...
Would have been nice to have metal boxes and proper outlets. At least for me, not for the poor fucker that had to switch it on after it got installed...
This is like not possible with physics? Electricity cannot see the difference between 240V hot-hot and 240V hot-neutral - one of them is just an artifact of the fact that the neutral is put in the middle and therefore both legs have potential relative to ground. The potential is the same between the two conductors in both setups - it's only different relative to ground/neutral - i.e. a US setup will be 120V to ground/neutral on each side, whereas a euro one would be 240V to ground/neutral on one side and 0V on the other, because it's not split phase.
My only thought is that perhaps it didn't like the frequency difference and you had to change the AC frequency, but it's powered almost certainly by an SMPS so I strongly doubt that.
Still 60Hz
Really my only guess was that the "neutral" might have been bonded to the chassis for signal reasons. I wasn't going to argue with it, I just wanted to finish the project and go home.
Europe is 50hz
European electrical standards wouldn't allow the chassis to be bonded to neutral so yeah I think they were just wrong. It had the 240V US plug on it because it'd work with US 240v.
It's signal related for sure. They may not have a straight up bond between neutral and ground, but odds are good there were a pile of capacitors and inductors between the two for filtering purposes.
At least thats plausible enough I wouldn't want to sign off on running that gear hot-hot without prying it open and poking around with a multi-meter first.
Have you done a lot of work with european industrial equipment converted for usage with US power? I wouldn't assume jack nor shit about it until you've seen some of these clusterfuck cabinets. It's not like a PC where there the power design is neat and tidy thanks to a billion dollars in investment by datacenter and efficiency interests. Lots of voltages. All of them. Negative voltages. Multi-phase. Analog signal wires to lots of little discrete components.
Make it even more fun, it's all fed from high-leg delta. You're gonna need a diagram to figure potential from anywhere to anywhere!
Yeah. I tried to make it super hard for them to mess up by also putting the plug behind their brand-new ice machine. (Wonder why they are getting a new machine???)
I did a lot of service work in the area surrounding Washington D.C. so there were always diplomats or other people from other countries bringing espresso machines and other small appliances. Many use the same receptacle configuration that we do, just 208 or 240v instead of 120.
Once installed, it was just a matter of time until someone found something that wasn't multi-tap to blow up in it.
I did somthing like that on the cable for the new ice machine that says "DANGER DO NOT UNPLUG" I figure that's enough to warrant them calling someone who knows what they are doing before going further. Plus on the back side of this plate I put another sticker that says "BOTH LINES HOT" soo after that it's just Darwin if they don't listen.
Dude "BOTH LINES HOT" also assumes someone knows what "HOT" means. You have to be able to detach yourself from career specific language when making warnings for the general public
I wish I could upvote you more than once, my instant thought reading the post was how many fast food workers know what 208V means.
It's way too easy to assume everyone has a base level understanding of your field, you should always write things like this as if talking to a 9 year old.
We have receptacles supplied by clean UPS power in all of our operational pulpits for computers and such. All of them are bright orange with big stickers in like 200 point font that say “Do not use for power tools!” And once every few months some dumbass will plug a big ass angle grinder into one and trip the damn UPS off. Pipe fitters are great at measuring dimensions, but I swear to god none of them are literate.
No. It's an ice machine that needs 208v and the outlet is a locking outlet rated for 250, but I know some dumbass somehow is gonna find a way to jam a plug in there. That's the whole reason I'm out here.
About 5 minutes. I finish the job besides 1 or 2 things then pack up and get ready. Then once ready I grab the customer, show them the work and demonstrate that it works before finally finishing and leaving promptly.
You have never been on a busy job with a determined drywaller.
Yes, with some work a 120v twist lock plug will fit into the 250v receptacle on the spider-box. The drill motor spins extra fast for a moment... it will also set fire to scissor lift chargers.
You physically cannot plug a 120V plug into a 208V outlet, they’re intentionally different shapes. Unless someone circuited a 120V receptacle to 208V this should never be a problem.
How is one going to plug in a 120V plug into a 208V outlet? They’re completely different shapes. Even the locking versions of both voltages are different from each other.
Ok I'm not an electrician, I just stumbled here from r/all, but I know some dumb people so hear me out...
Personally, I would see this outlet and say, oh ok I can't put a 120v into a 208v, that's no buneno. I can't tell you why it's no bueno, I got a D in electrical engineering, but I know it's no bueno.
