this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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[–] spicytuna62 73 points 1 year ago (10 children)

I'm calling fake now.

Christmas lights, if made correctly, should have a fuse. These cords aren't made to handle the full 20A the breaker can. They usually cap somewhere around 3A. Nothing is stopping you from plugging a two prong 12A vacuum cleaner into them. So if you actually tried that, you'd blow the fuse in your lights before you tripped the breaker.

This is how 16 gauge extension cords should be made, too. Unfortunately, they aren't, and people light those up all the time.

Either that, or here goes Amazon, once again not vetting the shit they sell, and selling average intelligence people fire hazards.

[–] nomecks 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

15a plug socket, 20a breaker. Fake.

[–] spicytuna62 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Actually, many houses are built this way. My house has 15A receptacles on 20A circuits. I don't agree with it. The breaker should always be the weakest point. But the NEC (section 210.21) allows you to put 15A receptacles on 20A circuits as long as you use a duplex receptacle OR there are multiple simplex receptacles on the circuit.

This kind of thing is why code requires washing machines to have their own dedicated circuits, but you always find a duplex receptacle where the washing machine goes. It's not for your convenience. It's the most cost-effective way to pass code.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

As long as the wiring is good for 20A it's fine. Also if you break open a 15A recepticle a lot of them have the 20A contacts in there as well since it's the same unit just with a different face.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, I wonder if anyone makes a UL listed 15A receptacle that don’t have a safety factor well over 20A.

What it really comes down to though, is as long as code allows it, your ok.

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