@@SilverCymbal come on man or woman depending on whoever sent this last message. What about that video should have displeased somebody is the situation? You know, let's put it in a nutshell. That's why I said you can't fix stupid. You was simply explaining why there was and wasn't holes in the damn plug in. I thought I was pretty cool that you knew more about it than what I did. So what, someone did not like how you should have paused for a second before saying something or maybe they just didn't like how you knew something they didn't? That's why it's completely stupid. All right I'll get off my soapbox.
It might actually compared to a human nose with 2 holes use for breathing or maybe 2 balls on all males, so just leave it like that, it's more humane looking for all of us.
I've seen in a couple of factories, when these plugs are being mass-produced, the machinery that puts the prongs in place does have bumps or rods that use those holes to help keep the prongs aligned correctly, even length, etc.
Yours, as with others inform this is a part of the manufacturing process - which the video fails to surmise at the end - instead of a design feature for use. Thanks.
I'm an engineer and I now this much - The holes are still useful when electricians need to connect bare wires to plug in emergency, also to hang on a nail or hook close to outlet so you do not have to grope around for the plug.
Does having the holes take away from the flow of electricity? Or does it not matter? Would it be “better” to have a full prong with no holes? Does it give the full amount of flow “so to say”?
God bless you and God bless anyone reading this! Hope you have an awesome day! Seek him while you can! Jesus is the way and the only way and he is returning soon! Whenever you think you aren't loved... Remember the ultimate sacrifice was for love! ENDING YOUR LIFE IS NEVER THE ANSWER! For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV The wages of sin is death (hell) but Jesus paid our wages on the cross, for our salvation! We must turn to God and away from our sinful ways, Confess Jesus is Lord and believe with our hearts that he was risen from the dead by God, and we must be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit and live by His word and Commandments! Trust that God will help with the rest! Seek God today before it's too late! Today could be your last day on earth! Have a blessed day!
I have an exterior extension chord that uses the holes to lock the plug in. There’s a button to release the plug. It’s convenient for keeping power tools from coming unplugged in use.
Well he did say "without a benefit benefit the company or customer" so a new design could always come around. Then again what's wrong with the headphone jack?
Your head phones must be broke lol. Wired is always better. I cant stand how new phones arnt coming with a headphone port now. It really is a deal breaker for me. I have yet to hear a wireless headphone sound better than wired.
Me, as someone who loves using old walkmans, radios and stuff, i am really thankfull that I can use my 10€ earphones from my mobile for them and havent have to buy specific ones.
Yeah this sucked so bad. I hardly ever hit the dislike button. But seriously thinking about this one. The only thing that shocked me was how lame this video was. I'm also shocked that someone came up with the idea of producing such a thing. Such interesting content...........they should make a movie about it...
At my company they are always reinventing the wheel, thinking it's going to change things for the better and it's usually for the worst. I'd say you got it good.
Actually, my college professor told me that the Mayans first discovered practical use for them. when they raided villages, they would snip plugs from enemy villages electronics and loop them in a strimg and have them around their necks as trophies.
I've always heard it was originally for a rod that suspends the plug blades and associated wiring in the rubber molds during the mass-production of the cord ends.
Yes, "Holey Plugs, Batman! But... what are they for?" by Technology Connections here on RU-vid shows the NEMA documentation that says it's for manufacturing purposes, and includes a clip of it being used in manufacturing. Though it's certainly not required for manufacturing. Similar designs are made for other markets and purposes without them (there's a long list) and you can even find cords in America without them.
"you might have wondered what they were there for." No, at no point in my life has that question even come close to crossing my mind... but now I'm curious...
We use the holes all the time.. you can buy extension cords that lock into them.. idk why they were left out of the video because that’s what the holes are for..
Exactly. No one ever asked that cos no one gives a damn. Thanks for pushing this stuff out to me youtube. My time is valuable and this is just what I need to spend it on.
In Japan we actually have plug housing that locks the plugs in place using that hole. You plug-in the plug and twist it. There is a locking mechanism in the plug housing that uses that hole to keep it in place so it doesn't get un-plugged accidentally.
