Electrical sockets also called power sockets are female electrical connectors which have holes or slots inside them. Pins or blades of power plugs are inserted in those slots and then electricity is supplied to the appliances.
Holes inside Sockets
Usually there are two or three slots or holes in electrical sockets. The two hole sockets are used for two pin plugs and three hole sockets for three pin plugs.
- Two hole sockets: These sockets carry two wires one of
which is the live or hot wire carrying alternating current from main
AC supply to the appliances. The other wire is the neutral wire
which backs the current from the equipment to the mains supply.
- Three hole sockets: In these sockets the function of two wires (live and neutral) are same as in two hole sockets but the additional or the third one is earth or ground wire. In case any fault occurs in the system, the ground wire ensures that the exposed conductive surfaces should be at the same electrical potential equal to the earth. It minimizes the risk of electrical shock in case any person touches the device.
Electrical sockets generally have either plastic or metal body.
- Plastic Body: Sockets with a plastic body usually have a
separate ground wire to complete the lighting circuit.
- Metal Body: Sockets with a metal body often use the body of the socket itself as the ground connection.
It looks simple to use electrical sockets but it can create potential danger to the users if the wires are not connected properly. Some of the main points to be taken care of are as follows:
- The Connection of live wire to the ground contact is very
dangerous. The appliances conductive case is made live and it may
cause death.
- If the appliance isn't earthed and a fault is occurred between
the live wire and conductive case, then it becomes very dangerous.
- If the system has only a single pole switch and then live and neutral wires are swapped then it creates danger. It does not have any immediate danger but has the possibility of enhancing the risk of shock if anybody tries to work on the appliance without disconnecting it or if there is another fault.
Multi standard sockets have many incompatible plug types. These type of plugs are mainly used in developing countries due to lack of electrical standards. They are able to accept both 120 V and 240 V plugs. Due to a significant difference in the input voltage, the devices are more prone to damage by the wrong voltage. They have one or more earth holes to allow the use of 3 pin plugs. While using such sockets, care should be taken to avoid the use of incompatible voltage and grounding connections.
Certain devices which are best fit for use in these sockets are:
- Those devices or appliances which are designed to auto-adapt to
different voltage and frequency standards.
- Those appliances or devices which do not require a ground contact.
Industrial and multiphase sockets are used to provide connections to the electrical mains. The electricity used in these fields or industries is rated at higher voltages and currents than domestic plugs and sockets. These sockets are mostly used when there is a requirement of:
- More than two current carrying conductors.
- Polyphase power supply.
- High currents.
- Protection from environmental hazards especially from water.
Types of Electrical Sockets
- Floor Socket: The floor sockets provide a stiff unit
capable of withstanding most office and domestic traffic. These
sockets are suitable to provide convenient power and data sockets in
large sized open plan offices where wall space is limited. Lids in
all sockets have spring mechanism which ensures that the lid remains
closed when the unit is not in use.
The floor sockets also provide an operative and exquisite suitable design that is able to improve both domestic and commercial environments. These sockets can be joined to underfloor trunking systems in domestic and commercial applications. They can be used in order to carry power, data and telecom services to different work stations.
- Extension Sockets: Generally the extension sockets are
helpful to the needs of most customers. They can solve the problem
occurred due to the too short cords of some electrical equipment.
Extension sockets are used to provide power to the electrical
devices and appliances. Almost all conventional extension sockets
are equipped with a number of sockets for various plugs of different
electrical devices. The sockets are two hole as well as three holes.
The extension sockets are made from two conducting strips that connect them with extension cord. They are positioned on the conducting strip holders in the lower shell and then covered and fixed by an upper shell. Then it has two rows of parallel plug holes.
- Switch Socket: Switch sockets are a type of extension
socket that are used to provide power to different electrical
appliances. These sockets are provided with several holders to
assist more than one device at a time. The special feature in these
sockets are the added switches with each of the separate sockets.
User can use each socket separately and switch of its power supply
individually. There is no need of putting out the plugs out of the
sockets.
- PLCC Sockets: PLCC sockets, Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier
sockets, are used in electronic fields and applications. A PLCC
socket is appropriate for use in surface-mount applications. These
sockets may be surface mounted or it may use thru-hole technology.
The surface-mount PLCC socket would be working with appliances that
aren't able to withstand the heat involved during the re-flow
process. They are generally used in the electronic-market and are
not suitable for the high temperatures.
- Round Pin Socket: Round pin sockets are simple electrical sockets used to provide electrical power to the different electrical devices and appliances. The most peculiar thing about these sockets is that the holes in these sockets are round. So the plugs to be used in them must be rounded. These sockets are very popular and common in use. Generally there are three holes in these sockets but two hole sockets are also used.
