Red power plug vs black power plug

Blubiree

Blubiree

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Seeing as you guys and gals helped me a lot in a previous thread, I thought I'd take a chance and ask another relatively simple (but difficult to wrap my own head around) question.

What is the difference between the following two plugs? Why would I want to use the red one (with the slightly sawed down earth prong) over the black one? Or vice-versa?

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Ahh thanks! I'll have a read through that thread.
 
very easy. black is for normal things and heaters.

When to want to add a computer network, put special sockets in from a different breaker. Only red plugs can enter here, no black, then when normal plugs trip, your network stuff still runs.
 
The supposedly safety (red) plug, actually some came with fuses, this depends on the electrician or DIY (which includes several builders).
 
The red plug sockets are to prevent the cleaner plugging the vacuum into your clean power
 
Keep in mind the colours are building specific...and beside the red there is little consistency.

Generally red means that circuit is *not* on earth leakage...but it is on a trip switch. Computers tend to "leak" on the earth front...so if you pile a lot of them onto a circuit then it trips the earth leakage even if everything is "OK". (Residential ones bomb at 10-12 PCs).

Blue tends to be UPS/gen backs...but generally any colour other than normal black and red I'd rather ask IT what the colour means on that building before plugging anything in there.

Its all a bit varied...e.g. at my employer red means generator backed in addition to the EL thing I mentioned above.

Fulcrum29 said:
The supposedly safety (red) plug, actually some came with fuses, this depends on the electrician or DIY (which includes several builders).
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No fuse...thats an EU regulation. (Our gear tends to have superior earth leakage tech on the DB, while they have fuses in the individual plugs). And yes DB side is one of those things where SA gear is genuinely superior to EU/rest of world.

And no red is definitely not a "safety" thing...if anything they are less safe than the normal ones.

Sinbad said:
The red plug sockets are to prevent the cleaner plugging the vacuum into your clean power
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You underestimate the determination of cleaners. My dad's company installed a high end UPS at a company...the client kept bitching about the UPS not being at full charge in the mornings - queue a ton of confusion as to why this client is unhappy with the service (:confused:). Turns out the cleaner jammed a kettle straight into the UPS points via brute force and boiled water a couple times each morning. Thankfully it was one moerse UPS so it could take the hit(s).
 
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HavocXphere said:
No fuse...thats an EU regulation. (Our gear tends to have superior earth leakage tech on the DB, while they have fuses in the individual plugs). And yes DB side is one of those things where SA gear is genuinely superior to EU/rest of world.
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That^^^ just that, SA's DB board and electical regulations are beyond compare.
 
ScottulusMaximus said:
That^^^ just that, SA's DB board and electical regulations are beyond compare.
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+1 And if you get SABS compliance for a electrical device in SA it will most likely pass all other international compliance/certification tests as well.
 
ponder said:
+1 And if you get SABS compliance for a electrical device in SA it will most likely pass all other international compliance/certification tests as well.
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SABS is doing good work, tough controllers. Their standards as per principle are also worldwide acknowledged.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
SABS is doing good work, tough controllers. Their standards as per principle are also worldwide acknowledged.
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Yip, years ago I was told by someone that international companies would first attempt sabs compliance and if they passed they pretty much knew thew would sail through other tests, TUV etc. So they saved money as well.
 
ponder said:
Yip, years ago I was told by someone that international companies would first attempt sabs compliance and if they passed they pretty much knew thew would sail through other tests, TUV etc. So they saved money as well.
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Its not just SABS but rather elec building codes.

e.g. SA crowd will have a heart-attack if you have a socket not protected by ultra sensitive EL. EU crowd is like "not in bathroom, not exposed to rain...don't need EL". They're literally a decade behind on that front (with northern European countries catching up at a wicked pace). That being said...they don't have the same dodgy CoC issues we have. So while we have wicked rules they have better average compliance.
 
Red ia usually for pc's as they run from a different breaker usually with a back up generator.

Power cuts -> UPS keeps you alive -> generators kicks in on the red plugs
 
HavocXphere said:
Its not just SABS but rather elec building codes.

e.g. SA crowd will have a heart-attack if you have a socket not protected by ultra sensitive EL. EU crowd is like "not in bathroom, not exposed to rain...don't need EL". They're literally a decade behind on that front (with northern European countries catching up at a wicked pace). That being said...they don't have the same dodgy CoC issues we have. So while we have wicked rules they have better average compliance.
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Agreed. You watch some of those overseas renovation programs and you go wtf?
 
I work in retail, and red is used for dedicated power. So as mentioned all I.T equipment goes in red which is ups power. Black plugs don't fit in red sockets stopping heaters and kettle's tripping the ups and killing the whole store.
 
Zuner said:
I work in retail, and red is used for dedicated power. So as mentioned all I.T equipment goes in red which is ups power. Black plugs don't fit in red sockets stopping heaters and kettle's tripping the ups and killing the whole store.
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You underestimate the determination of your fellow countrymen. At my employer literally every red point has absorbed enough abuse that both black and red now fit.

People just don't grasp the whole concept...so they just apply brute force to make it work.
 
HavocXphere said:
You underestimate the determination of your fellow countrymen. At my employer literally every red point has absorbed enough abuse that both black and red now fit.

People just don't grasp the whole concept...so they just apply brute force to make it work.
Click to expand...

I've been there, many times. And when power cuts the everything drops since the ups puts itself in bypass and people wonder why..
 
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