Cleaning pins on UK mains plugs

Malev wrote:
| On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:18:44 +0100, Piotr Makley
| wrote:
|
|| 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?
|
| Under the terms of The Clean Pins Act 2003, you are legally obliged
| to ensure that all 3 pins are exempt of any deposit whatsoever and
| shine to BS 6907 specifications.
| The newly formed Pin Inspection Special Squad (P.I.S.S.) has power of
| entry to inspect all your plugs, whether connected to the mains or
| not.

But doesn't BS 6907 specify leakage tests for condoms ?
You will also need to make sure that your mains plugs comply with the
Specification for Home Insulation Testing (S.H.I.T.) white paper, and that
your mains sockets comply with the Connection Receptacle Accessability
Parameters (C.R.A.P.).
Kevin.

Piotr Makley wrote:

}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?

Of course not!!! although you may be wasting the time of all of the people
in all of the newsgroups you cross-posted to.

Polish those pins super-bright, gold-plate them (and all the other plugs
in your home), and then, for extra longevity, give them several coats of
spray-on laquer to prevent tarnishing!

HTH. HAND.

Stan.

Peter Rossiter wrote:


The audiophile/hi-fi community know the importance of clean
connections but I do not now if it affects PCs or other
applicances.

Ah, yes. They sell cord sets in that circle than can cost over US$1000.
And some of them aren't even cryogenically treated!

-VN

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 19:18:44 +0100, Piotr Makley wrote:

-I am in the UK and was wondering if there was any merit in cleaning
-the brass pins of my three-pin mains plugs.
-

Absolutely! It's vital, however to polish the Live and Neutral to the same
degree, else a small imbalance in the Fermi velocities could cause everyone in
China to jump up and down at the same time.

And whilst you're there, putting earth on the Earth pin will increase its
effectiveness.



-Rob
robatwork at mail dot com

"Piotr Makley" wrote in message
...
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?

No, and once cleaned get them Gold Plated as this will prevent future
tarnishment.

Peter Rossiter wrote:

exray wrote:


The audiophile/hi-fi community know the importance of clean
connections but I do not now if it affects PCs or other
applicances.

Ah, yes. They sell cord sets in that circle than can cost
over US$1000.
And some of them aren't even cryogenically treated!




So the patina of tarnish on brass pins has no resistence
whatsoever?

Sure it does. I wonder how much compared to the contact resistance overall?

Peter Rossiter wrote:
exray wrote:

The audiophile/hi-fi community know the importance of clean
connections but I do not now if it affects PCs or other
applicances.

Ah, yes. They sell cord sets in that circle than can cost
over US$1000.
And some of them aren't even cryogenically treated!

So the patina of tarnish on brass pins has no resistence
whatsoever?

It's trivial to test. Take two dirty plugs with only earth connected
(well, you could use any two similar pins, but I'd prefer the ones
which don't usually have current!). Plug them in to adjacent sockets
on a multiple outlet and measure the resistance. Clean, repeat.


Tim
--
Love is a travelator.

In article ,
tim.auton@uton.[groupSexWithoutTheY] says...
Peter Rossiter wrote:
exray wrote:

The audiophile/hi-fi community know the importance of clean
connections but I do not now if it affects PCs or other
applicances.

Ah, yes. They sell cord sets in that circle than can cost
over US$1000.
And some of them aren't even cryogenically treated!

So the patina of tarnish on brass pins has no resistence
whatsoever?

It's trivial to test. Take two dirty plugs with only earth connected
(well, you could use any two similar pins, but I'd prefer the ones
which don't usually have current!). Plug them in to adjacent sockets
on a multiple outlet and measure the resistance. Clean, repeat.

...and be careful that the mating conductors don't scratch through
the oxide, as they're designed to do. You'll mess up anything
you're trying to prove. ;-)

--
Keith

KR Williams wrote:
In article ,
tim.auton@uton.[groupSexWithoutTheY] says...
Peter Rossiter wrote:
[dirty mains plugs]
So the patina of tarnish on brass pins has no resistence
whatsoever?

It's trivial to test. Take two dirty plugs with only earth connected
(well, you could use any two similar pins, but I'd prefer the ones
which don't usually have current!). Plug them in to adjacent sockets
on a multiple outlet and measure the resistance. Clean, repeat.

..and be careful that the mating conductors don't scratch through
the oxide, as they're designed to do. You'll mess up anything
you're trying to prove. ;-)

I didn't think of that I bet the current burns some crap off too,
which my little test wouldn't take into account either.


Tim
--
Love is a travelator.

In article , "Tim Auton"
tim.auton@uton.[groupSexWithoutTheY] says...
KR Williams wrote:
In article ,
tim.auton@uton.[groupSexWithoutTheY] says...
Peter Rossiter wrote:
[dirty mains plugs]
So the patina of tarnish on brass pins has no resistence
whatsoever?

It's trivial to test. Take two dirty plugs with only earth connected
(well, you could use any two similar pins, but I'd prefer the ones
which don't usually have current!). Plug them in to adjacent sockets
on a multiple outlet and measure the resistance. Clean, repeat.

..and be careful that the mating conductors don't scratch through
the oxide, as they're designed to do. You'll mess up anything
you're trying to prove. ;-)

I didn't think of that I bet the current burns some crap off too,
which my little test wouldn't take into account either.

How do you burn something that's already oxidised?