@mclinnguy Said: 02-27-2025 at 07:39am
....and checked the equipment ground contact of the outlet for a minimum of 4 ounces of contact pull out holding contact pressure. They had a device they plugged into the outlet that had a mechanical pointer that indicated the pulling out resistance in ounces. I can’t remember how often they tested the outlets. ... Next words out of the guys mouth we started testing the outlets on one of the floors and outlets are failing the test.
@jea48 It seems really odd to me that nobody has invented a simple locking mechanism for hospital outlets, or simply use some sort of L14 30R plug like they have on generators to ensure it remains where it should. It is not about contact pressure for "better signal", it is about the likelihood of a plug to become dislodged. How much money would hospitals save by doing this, instead of the frequent inspections which must add up to some serious coin.
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It is not about contact pressure for "better signal", it is about the likelihood of a plug to become dislodged.
IT is absolutely about contact pressure. Especially the contact pressure of the female safety equipment ground contact to the plug equipment ground pin. A good low impedance connection is a must...
Hospital Grade Standards. What is Hospital Grade?
The worst physical abuser of a hospital grade receptacle, that a patient’s bed is plugged into, is the house keeper that scrubs the floor in the room. ??? I actually seen it first hand. The house keeper unlocks the brakes on the bed and gives it hard shove to one side so the floor under the bed can be cleaned. The cord on the bed is only so long. The extreme side pressure on the plug rips it right out of the receptacle. That abuse of the receptacle contacts, especially the equipment ground contact can go well beyond the designed contact holding memory retention.
Hubbell and Leviton hospital grade receptacles can take repeated physical abuse for years. The Pass & Seymour 20A, 8300 hospital grade duplex receptacle outlets made it about one year. There is a very chance they didn’t last that long...
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