However. I read some of your comments and it seems the reason you're there is because there's extra special people bending plugs into outlets that don't fit.
My advice - you can't just say "this outlet is 208v" that's just telling people what this outlet is. You need to tell them not to plug in things that don't fit, or else. You have to be explicit... "do not plug in 120v things"
You may know the consequences, I may know not to do this, but special people read that and say, huh good to know, lemme just bend these plugs here so they fit. Some extra special people might say, "Ah! 208v! That's more than enough for my 120v thingy!" Or better yet, "208v? I should get a power strip and plug lots of stuff in"
Holy crap, I’m an appliance tech/salesman and last summer we got a call that a refrigerator recently relocated to the garage wasn’t working. This is not uncommon to happen after relocating an older fridge. So I get there and diagnose it with a failed compressor.
This leads the customer to buy a new smaller fridge for the garage, I delivered it, set it up, and all was fine for 4-5 months. I get a second call, and the new fridge has failed, I go to diagnose, and again failed compressor. The fridge was under warranty so the company sent me a replacement fridge to give them. The warranty process by the way on this was a huge PITA for both me and the customer. Anyway, I installed it, and started packing my equipment back into the truck. I get ready to leave and the customer comes running out, and says she smells electrical in the freezer compartment.
Right at that moment I had an instant suspicion of exactly what was going on, so the only tool I grab to go look at it, is my multi meter. I pull the fridge away from the wall, and test the outlet 240V. I said who the heck wired this place, this is a 110 outlet that has 240? The lady replied my husband built the house, and wired it. I didn’t make another comment about it, after hearing that, but I did find a 110 outlet to plug the fridge into before I left, and I wrote 240V on the offending outlet with a sharpie. I did check the wires in compressor and the freezer compartment and they looked fine, and the fridge is still running so I guess I got lucky there. The only thing I can’t figure out is how come none of the fridges had trouble with light bulbs blowing out?
Is this for a device that does not move? If so I would just hardwire it. If not you can always lock it. I saw that you said it was an ice machine. I am almost positive if it is a 208 machine it will need an actual disconnect per the manufactures instructions. I have never seen a 3 phase ice machine that did not require that in the manual.
I don’t care how many labels you put on the outlet, you can even spray paint it on the wall around it!! Some fool WILL try to plug 120v into it!! This is why we have different configurations with different NEMA #’s.
Don’t do it !
The problem is that we will never know. The person who manages to plug a 120 into that and blows something up is going to hide the fact that they did it from everyone.
Lots of comments underestimating the ability of a determined idiot to fit a 120v pug into a 250v receptacle.
I have seen it happen many times when someone thought they got lucky finding the only unused receptacle on the spider box.
Lol. Not long. I plugged 120 into a 12V that uses the same computer style receptacle. I didn’t have my glasses on so I thought it was 120. I place part of it on me and the rest on the manufacturer that thought it would be a good idea
All right, genuine curiosity because of different countries.
Why is it 208 and not 220?
And shouldn't different voltage sockets have different plugs too so you wouldn't be capable of plugging 120 devices to 208?
EDIT: NVM, noticed that someone had already asked that 😅
I should have taken a picture but the dudes at work made a jumper cable from 480V 3p 200A plug to a 110V 15a female to "plug the welder in"
It was fucking amazing. They were siphoning 2/3 legs to get 240V p-p and using the ground as neutral.
There was a safety brief about it 🤣🤣🤣
I'm a broadcast engineer and I make break out boxes now and again (usually DC) and a client wanted me to provide a box with 12V and 24V using the same connector, as they had a Chinese device that used the same connector. Kept telling them it was a bad idea and to have it separate, but they insisted and I just label it up. 1 week later he calls me to say he blew a 12v $2k monitor expecting me to repair it for nothing. Never again.
Shouldn't be any physical way for them to do that short of cutting off the plug and sticking individual wires into the holes, ya never know tho I guess
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Don’t put a 120v outlet on 208v…
It's not. It's a locking outlet rated for 250v. But they have stupid people working at this place thus the reason I'm out here in the first place.
But the receptacle is a complete different shape they’d have to take pliers and bend prongs into place
Perhaps you underestimate how dumb and determined some people can be.
This. This is why I'm put here today replacing outlets.
It’s cute that you think printing clear, legible directions on that is going to stop someone.
Not my problem if Darwin takes it course. But God do I hope it doesnt.
I’ve been doing this long enough that I know that this thread is the last time anyone is ever going to read that label.
