Piotr Makley said:
I am in the UK and was wondering if there was any merit in cleaning
the brass pins of my three-pin mains plugs.
In many cases the pins look tarnished and I must have had some of
these plugs for 10 or 20 years.
The plugs all seem to work well and they do not heat up. But I
thought it would be good practise to sandpaper the pins so they
were shiny.
Am I wasting my time?
Yes, you tight-@rs€d bar steward
If there is any question about the safety of any mains plug, replace
it and be done with it. Consider the possible costs of poor
plugs - fire damage, electric shock, death.
All for the sake of a few pennies.
Also, you should be aware that the plugs in use now are different to the
older ones, and were introduced to reduce the chances of people being
electrocuted while plugging them in. These new plugs have white or black
sleeves on part of each of the pins. Any without those sleeves should be
replaced, even if they seem ok.
One Christmas, a child was electrocuted plugging in the Christmas tree
lights. Please don't take risks over a few pennies.
Get your wallet out, releasing all those trapped moths, and buy new plugs.
While you are at it, go through the plugs in your house, make sure that
they are wired correctly.
Each wire should have it's insulation right up to the edge of the pin,
bare wire should not extend outside that pin. Ensure that the screws
are tight enough, poorly tightened screws can cause heat (and start
a fire).
Make sure that the outer insulation is NOT stripped back beyond the
cord grip, and that the cord is under the cord grip, gripped
by the complete cable (including outer insulation).
You may think this is all basic stuff, but I have seen enough poorly
wired equipment to know better than to assume that someone will know
how to safely wire plugs. This is the reason for sealed plugs on new
equipment - too many people cannot safely wire a plug.
LF.
