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Gemini : How to wire a plug (lemmy.nz)
submitted 11 months ago by to c/fuck_ai@lemmy.world
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[+] 12 points 11 months ago (48 children)
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  • [–] 39 points 11 months ago* (6 children)

    This is a plug, not an outlet; and it shorts the live + neutral pins together. There is no ground pin present, though a wire labeled ground is also being shorted to the live+neutral pins. (basing 'pins' on shape/colour and ignoring that at least one is in the wrong position)

    If this doesn't immediately trip the breaker when plugged in, it's because you have an open neutral; and now whatever's on the end of that ground wire (typically exposed metal) is live.

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago (5 children)

    The live and neutral pins are wired together, so there's not really a reason for the power to travel to that ground wire. Unless the path to the ground of the device, and then from there to actual ground, is shorter, then nothing will flow that way. It's absolutely not safe, but a number of other factors would need to be present before it were deadly.

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  • [–] 18 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    Unless the path to the ground of the device, and then from there to actual ground, is shorter, then nothing will flow that way.

    That's not true. Electricity will take all available paths to return to ground, with current flow relative to the resistance present. In other words, two low resistance paths will share similar amounts of current when both are connected to power.

    If you were touching anything connected to that 'ground' wire while also connected to a true ground yourself; you could receive a harmful shock from plugging this in, even with a breaker in-line and successfully tripping. A GFCI device should prevent that shock, but a regular breaker will not trip fast enough.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago* (2 children)

    True actually. If this were the plug for a washing machine, and you were touching it and the tap for the water inlet, you would definitely get shocked still. Edit: The washing machine itself also wouldn't generally have a connection to ground that way, as they usually use plastic hoses.

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  • [–] 6 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    I'm not sure which of you is correct here but it's fascinating how confidently people on the Internet will make statements. I'm sure one of you has earned that confidence but I'll never know which one. Sadly, the other person should question their life choices pretty hard.

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  • [–] 12 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    I wouldn't say connecting the ground wire of an appliance to the hot side of an outlet is very safe.

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  • [+] -6 points 11 months ago (3 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    This question has already been answered many times over in the comments.

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  • [–] 8 points 11 months ago (11 children)

    Why are people up voting this? You're talking utter nonsense in multiple ways.

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  • [+] -4 points 11 months ago (10 children)
    [deleted]
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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago

    The earth wire typically is connected to the metal casing of the appliance, and the earth pin of the plug. This is a critical safety feature, which will cause the circuit protection to trip in the event of phase touching the metal of an appliance.

    Connecting phase directly to the metal is an excellent way to kill someone.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502326/nelson-electrician-stephen-burton-s-failure-to-carry-out-simple-task-linked-to-death-of-builder-craig-johnston

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  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (8 children)

    First, both 'neutral' and 'ground' are leaving that plug.

    Second, that 'ground' wire is connected to both live and neutral, with no actual ground connection present. The other end of that wire is presumably connected to the exposed metal of the appliance this plug would be powering. Just calling a wire 'ground' doesn't make it ground nor safe; it has to actually be electrically connected to a grounded point.

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  • [+] -3 points 11 months ago (7 children)
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  • [–] 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    The ground wire is connected to ground, per the diagram.

    The ground wire in the diagram is not connected to your house's grounding device. It is connected to the ground of the appliance, which has no such connection to the actual, physical ground.

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  • [–] 12 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    There's a terrifying number of confident morons in this thread that have no business touching anything electrical.

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  • [–] 8 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Just like AI itself. The blind leading the blind. Into electrocution and/or a house fire.

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  • [–] 5 points 11 months ago

    I think this is the real takeaway. AI hallucinates bullshit all the time, but as you pointed out, people will say the wrongest shit you've ever heard with the utmost of conviction. I'm not sure which is worse tbh 🤦‍♂️

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  • [–] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    No, the ground wire is connected to the metal casing of the appliance. It's typically connected to ground via the plug.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502326/nelson-electrician-stephen-burton-s-failure-to-carry-out-simple-task-linked-to-death-of-builder-craig-johnston

    This is how people die.