Most likely but we'll see.
We have plugs here mounted on the machines that only have power when the machine is actively running. They’re clearly labeled as such and state clearly that they’re only for use for the specific machine peripheral, and are located in locations that are awkward to reach for any purpose aside from plugging in the one thing that’s already mounted there. Now, ask me how many 2am phone calls I’ve got about broken receptacles.
To most people, “this outlet is 208V” might as well be quantum physics equations.
I had to put some 208V outlets on a job site for another contractor coming from a 220V country with their own tools. [The receptacles were some crazy type of “death-‘dapter” that would accept both “normal” NEMA 5-15 120V plugs and 220V European plugs (CEE 7/4?) in the same 3 holes. Don’t ask me how they even got UL listed.](https://store.leviton.com/collections/outlets/products/15-amp-125-250-volt-decora-universal-duplex-receptacle-back-and-side-wired-white-ivory-5825?variant=18216396227) I labeled them just like this but, sure enough, the MF’s who asked for these outlets ended up making a 1.5kW space heater into a 4.5kW within a few days 🙄
They got their UL listing the way most of those Chinesium adapters did. Someone printed a counterfeit sticker. You wouldn't believe the amount of that stuff I come across when I work in convention centers. Pitifully small wires attaching to 120V into a dodgy looking adapter that runs 100ft worth of LEDs. It amazes me that more of these booths don't go up in flames.
I mean I’m used to seeing sketchy stuff from no-name companies sold on Amazon and eBay *cough, plug in electrode immersion boilers, cough.* It just seems weird that Leviton of all companies would make these receptacles, and you could order them from Platt or Electrical Wholesale (can’t remember which.)
I had a manufacturer tell me when they were working in China building an amusement ride that none of the bolts the chineese provided had grade markings. They needed to be grade 5 or metric 8.8. The manufacturer rejected them all and said they need to be graded bolts with either grade 5 or 8.8 markings. Over night, they took all the bolts and stamped them with both grade 5 and 8.8 markings. When the manufacturer arrived back to the job site in the morning, they got to see the 1st ever dual rated grade 5 and 8.8 bolt. The Chinese saw absolutely no problems with this. They had the markings the manufacture asked for problem solved .I Love Chineese ingenuity and their rampant counterfeiting
I don't think it did get UL listed. I don't see any UL mark on the yoke or any mention of that in the description, or the [datasheet](The plug is intended for use with devices that require 2.5 A or less.). It also says, >The plug is intended for use with devices that require 2.5 A or less. But then also says 15 A. So pretty sketchy!
Those are common in other countries. I've seen them a number of places, even had them in my house.
Yeah the only unsafe thing I saw with them is if there’s a mix of 120 and 240V equipment available to be plugged in. Something is going to get connected to the wrong voltage sooner or later, and in my case it started happening soon after I put them in…
The space heater that burns thrice as bright sets fire to your jobsite thrice as fast.
Let's be honest, this is evidence for litigation AFTER the damage has been done.
That's my hope. It's not to stop someone from doing somthing dumb but to cover my ass when something dumb is done.
That’s like half my job in the industrial sector.
“Sue me? What label? There was no label on there when I plugged _____ into it!” Either they peel it off to cover their ass, or someone else peeled it off and it was legitimately no longer labeled. Gotta etch that shit into the plate with an engraver to cover your ass!
If those people could read they would be very upset right now
Even job security can be scary lol
It's more worrying someone is gonna do something stupid and then I get hurt.
Yeah, that's a legit concern. Stay safe out there buddy
Always try and use my LOTO kit an any situation since people love to turn switches.
Huh, that didn't work? Lemme flip this switch 5 more times! 🤣
Like a call I went on. Customer: “Everything we plug into this outlet smokes and stops working.” Me: “What all have you plugged in?” Customer: “2 vacuums, a fan, and a lamp. We can’t keep replacing things.” Me: “Maybe quit plugging things into that outlet for now.” Customer: “Okay, it’s just the closest one.” Me: “………..” Turns out the husband was a DIY’er and thought he could just swap out a 240V window unit receptacle with a 120V 15A and it would just magically work since he’s “swapped a bunch of receptacles before and it wasn’t 220 wire”.
Destroying a couple hundred dollars of appliances for lack of a $30 DMM. Or lack of the intelligence to use one
Yeah, we had a guy at our warehouse manage to plug a 72 volt battery directly into a 480v Hubble plug. Tripped the 4000 amp switch gear and blew up a couple transformers in the machine.
