Two-prong vs three-prong power plug for electrical equipment

It can't be -- the impedance of the ground connection at 2.4GHz will be so high as to be completely useless. The shielding operates simply as a microwave reflector and doesn't need to be grounded for this purpose.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel
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Yes, of course the toaster heating elements are electrically hot, and therein lies the danger. That is the main reason for my skepticism/sarcasm (in my previous message) on any toaster attaining any "double insulation" rating. For example, my toaster (with a 2-prong power plug) does not seem to have a "double insulation" rating--no "concentric square" symbol that I can see.

Inside a toaster, the nichrome wires, which wrap around mica sheets, and which carry the current from the power plug, do not have much (physical) clearance to the

bread slice chamber,

which, IMHO, should be viewed as an

"user accessible" area with many exposed metallic parts.

My thinking is that I would feel more comfortable treating the typical $12 toaster as a device which barely passes "basic insulation". And since toasters usually come with only a 2-prong plug these days, we can't even classify it as a Class I device. But I could be wrong as I only have a cursory understanding of electrical safety standards. So, I'll ask, again, if anyone has seen a toaster with a "double insulation" rating.

Another thought. Why don't they use a (electrically) non-conducting sheath for the toaster like the kind they use for the electric stove to shield the nichrome wires? Too costly?

Al-U

Reply to
alpha_uma

Dont remember TV sets ever being 3 prong and I was a TV tech in the seventies.

Reply to
Jimmie

|> They did that to the simple toasters a long time ago. Are they doing the |> same to microwave ovens, or have they done it already? How safe is it |> really? Are they simply assuming that all households would have been wired |> with electrical ground fault protection these days? |>

|> Thanks |>

|>

| Dont remember TV sets ever being 3 prong and I was a TV tech in the | seventies.

I had a high end JVC TV which I bought in 1979 which had a 3-prong grounded plug on it. It was one of those cross-over "pro-sumer" models that tried to present itself as professional unit, but was styled for home use anyway. Back then, those were the only models with baseband video in and out. It also had the 8-pin connector for bi-directional video which was used with the EIAJ 1/2-inch video tape machines of the 70's.

Reply to
phil-news-nospam

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