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  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (18 children)

    This picture doesn't show how to wire socket, but now to wire a plug. The wire that's labeled ground is actually attached to live connector, although I guess that doesn't matter as live and neutral are shorted by white wire.

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  • [+] -7 points 11 months ago (17 children)
    [removed by mod]
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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (16 children)

    Plug, not outlet. It's even labeled as such

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  • [+] -4 points 11 months ago (15 children)
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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (4 children)

    No, it's not the only wire in the circuit. If that plug is plugged into an outlet, then the hot live wire is coming into the circuit at the pin labelled live, and connecting to the ground wire of the device. That ground wire is usually connected to the metal frame of an appliance. Because of the white wire connecting the live and neutral pins together, it's going to immediately flow back to the breaker box. However, if for whatever reason the path from the ground of the device to actual ground is shorter, then the electricity will flow through the device. It is possible for a person to be in the path to ground. The way this is wired might also circumnavigate an RCD, preventing the safety switch from operating correctly.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago (3 children)

    An RCD measures the difference in current flow between the phase and neutral, so it will trip in this scenario. An alternative path to earth is precisely what they're designed to detect.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Ah yeah, you're right, my mistake. It's wild to me as an Aussie that they aren't universal in the States. Plenty of houses (or outlets?) don't have them IIRC?

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    Plenty of old houses still don't have them in Australia and NZ, but they're required on power circuits in new builds.

    As they should be, they're an incredible technology.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (9 children)

    Labeled as ground that mysteriously vanishes in the machine???

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  • [+] -2 points 11 months ago (8 children)
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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    It should; but it's also important to note breakers are not intended to prevent electric shocks, they are intended to protect the wiring within your walls.

    The time in between this being plugged in and the relevant breaker tripping IS enough time to receive a harmful shock from that 'ground' wire. Preventing this is the purpose of GFCI devices.

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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Assuming everything else is in good working order, the fault current would probably be enough to trip the breaker in a similar time frame to how fast a GFCI would react.

    But, if the owner of the house is asking AI for electrical advice, it's entirely possible they've fucked up wiring the socket as well.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    I mean, potentially, I guess; but you're rolling the dice with resistances across a few dozen connections, high fault currents, and trip time curves that altogether I certainly wouldn't want to play games with.

    Regular breakers are not designed to trip at high speed and prevent shocks, they're there to stop your wiring from bursting into flames. The larger the fault, the faster they will cut off power, but there's no guarantee that'll be fast enough to save you from electrocution.

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  • [–] 1 point 11 months ago (3 children)

    Unless you have a broken neutral, in which case someone dies.

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  • [+] -2 points 11 months ago* (2 children)
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  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago

    Yes; obviously a broken neutral is a problem in itself, but that's usually a relatively minor issue that just leaves an outlet inoperable at worst.

    The way this plug is wired is such a hazard that if it was plugged into an outlet with a broken neutral, it could be potentially deadly for an extended period of time (as opposed to tripping a breaker, only presenting a hazard briefly).

    A really simple example: an outlet that has worn out, meaning the neutral does not always connect with the inserted plug. You insert this plug into that outlet and the casing of the appliance you've just plugged in is now live.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    You do understand things break over time, right? Just because your outlets worked when you moved in doesn't mean the neutral contacts haven't snapped off in the plug or something.

    Also, most people don't randomly test every outlet in their house, no. That's kinda weird.

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  • [–] -1 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    I was gonna write the same. This is completely dumb but at least it's safe.

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  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Connecting the earth wire, which goes to the metal casing of the appliance, directly to phase definitely isn't safe.

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  • [–] 0 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    And where does phase go to or come from? The picture shows a short of piece of wire labelled "phase" but that doesn't magically make an otherwise unconnected piece of wire anything active. If labelling anything "phase" could produce energy, boy would my energy bill go down fast 😂

    I keep to my statement: The pic shows a completely dead "circuit".

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