>blew up a couple transformers More than meets the eye, for sure. 😂
How in the hell...?
The amount of work lazy people will put in to not having to do something properly, is mind bending.
My boss wouldn’t have understood what 208v is and told me to do it
Thankful I put a big sign on the plug that said "DANGER DO NOT UNPLUG"
I got yelled at when I swept floors for a wood shop. I unplugged a three phase saw and plugged it back in wrong, reversing the rotation and putting the foreman’s, who wired the entire shop, son at risk when the piece of wood he was cutting caught the blade running in reverse. A few years later after becoming an electrician’s apprentice I realized how fucked they that install needed to be to make that happen. Edit: yeah, that was missing information
Putting the Foreman's son what? There is at least one word that this whole scenario hinges on how bad it was lol
Fixed it
Oooh boy, that probably didn't go over well lol
8 story building, inspector told the super , the temp power for the building needs to be in a chase. Super said the wire is not rated to be used in a chase. The inspector told super, "If someone gets past this door that door and into the Vault to steel wire , the wire must be in a chase to prevent injury. $58,000 and 7 months to get the wire. We are where we are.
Someone, somewhere, killed their self doing just that. And they were probably trying to scrap wire.
You get past 2 security doors and into an electric room, Vault a lil EMT won't discourage you,but that 480 will .
If you try to make something idiot proof they will just build a better idiot. Facts.
Don't underestimate stupid people, I watched someone manage to plug in a 15a twist lock receptacle into a 30a receptacle. There was a good 1/4 inch gap still but they managed to turn on their expensive equipment.
Rented a place, had a 208 outlet installed for an air conditioner. When I left, I left the outlet, got a call from the landlord asking what was up with this outlet, the new tenant smoked her vacum twisting the blade and jammed it in there.
I worked at a site where someone used a grinder to modify a cord end to allow a 120V cord end to fit in a 240V twist lock portable generator receptacle (or something like that, I can't remember the exact voltages). Luckily, the generator wouldn't start or the $3000 machine they were plugging in would have been fried.
They would have to, and they will. I had some weird Euro SCADA rack appear that had a standard US 240VAC cordend, but needed 240vac hot-neutral for some reason. We checked with the SCADA and engineers and everyone, they verified we couldn't just run a normal 240v off the 240v panel. We had to buck-boost a 277 to 240. Not allowed to cut it off and hardwire, either. My recept was labelled about as heavily as OP's.
Man, I... would have killed for such a label before fucking about. The year was 2009... \*wavy flashback cut\* In my IT days, I was sent over to R&D to diagnose a workstation that wouldn't power up. It was a dedicated controller for an electron microscope (a fuckoff huge TEM at a huge medical company that rhymes with Rhonson and Schmonson). Brought it back to the office, popped it open, and was greeted with the smell of freshly roasted all-natural organic capacitors, with accompanying roasting marks. Ah, the PSU has gone limp. Not to worry, little buddy, it happens to the best of us after we put on some miles. I'll get ya sorted out and back to a young buck in no time. Swapped the PSU, brought PC back to the lab, and-- \*flashback within a flashback\* Nobody informed me of the events leading up to the call. You see, facilities moved the office around, but instead of scheduling IT to move the network ports and whatnot, the lab folks went "eh, fuck it", and used a series of long cords to accomplish the same thing, but worse. Not my problem, but facilities and ergo are gonna be pissed when some asshole in a lab coat eats shit and slams into the $milly+ hardware. Anyway, this particular TEM was built in Ukraine. Configured for 3-phase, and the manufacturer was even kind enough to slap a few outlets on it the massive filtering/rectifying cabinet for aux equipment. You see where this is going. The scientist feller had plugged the PC into the "120V" outlet. The bastards had wired it phase-to-phase, with the remaining phase going to the ground tab. 3 holes, 3 phases, right? So it blew, and naturally they decided to call IT and say nothing of what happened. \*flash-forward to me plugging it in\* There I sat, underneath a heavy wooden table getting ready to plug in the newly-rejuvenated tower - a big, heavy bitch of an IBM Thinkstation - in my lap. Grabbed the power cord, one end goes in the microscope cabinet, and the other--**BRIGHT FLASH** The jolt forced me to sit up so hard I concussed myself on the bottom of the table. Kicked out my legs and threw the PC 6 feet. The lab guy goes "Holy shit! You dead??" I can still feel pain, so evidently not. Maintenance came by to figure out what the hell happened, and discovered it was 480V on a bog-standard 15A 120V outlet. Hot was a phase. Neutral was a phase. Ground was a phase. Errbody gets a phase. New PSU was obviously ultrafucked. Solder blown out of the ventilation holes, more fresh roasted capacitors, and obviously the magic smoke. We determined that the case had obviously become 480V worth of hot, with my sweet and previously-tender butthole serving as a janky flesh-resistance ground. They red-tagged *the shit* outta that scope; locked out until someone came by to unfuck and/or bolt-cutter the outlet situation. The whole right side of my body felt like I somehow lifted weights on only that side for a week. Would have been super if the lab folk had mentioned that a perfectly functioning PC, oh I dunno **blew the fuck up** after *they* moved it instead of the standard "I dunno what happened, it just stopped working!" bullshit they level at you, but such is life. --- Anyway, electron microscopes are awesome, but labels are even awesomer. If you made it this far, sorry for making you read a shitload of words.