@@Rodrigo-jd2wg If you're relying on pulling a plug for safety of any kind, you're doing it horribly wrong. That should always be the task of some fuse, breaker, or emergency stop button. A device getting accidentally unplugged tho might actually be dangerous by arching in the outlet before you notice the issue (and thus possibly starting a fire), or whatever reason the device might have to NOT get unplugged by accident ever.
Yes, twist locks... Though the hole doesn't hold it. Also to the other guy saying a plug should not be relied on like that.... True but twist locks add protection of accedently unplugging a server's power distribution unit when your just trying to splice a fiber
@@Kalvinjj yes but how do you know there is a breaker, it may not be there, or it may be compromised. In an emergency case I would rather be able to unplug the thing
I live in Japan and this is the first time that I've even heard of this. It sounds like it may be useful in certain situations, but it's definitely not the home/consumer standard. Bathroom vanity units here often have spring-loaded rotating dust/steam covers to reduce corrosion and chance of electrocution, but they don't grip the plug in any meaningful way. Similar covers can also be seen on some high-end multi-plug adapters. Are you talking about special industrial or outdoor plugs?
the hole is for the old-style outlets that turn and a pin goes into them to lock the plug in place. My house was wired in 1939 and we still have one in use. I believed this was stopped quite a few years later as it was considered unsafe. if you trip on the cord you could get hurt or start a fire if the wire fails. These old outlets are no longer legal to purchase and install.
You’d have to assume that setting up a factory from scratch and having to include extra machinery and a whole extra step into production just because our wasteful zombie society expects to see holes would be kinda frustrating lol
The holes replaced the indentations that Hubell had originally used in early outlets to hold the plug in position 1:00 - what they became later is explained further in the video. Hope this is helpful.
@@SilverCymbal could have stated that better in your summary. I thought it was funny too. You ended it with something like "the holes are there because people expect them to be there" 😆 Thanks for the vid by the way, don't believe I've seen your content before this one.
Every time I see a plug with no holes I think its cheaply made, so that part about being used to it is pretty true. The engineer in me though knows it works all the same.
While lockout wasn't the original reason for the holes, it seems to me a good enough reason to keep them (saying this as an Australian observer, our plugs don't have the feature so it looks very useful to me)
@L Cam Molds don't last a terribly long time. Next time you'd need a new one, the guy milling the tooling/mold could just leave out that feature. Also I think the hole is stamped out. They probably stamp the (w)hole thing in one go.
@L Cam assuming they’re molds, and not stamps, which is far more likely, they will wear out. All machinery wears out. There are specs to determine when they’re worn enough so that they need to be replaced. Do you actually think the molds, or stamps from 75 years ago are still being used?
@L Cam you can tell just from the surface finish that they aren't molded. It would be way more expensive to mold them and they would turn out more shitty. The plastic part of the plug is however injection molded right over the top of the prongs after they are soldered to the cable. Eh, this video sucks.
As electrician, I rest the tips of my meter test leads through the holes to check continuity. It’s quicker than using alligator clips. I also want to add by doing so, it gives me better and positive contact. Hope those amateur who suggested that I handed in my certificate would realize and understand the advantages.
500 million plug prongs a year(250 million plugs, only requires 2 out of every 3 Americans to buy one plug a year) 2.5g of steel from each prong punched out.. Thats 1250 tons of steel scrap you can sell. If its clean steel of a single type, it can be sold for ~half a million dollars. I can see benefits for a company to keep making the holes, and no benefits for them not to on mass.
Someone pointed out that when he showed it taken apart that it does slow down when plugging it in or unplugging it. He pushed it in too far and it sped up after it went too far. He doesn't know what he's talking about
A newly married man asked his bride why she cut the end off of the pot roast. She responded "that's the way my mom did it." Curious as to why, He went to her mom and asked her, she responded the same as her daughter did. Since the Grandmother was still alive and living in a nursing home he went to her and posed the question. Her response was "because the roast was too big to fit in the pan."
I have an extension cord that has a "lock" lever on it. It actually takes advantages of those holes and positively locks a pin in to those holes. That way when I am roofing or pulling the cord on my tool the extension cord doesn't come unplugged on me.
@Tenebris Lupus Thinking more and rethinking is never a waste of time unless you're out of time. When a genius comes along and innovates a better plug, you'll realize what was wrong with it. Good thing the world isn't counting on you to engineer us out of problems...
