PDP 8/e power wires

From: Eric J. Korpela <korpela_at_ellie.ssl.berkeley.edu>
Date: Tue Jul 25 18:31:12 2000

> In fact, I borrowed a fluke multimeter, and there is only about 0.2 Ohm
> resistance between the green wire and the case, so that must be the
> case ground wire. Do the other two matter much on a 3 prong connector?

Yes, they matter in some cases. Often more in terms of safety than
functionality.

A month or two ago I happened to plug a piece of equipment in which some
dolt (technical term) had connected neutral to ground into an extension
cord that some other dolt had wired with a hot-neutral swap. The results
were nothing short of spectacular on a high current laboratory circuit.
If I knew the identity of either dolt, I think I would teach them the
difference between hot, neutral and ground in a way they wouldn't soon forget.

Eric
Received on Tue Jul 25 2000 - 18:31:12 BST