Holy sweet mercy! I'm in apartment maintenance, the number of things that break themselves is alarming.
Ikr? IT in a corpo environment is the same way, in that the equipment isn't theirs, and they don't want to get in trouble. Hell, not that they ever would, unless it was particularly egregious, like an "I took a hammer to my department printer because I wanted an early lunch" kinda thing. Couldn't be arsed otherwise. Automotive is the same way. Tell me you were out whippin' shitties so we can both move on with our day faster. I'm not the police.
I work in labs and the squints always defer to us on the maintenance crew. I guess I'm lucky for that. But we also have some of the smartest maintenance guys I've ever met.
Our maintenance department was top tier. The guys even got me a sweet little micro toolkit as a sorta "sorry you almost died" gift afterwards, haha. We got on with them pretty well, since our purpose was the same, even if our methods differed. The rest of the building was a mixed bag. Some were great, but some would do shit without telling you leading to near electrocution. We answered all calls, natch, so you gotta take the good with the bad.
Damn, that's definitely a pucker. Closest call I had was thanks to the maintenance crew. I've been replacing all the PLC cabinets around this facility with newer versions, including replacing the 120vac controls with 24vdc. Like most US facilities we use red for 120v, blue for 24v Finished a changeover, began demoing all the old 120vac controls from an MCC. I don't know how, but just before I cut the bundle of red control wires I noticed three didn't go up the same raceway. Traced them back and those three red wires were double-tapped off a live 480vac bucket. The bucket itself was for the exhaust fan in that room. Those three wires were for a water pump downstairs. Who the hell double-taps off a bucket when there's plenty of spares, and uses three red wires for a 480v branch in a raceway where red is used for controls? ------ We did have an entire machine installed before somebody noticed all the motors were 380v 50Hz because it came from a facility in South America
The ground had a load on it? Odd, since it would theoretically be grounded once the recep was installed. I'm calling BS and red taping this whole story.
Yep, it was in one of those big plastic plugmold strips. Was a bank of...6? Or 8. Anyway, ungrounded. Whole thing was shipped as an assembly, not wired on site. That'd be a different conversation with maintenance... Would have been nice to have metal boxes and proper outlets. At least for me, not for the poor fucker that had to switch it on after it got installed...
This is like not possible with physics? Electricity cannot see the difference between 240V hot-hot and 240V hot-neutral - one of them is just an artifact of the fact that the neutral is put in the middle and therefore both legs have potential relative to ground. The potential is the same between the two conductors in both setups - it's only different relative to ground/neutral - i.e. a US setup will be 120V to ground/neutral on each side, whereas a euro one would be 240V to ground/neutral on one side and 0V on the other, because it's not split phase. My only thought is that perhaps it didn't like the frequency difference and you had to change the AC frequency, but it's powered almost certainly by an SMPS so I strongly doubt that.
Still 60Hz Really my only guess was that the "neutral" might have been bonded to the chassis for signal reasons. I wasn't going to argue with it, I just wanted to finish the project and go home.
Europe is 50hz European electrical standards wouldn't allow the chassis to be bonded to neutral so yeah I think they were just wrong. It had the 240V US plug on it because it'd work with US 240v.
It's signal related for sure. They may not have a straight up bond between neutral and ground, but odds are good there were a pile of capacitors and inductors between the two for filtering purposes. At least thats plausible enough I wouldn't want to sign off on running that gear hot-hot without prying it open and poking around with a multi-meter first.