@@thebludster okay...monkeys in a cage. ladder in cage to bananas. first monkey climbs, fire hose blasts other monkeys. Rinse, repeat. Soon monkeys learn to beat down any monkey climbs the ladder so they don't get sprayed. slowly they switch out each monkey one by one. gets to the point its all new monkeys that have never seen the hose even spray, but they still beat any monkey climbing ladder, cause that's the way they've seen it always done. Forgive me for rushed answer. Hope I've included enough of the basic point to not have botched it.
It's a timed spark gap for more efficient polarity induction fusion. Without them the Linda Ronstadt effect can cause displaced electrons to disrupt the magnetic field locally.
Hmmmm....Exactly what kind of troubleshooting does one perform by measuring across the unplugged 110V mains ? Surely not measuring if the device has shorted out ?? Because, you would already know that before the device was sent in for repair...
🖐😄The holes you see in plugs are used for gripping the plugs inside sockets. Historically, sockets had bumps inside of them. These bumps were intended to fit into the holes. Without these bumps and holes, it would have been very easy to simply pull the plug out of the socket.
When I used to work as an electrician, I used those holes a number of times to hack a temporary extension when I didn't have any other options. Used romex or stranded wires to loop through holes (obviously insulated) but like I said, it's just too get by for a day so I wouldn't recommend this to home owners for sure
@@garandman8114 LOL that is definitely some sketchy shit to leave permanently. It doesn’t take much time to remove the plug and properly splice the wires together, it eliminates all chance of someone getting killed.
I've done that too but it's not really for permanent fix. Only sensible people, like you and me, will use those holes, every now and then, if its necessary.
The holes replaced the indentations that Hubell had originally used in early outlets to hold the plug in position 1:00 - what they became later is explained further in the video. Hope this is helpful.
The holes actually help 'clean' the outlet fins every time they are plugged in/out. Older outlets also used to have indents on the fins to hold the plug in more securely - but the spacing was never 100% and you could risk getting sparks & a bad connection. I'm super annoyed this wasn't answered in the video.
Maybe it is to prevent corrosion. In the area of the holes, a thin layer of oxide on the contacts is scraped off each time the plug is plugged in and unplugged.
The holes work to Lock the plug in a outlet called a “kept plug” a pin slides into the holes and locks the outlet in. They are hard to find. Home Depot used to have them check out EBay cobra plug
You can find them on vending machine supply sites to prevent people unplugging your machine, there are power bars that use the holes in this way too. Now i will watch the video.
@@TheDieselndust Outlets in hospitals are also upside down so the plug's ground prong is facing up to prevent arcing by something leaning on a slightly unplugged plug. I wonder why this isn't standard practice in all outlets.
@@goodbonezz1289 Its supposed to be a massager, but it's well known what they're really used for. Just not inserted. Well, maybe in certain circles it might be inserted, but that's a story for another time.
I saw the part with the tiny padlock and laughed like hell, that is how I punished my kids if I had to.. Padlocks on the video games! Till I found out my youngest son at 8 years old was using a paperclip to unlock the padlocks for his older siblings! This is the same boy who took the set screw out of a Brand new never been used 14 inch Crescent wrench and lost it when he was four years old!!
I’d always thought they were there to lightly scrape the contact surface and give a place for residue to collect. Could be wrong but I have seen heavy verdigris on old sockets. Bad connections = potential fire.
Agreed, I always assumed they were meant to scrape the oxide layer off the contacts during insertion in order to prevent hot spots and poor connection. I've seen some plugs from China that don't have the holes, but they work just as well in US receptacles as any of the ones that do have holes, as far as I can tell.
Dave Johnson...I think you got a good point there...and the holes act as an air gap to prevent chaffing residue that would cause burn thru on the copper receptacle contacts which would melt the rubber insulation off the wiring and ignite a fire..
Receptacles do not last forever. Really old ones likely should be replaced. And don't use the absolute cheapest ones either. The ones that cost twice as much are substantially higher quality.
That iron/cord/molded plug looks more like mid 1970s. It appears to be original 16 ga HPN rubber heater cord, notice the fold kink. This cord was standard waffle iron/roaster/coffee pot type used in 1960s and 70s
@@thomasmcewen5493 highly doubtful this was a 220v unit. This is a regular 120v pizzelle iron made for the American market. They did (and do) sell them in department and specialty stores all across the country... and all ready for us to use without any "rewiring." My mom and aunt had one...they're plug n play.
