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How do I know what a 110 volt outlet is?

B

Bradley Burton

Jan 1, 1970
0
The instructions for a wireless headset I bought said to insert the AC
adapter into a 110 volt outlet. I have a pretty high quality power
strip. Would that work? How do I know what a 110 volt outlet is?
Thanks.
 
B

BobW

Jan 1, 1970
0
Bradley Burton said:
The instructions for a wireless headset I bought said to insert the AC
adapter into a 110 volt outlet. I have a pretty high quality power
strip. Would that work? How do I know what a 110 volt outlet is?
Thanks.

You're serious, right? Okay, I'll bite.

If you live in the USA, then those things on the walls that have two little
vertical slits and an adjacent round little hole are "110 volt outlets".
Those things with only one vertical slit and an opposing round little hole
are called women.

Bob
 
L

Lord Garth

Jan 1, 1970
0
BobW said:
You're serious, right? Okay, I'll bite.

If you live in the USA, then those things on the walls that have two
little vertical slits and an adjacent round little hole are "110 volt
outlets". Those things with only one vertical slit and an opposing round
little hole are called women.
Uhoh! My outlet is measuring 122 volts right now.... ;-)
 
B

bw

Jan 1, 1970
0
Bradley Burton said:
The instructions for a wireless headset I bought said to insert the AC
adapter into a 110 volt outlet. I have a pretty high quality power
strip. Would that work? How do I know what a 110 volt outlet is?
Thanks.

Your TV has a plug.
It is plugged into an outlet, probably on the wall.
That's the 110 volt outlet.
Pull the TV plug out of the wall and look at the two metal prongs.
Your AC adapter has two metal prongs that look the same as the TV plug.
Put the AC adapter plug with two metal prongs into the wall where the TV was
plugged.

The opposite end of the AC adapter fit into the wireless headset.
 
R

Rheilly Phoull

Jan 1, 1970
0
Bradley Burton said:
The instructions for a wireless headset I bought said to insert the AC
adapter into a 110 volt outlet. I have a pretty high quality power
strip. Would that work? How do I know what a 110 volt outlet is?
Thanks.

Pack it all up in the original packing and return it to the store and get
your money back.

You're not smart enough to have it.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Bradley said:
The instructions for a wireless headset I bought said to insert the AC
adapter into a 110 volt outlet. I have a pretty high quality power
strip. Would that work? How do I know what a 110 volt outlet is?
Thanks.


There are no 110 volt outlets, and there haven't been for over 50
years.


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P

Paul E. Schoen

Jan 1, 1970
0
Like this?


(.) (.)


(!)

Uhoh! My outlet is measuring 122 volts right now.... ;-)

It seems like old-timers refer to it as 110, and now it seems to be more
commonly known as 120. At one time I thought the standard was 117 VAC, and
I've also heard 115 and 125. Yet a three phase source with 120 VAC L-N is
always called 208, AFAIK, even though the actual P-P voltage may vary from
200 to 225. Similarly, 480 VAC is sometimes called 440 or 460, but the L-N
is always referred to as 277, which corresponds to 480 / sqrt(3). I have
also heard it explained that the voltage source is described with the
higher number, such as 120, 240, or 480 while the equipment nameplate is a
lower number, such as 110 or 115, 220 or 230, or 440 or 460. Rather
confusing. And the actual voltage can vary by 10-15%.

And the standard common NEMA 5-15 outlet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NEMA_connector is actually rated 125 VAC
(maximum), and that is also the way fuses and circuit breakers are usually
rated (125, 250, and 600 VAC are most common). These are also referred to
as "Low Voltage", under 600 VAC. Then there is "Medium Voltage" 601-5000
VAC, and above that is "High Voltage", although I think there may be
another class of "Very High Voltage" above 138 kV, used for transmission
(as opposed to distribution).

Probably much more than the OP needed to know...

Paul
 
J

John G

Jan 1, 1970
0
Michael A. Terrell said:
There are no 110 volt outlets, and there haven't been for over 50
years.


--

Oh Michael! The older you get the more pedantic you get.

All those crappy little outlets with two parallel pins and maybe a
round(ish) ground pin are, to normal people, 110, 117 or 120 volt outlets.

Of course if the USA had a simple consitant power system they would just be
General Purpose Outlets.

John G.
 
B

BobG

Jan 1, 1970
0
The interesting tale I heard was that California in the 50s actually
had 110v at the outlets and Leo Fender wound his guitar amplifier
secondaries to give 550V on the plates of the 6L6's. Of course, if you
took one of those amps with the 'California transformers' back East
and ran it on 117V, it would really have a blusesy sound for a while,
as the load line got pushed up into a groovy compression region. The
Chief Engineer at Ace music in Miami made a good living for a couple
decades replicating this setup for guitar players that could afford it
and appreciate it.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
John said:
Oh Michael! The older you get the more pedantic you get.


Geese! You crack an old joke and someone takes offense! ;-)

All those crappy little outlets with two parallel pins and maybe a
round(ish) ground pin are, to normal people, 110, 117 or 120 volt outlets.


The numbers have changed over the years as the distribution system
was completed, with more substations. This keeps the secondaries
shorter, and having a pole pig or pad mounted transformer per handful of
homes makes the line voltage more stable.

The line voltage was as low as 90 volts at the end of a long line at
times, but you rarely see those problems these days.

Of course if the USA had a simple consitant power system they would just be
General Purpose Outlets.


It is consistent to us. It's the outsiders who can't grasp the
differences. Why use the same outlet for your electric shaver, and the
electric oven, or dryer? You don't use the same plugs for three phase
and single phase, so what's the difference?


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J

John G

Jan 1, 1970
0
Michael A. Terrell said:
Geese! You crack an old joke and someone takes offense! ;-)




The numbers have changed over the years as the distribution system
was completed, with more substations. This keeps the secondaries
shorter, and having a pole pig or pad mounted transformer per handful of
homes makes the line voltage more stable.

The line voltage was as low as 90 volts at the end of a long line at
times, but you rarely see those problems these days.




It is consistent to us. It's the outsiders who can't grasp the
differences. Why use the same outlet for your electric shaver, and the
electric oven, or dryer? You don't use the same plugs for three phase
and single phase, so what's the difference?


We do use only one plug for all domestic appliances and ovens are usually
hard wired.

As for 3 phase. At least we have it available to home installations if we
need it.

John G.
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
John said:
We do use only one plug for all domestic appliances and ovens are usually
hard wired.

As for 3 phase. At least we have it available to home installations if we
need it.


Yeah, you never know whne you'll need to power that 20' lathe with a
20 HP three phase motor in your living room.

Keep your system, but don't try to sell me on it.


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M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
Chris said:
No but it sure would be nice to not need a 3 phase converter for my 5hp
mill in the garage.


OTOH, a VFD lets you adjust the speed, and straight three phase can't
do that.


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