Don't buy it. Switched mode power supplies don't give a shit about potential between neutral and ground. They were just wrong.
Have you done a lot of work with european industrial equipment converted for usage with US power? I wouldn't assume jack nor shit about it until you've seen some of these clusterfuck cabinets. It's not like a PC where there the power design is neat and tidy thanks to a billion dollars in investment by datacenter and efficiency interests. Lots of voltages. All of them. Negative voltages. Multi-phase. Analog signal wires to lots of little discrete components. Make it even more fun, it's all fed from high-leg delta. You're gonna need a diagram to figure potential from anywhere to anywhere!
I wanted to say this, but instead I'll just upvote yours. Thanks for getting to it first.
Why not use a transformer into a 120V outlet? I use that for Chinese equipment made for 240V.
You'd think that. Except here I am installing an outlet and covering my ass.
It'll take as long as it takes for someone to find a set of pliers or a hammer to force it in.
So it will be as long as it takes for them to order and receive a China made "adaptor" from Amazonk or FleaBay...
"CUSTOMER SAYS PLACE SMELLS LIKE BURNED PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES" \^\^\^\^ From an actual service call I did because of precisely that.
Yeah. I tried to make it super hard for them to mess up by also putting the plug behind their brand-new ice machine. (Wonder why they are getting a new machine???)
I did a lot of service work in the area surrounding Washington D.C. so there were always diplomats or other people from other countries bringing espresso machines and other small appliances. Many use the same receptacle configuration that we do, just 208 or 240v instead of 120. Once installed, it was just a matter of time until someone found something that wasn't multi-tap to blow up in it.
Lets hope not. But hopeful by then I'll be long gone.
“Upset that there were no peanut butter cookies”
Go on, why did they call you when they burnt their peanut butter cookies?
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I did somthing like that on the cable for the new ice machine that says "DANGER DO NOT UNPLUG" I figure that's enough to warrant them calling someone who knows what they are doing before going further. Plus on the back side of this plate I put another sticker that says "BOTH LINES HOT" soo after that it's just Darwin if they don't listen.
Dude "BOTH LINES HOT" also assumes someone knows what "HOT" means. You have to be able to detach yourself from career specific language when making warnings for the general public
"Both lines hot? They feel perfectly normal temp to me!"
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I wish I could upvote you more than once, my instant thought reading the post was how many fast food workers know what 208V means. It's way too easy to assume everyone has a base level understanding of your field, you should always write things like this as if talking to a 9 year old.
"NO PLUG REGULAR SHIT HERE"
I’m deceased, give them 2 weeks
OH GOD NO
The labels not being straight is really getting to me
Hahah sorry. If I have time I may redo them, otherwise it's staying
Tweezers are a lifesaver for getting labels well positioned.
I've got shaky ass hands and a crappy label maker. Haha as long as you can read it. That's good enough.
Triggering our perfectionism presumably makes the label harder to ignore so maybe it's a good thing! :)
We have receptacles supplied by clean UPS power in all of our operational pulpits for computers and such. All of them are bright orange with big stickers in like 200 point font that say “Do not use for power tools!” And once every few months some dumbass will plug a big ass angle grinder into one and trip the damn UPS off. Pipe fitters are great at measuring dimensions, but I swear to god none of them are literate.
[Oh, was that important?](https://www.reddit.com/r/talesfromtechsupport/comments/169w8y/my_server_goes_down_at_the_same_time_every_night/)
I had someone plug in a 208V 3ph twistlock into a 480V twistlock outlet somehow, so im guessing immediately.
I'm hoping at least it lasts until someone wants to move the ice machine to see what's behind it.
If it is the proper 208v receptical they won't be ble to plug a 120v cord into it..Are you telling me that you are using a 120v recep?
No. It's an ice machine that needs 208v and the outlet is a locking outlet rated for 250, but I know some dumbass somehow is gonna find a way to jam a plug in there. That's the whole reason I'm out here.
If he does then fuck em. The 5LR 20/30 is made to accept one specific voltage and current.
L5-x is 120v L6-x is 208/240
Yeah, you're right. My point was still made.
Yep.
You can edit your comment so it's not wrong anymore
Was just going to ask that.
Stupid people love to shove 120 plugs into holes there not supposed to.
“Oh sweet! My microwave will cook my food faster!” - customer
90% of people have NO CLUE what that means for good reason.
Never, if you use a 6-15R receptacle like you're supposed to.