Completely missing the fact that they are there in first place for manufaturing purposes, like easy aligning when molding the plastics to the metal. Nice.
Sorry but that is wrong, the answer is as stated today is only for customer acceptance. Other uses are just incidental, and that video showing them being used for manufacturing is a small time manufacturer. Large companies don't need pins to align products otherwise every product made would require holes to mold them properly. To further prove this multiple countries use flat bladed plugs just like ours without holes, they are not struggling to make them. Also, plugs were not even injection molded until the 70s they didn't leave the holes there for 40 years to wait for a use.
The holes are there in modern times because of the manufacturing process uses the holes , they were used for a short time for holding the plug in to the socket , but at the time the socket Manufacturing was not nearly as precise or standard and many plugs were very lose within early sockets , today most manufacturers use the holes during the manufacturing process , that would be the real reason the holes are still there , there would be no reason to spend the time or money to put the holes there if they were not of some use somewhere along the line .
@@excep7 Yes I saw it too I believe it was a " How it's made " video from the show . People really want there to be some end user use for the holes but there isn't it's just for manufacturing . I worked in manufacturing Truth be told I always thought the holes were for manufacturing .
@@dickard8275 If you want to compare apples to oranges , you will never get your answer . The plugs shown are not 240v plugs , so your comment seems to be a mute topic . You are free to do your own research (well in your country you may not be free at all to do research ) or you are free to simply troll the comments , nice being free huh ?
HEYA got a real answer for you. Some female plugs have a toggle on their head that allows you to lock the male end into the female end. This is super useful at work with our extensions cords since otherwise they would constantly unplug themselves.
I always heard that before the plug was invented, appliances had to be hard wired, so selling something with a plug to people who didn't own outlets yet didn't make sense, hence the prominence of holes in plugs, which would allow you to hard wire the appliance without cutting the cord in case you ever do get outlets.
where did you hear this ridiculous story? before plugs were standardized people just screwed their electric appliances on normal light-bulb sockets , those were the power outlets,and the "plugs" were just edison screws, after that they even made adapters that you screw on light-bulb sockets and then you can use the same plug we use today. about the holes in modern plugs..it's for a rod to be through both of those holes and keep them level until the plastic solidifies, they made no research and made a stupid video! oh and here is a photo of a toaster with an edison screw "plug" : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:D12cord.jpg
He’s definitely right about the customer noticing if they’re missing. I’ve bought some sketchy cheap products (soldering iron) and those holes missing and lack of any grounding really made me raise my eyebrow. It’s just uncomfortable when it doesn’t look the way it’s “supposed” to.
If there's a lack of an earth (grounding) and there's a good reason for the appliance to have one, (220V or exposed metal parts etc), that would definitely be cause for concern. As far as I can remember, could be wrong, US plugs were 2 pin for 110V or 3 pin for 220V (and designed so neither one could be plugged into the wrong outlet). Never personally saw any plugs without holes when I went to the US. Here in the UK pretty much all plugs are 3 pin - but we're not immune from dodgy Chinese tat either.
i was actually looking for the reason for wich there are holes ON THE SIDES of the plastic part of the wall outlit. (too bad youtube doesnt allow for attaching images to show what i mean)
I don't know where you got the "dozens" of receptacles you took apart, but you clearly haven't looked too hard. I've also taken apart plenty of them, and I've seen many that have small dimple detents for the holes. I would wager they aren't seen as strictly necessary anymore since the tolerances and quality control on the manufacturing has improved to the point where the mechanism is reliable without them.
Yep. And at around 1:40 to 1:46 you can see it in action. When he inserts the plug when the contacts get to the hole the insertion slows down and once past gets fast. Reverse the action then a plug if it were to fall out when the contacts touch those holes it will to an extent hold it. So it does very much hold it in place by making it harder for the plug to fall out.
@@bichela You are, of course, absolutely correct. The guy doing this video is just an arrogant big head who actually does not know what the hell he is talking about. Well done for highlighting his ignorance of the subject he tries to pass himself off as being an expert in.