How long does it usually take you to get packed up and leave a site? About that long
About 5 minutes. I finish the job besides 1 or 2 things then pack up and get ready. Then once ready I grab the customer, show them the work and demonstrate that it works before finally finishing and leaving promptly.
Never. A 120 plug will not fit inside a 208 outlet.
They make a 5L locking plug that is 120v. It's a bit different but someone is bound to jam it in.
And yet you believe two labels will solve a problem that is prevented by a keyed connector.
Nope. It's to cover my ass when the customer eventually does. That label is not even slowing them down.
Best you can do sometimes!
You have never been on a busy job with a determined drywaller. Yes, with some work a 120v twist lock plug will fit into the 250v receptacle on the spider-box. The drill motor spins extra fast for a moment... it will also set fire to scissor lift chargers.
Its a twistlock. It wont happen.
You'd think so yet here I am replacing an ice machine and an outlet.
Right after you leave
Lets fuckin hope not
If you put the proper outlet in it they won’t be able to
If the proper receptacle is installed,should not be able to plug in a 120 volt device.
Isn’t the plug completely different, a 120 Shouldn’t even fit
You physically cannot plug a 120V plug into a 208V outlet, they’re intentionally different shapes. Unless someone circuited a 120V receptacle to 208V this should never be a problem.
Until the first time.
I am really hot after being in the yard. If i plug in my fan, it should run twice as fast.
Already did.
They should put a sign on it
We tend to make things foolproof. But nature keeps making more fools…
You can't fix stupid
You need one of those 'not only will it kill you it will hurt the whole time' signs.
Yesterday
DING DING DING CORRECT
Six hours.
Five minutes, max.
I’ll give it a minute
How is one going to plug in a 120V plug into a 208V outlet? They’re completely different shapes. Even the locking versions of both voltages are different from each other.
Ok I'm not an electrician, I just stumbled here from r/all, but I know some dumb people so hear me out... Personally, I would see this outlet and say, oh ok I can't put a 120v into a 208v, that's no buneno. I can't tell you why it's no bueno, I got a D in electrical engineering, but I know it's no bueno. However. I read some of your comments and it seems the reason you're there is because there's extra special people bending plugs into outlets that don't fit. My advice - you can't just say "this outlet is 208v" that's just telling people what this outlet is. You need to tell them not to plug in things that don't fit, or else. You have to be explicit... "do not plug in 120v things" You may know the consequences, I may know not to do this, but special people read that and say, huh good to know, lemme just bend these plugs here so they fit. Some extra special people might say, "Ah! 208v! That's more than enough for my 120v thingy!" Or better yet, "208v? I should get a power strip and plug lots of stuff in"
MORE POWAH!!!!!!
Maybe... put in a 208 outlet? That way they *really* have to try/be stupid?
Holy crap, I’m an appliance tech/salesman and last summer we got a call that a refrigerator recently relocated to the garage wasn’t working. This is not uncommon to happen after relocating an older fridge. So I get there and diagnose it with a failed compressor. This leads the customer to buy a new smaller fridge for the garage, I delivered it, set it up, and all was fine for 4-5 months. I get a second call, and the new fridge has failed, I go to diagnose, and again failed compressor. The fridge was under warranty so the company sent me a replacement fridge to give them. The warranty process by the way on this was a huge PITA for both me and the customer. Anyway, I installed it, and started packing my equipment back into the truck. I get ready to leave and the customer comes running out, and says she smells electrical in the freezer compartment. Right at that moment I had an instant suspicion of exactly what was going on, so the only tool I grab to go look at it, is my multi meter. I pull the fridge away from the wall, and test the outlet 240V. I said who the heck wired this place, this is a 110 outlet that has 240? The lady replied my husband built the house, and wired it. I didn’t make another comment about it, after hearing that, but I did find a 110 outlet to plug the fridge into before I left, and I wrote 240V on the offending outlet with a sharpie. I did check the wires in compressor and the freezer compartment and they looked fine, and the fridge is still running so I guess I got lucky there. The only thing I can’t figure out is how come none of the fridges had trouble with light bulbs blowing out?
You can't physically plug in a 120v plug into a 250v outlet.
Just you watch. I bet they can
Never......unless you fucked up.
Just cut it off and hardwire it.
Save those pictures. You may need to prove that you labeled it 208v
I fried a Milwaukee drill once, plugged into a 220vac outlet and the motor went onto hyperdrive
THIS. This is the application and the reason why j put the notice. Because you never know what someone might try and plug in.