I’d wager that their evolution away from usefulness to help hold a plug into the outlet to these days bring a vestigial design is *not* attributable to increased QC in production (and increased automation), though this has definitely occurred, but rather the universal inclusion of a third prong in virtually every household plug other that wall warts and cheap consumer extension cords.
They're still in use. Usually in commercial grade receptacles and GFCI outlets. The 99cent receptacles he probably opened are basic residential units and do not have them. Any commercial, industrial, and hospital grade units do, (the $5+ each ones) to prevent loose plugs & connections both for safety and durability since they're in rough use areas.
NEMA, the standards organization that prescribes the form factor and capabilities of electric plugs and sockets, has designated a specific size and location for these holes if the plug manufacturer wishes to have them, as to facilitate a manufacturing process. The socket must be designed to work properly with plugs having these holes, as well as with plugs not having any holes. I.e. the presence of the holes as prescribed must not interfere with proper function of the socket: the socket must not rely upon contact where the holes are.
Thats possible, but consider: the front edge of the prong wipes the contact first when inserting the plug, pushing any dirt and debris into the holes, the hole would only scrape the contacts after that.
@@stabileseitenlage not really. If you notice, the edge of the plug is BEVELED (to help inserting the plug), so, no much dirt/oxide -if any- is removed off the contact.
The only explanation I’ve ever seen or heard of about the holes are they are used to lock the blades into a form or jig during manufacturing. To make sure they are properly aligned when to plug end is being produced. Other than that, they serve no purpose.
You do realize other places exist outside of Europe right? Sorry, I see some Europeans always say that to Americans when we leave a similar comment. Just thought I'd repay the favor. lol
@@JSchaffer214 You do realize his title could have easily included "US electrical plugs", its only two letters after all. But we all watch these videos out of boredom anyway and my comment isn't targeted as an insult, more as a reaction to the title from someone whos electrical plugs don't have holes. So i expected to see some european plugs i wasnt aware of. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Yahshua - you know Him as Jesus - was born to a virgin, turned water to wine, taught, healed the sick, raised the dead, casted out demons, walked on water, and calmed the storm, among many other things. He was killed, and three days later He rose from the dead. Forty days later He ascended into heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father. He is returning very soon, but before He does, Satan, the devil, is coming to pretend to be Jesus. Satan is an angel, and he will have certain supernatural powers with which to try to fool everyone. He will, for example, be able to make fire come down from heaven in the sight of men. He will only be on earth a short time before the real King of Kings, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, returns. When the real Jesus comes we will all be transformed into our spiritual bodies at the same moment. Jesus came to offer forgiveness of sins and eternal life to anyone who believes and calls on His precious name! ...the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God - Romans 3:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. - Romans 6:23 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. - John 3:16-18 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, There came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. - Matthew 26:6-13 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. - Zephaniah 1:14 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. - Luke 9:56 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. - Galatians 5:22-23 Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Years ago, I dismantled a socket made in the 1950's. The contact electrodes had dimples stamped into them which were intended to make contact with the holes in the prongs of the plug in order to make a secure connection.
@@Okusar Industry inertia would prevent a total transition, however integrating detents to take advantage of the holes maintains backwards compatibility. It just makes sense.
I work in a lot of CNC router cutting and some minor designs for solutions and a lot of times we remove the interior material to produce recyclable scrap, so long as it doesn’t hurt the structure of the design.
Dear Visitors, In fact the video producer answered the question. As you can see, in 1913, the inventor put some indentations to hold on to something to keep the plug in place. Then the indentations were replaced by holes because it is more convenient and logical. Most probably, in those days there was a spring-action copper blade on both sides inside the plug casing so when you push the plug into its place, the plug blade pushes up a bulge deformation on that copper spring blade and when it goes in, the bulge snaps back into its place at the spot where the hole is, and thus, keeps the plug in place by a weak spring-action force. Thank you for your attention.
When you say "most probably" it implies speculation. He shows many different designs of which none were a standard and appear never to have been used. So, still no answer.
A person drilling the holes? Sounds like you are stuck 100 years ago you know damn well a machine and certainly an automated one did this. It is less material though cost savings of a whole penny in metal costs over 400 million units is still what 4 million saved in production costs....
@@jamesbelcher896 We should have different fonts for different meaning behind the text. :) And much more love and understanding. You seem like a great person.