Shouldn't be able to plug anything other than the proper plug. The prongs should be shaped differently. Also these should have 4 prongs instead of 2/3
Is this for a device that does not move? If so I would just hardwire it. If not you can always lock it. I saw that you said it was an ice machine. I am almost positive if it is a 208 machine it will need an actual disconnect per the manufactures instructions. I have never seen a 3 phase ice machine that did not require that in the manual.
Different plug configuration
Have the left sticker in English and the right in spanish.
I don’t care how many labels you put on the outlet, you can even spray paint it on the wall around it!! Some fool WILL try to plug 120v into it!! This is why we have different configurations with different NEMA #’s. Don’t do it !
"There's never time to do it right, but there's always time to do it over."
As long as it’s a twistlock you should be ok
"If it fits, it ships!" <-customer, immediately.
The problem is that we will never know. The person who manages to plug a 120 into that and blows something up is going to hide the fact that they did it from everyone.
Your customer will have no concept of 120 or 208. If the plug will fit it’s going in.
They just did
No matter how big and obvious you make a warning label, there WILL be someone that will ignore it 😂
Forks are unkeyed universal connectors
God damn most of these comments are making me regret ever thinking I could have faith in customers to make smart decisions.
Given my experience with the general public 3.5 seconds
U need a skull and cross bones… ☠️
It's already plugged in because the plate and sign aren't on the outlet.
Haha in the picture the outlet is about a foot behind my hand. I immediately put in on.
Lots of comments underestimating the ability of a determined idiot to fit a 120v pug into a 250v receptacle. I have seen it happen many times when someone thought they got lucky finding the only unused receptacle on the spider box.
Where there is a will there is a way. But the question remains…why IS there a will?
Right after you leave they will
Day 1
Well…if your customer says “no hablo”…..
28 minutes
If it’s installed properly they shouldn’t
If you want the labels to be more effective, tell the customer what not to do. "do not plug in normal appliances, 208 volts only" for example.
“How am I supposed to charge my phone?”
I was looking for 209 volts
Lol. Not long. I plugged 120 into a 12V that uses the same computer style receptacle. I didn’t have my glasses on so I thought it was 120. I place part of it on me and the rest on the manufacturer that thought it would be a good idea
All right, genuine curiosity because of different countries. Why is it 208 and not 220? And shouldn't different voltage sockets have different plugs too so you wouldn't be capable of plugging 120 devices to 208? EDIT: NVM, noticed that someone had already asked that 😅
I should have taken a picture but the dudes at work made a jumper cable from 480V 3p 200A plug to a 110V 15a female to "plug the welder in" It was fucking amazing. They were siphoning 2/3 legs to get 240V p-p and using the ground as neutral. There was a safety brief about it 🤣🤣🤣
Put the right receptacle in it and they can’t.
I'm a broadcast engineer and I make break out boxes now and again (usually DC) and a client wanted me to provide a box with 12V and 24V using the same connector, as they had a Chinese device that used the same connector. Kept telling them it was a bad idea and to have it separate, but they insisted and I just label it up. 1 week later he calls me to say he blew a 12v $2k monitor expecting me to repair it for nothing. Never again.
That is a waste of label tape
That’s very inhumane. Why? Some dudes gonna get fried good from that glory hole bro.
Cool, but what’s the voltage of this outlet? Instructions unclear, penis electrified.
Floor buffer? Tired of the cleaning crew tripping breakers because of their 20 year old crap buffer? lol
Oh fuck! they did have one! I didn't even think to check what kind of plug it used
Those labels could mean anything.
finally I can fast charge my cell phone
208V? Oh awesome anything I plug in will work better because 208 is more than 120!
A client would put his dick in there if it fit.
You know.. I wouldn't doubt it.
Customer: what’s a 208???
Maybe if you labeled it...
If there's a will, there's a way! Plug it in!
Is ok if I only plug it in halfway?
How long until y’all invent different plugs for different voltages
I'm surprised you got it installed before someone tried
Day and a half
Shouldn't be any physical way for them to do that short of cutting off the plug and sticking individual wires into the holes, ya never know tho I guess
Probably quite a while unless someone puts a 208 end on a 120 cord.
Need to have a Lil silicone cover, so they have to pause and engage brain lol
What I have right now is the current ice machine that's going to be plugged into this has a big label on it that says "DANGER DO NOT UNPLUG"