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Author Topic: Electrical outlets
Mr. Toy
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Here's a simple question that I should know the answer to, but I don't. Does anyone know whether Superliner bedroom outlets are of the two-prong or the three-prong variety?

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car


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Mike Smith
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Three prong.

And you need a straight plug, not one of those offset or sideways plugs.


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JFB
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By "offset," I think Mr. Smith means "polarized." Polarized plugs have a small flare on their neutral (negative) prongs. Appliances with AC/DC transformers, which include nearly everything with a motor, have polarized plugs.

The only sideways plugs I know of are those used for 220-volt appliances. That means that you won't be able to run your washing machine on the train. Sorry.


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Geoff Mayo
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Actually, I think he means a plug where the cable comes out the back in the same direction as the prongs. Not the sort the cable comes out at 90 degrees to the prongs. Basically because the socket is quite deep. So anything that is much larger than a standard plug would be very difficult to plug in, such as some cell phone chargers where the plug houses a small transformer.

Geoff M.


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JFB
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I stand corrected. Thanks.

So the plugs aren't flush with the wall? Any particular reason for that?


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Mike Smith
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I don't know the reason, I just know the cord and the prongs need to be in-line.

I always carry a surge-protected power strip so my toys can be re-charged. The power strip fits nicely along the ledge under the window.


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Mr. Toy
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Thanks, guys. I knew I could count on you. I just bought a small four-outlet surge supressor for recharging things on-board. It has a cord and straight plug so I won't have to worry about hanging chargers. Lately I've acquired a host of electronic goodies (scanner, phone, digital camera) with rechargeable batteries. I just wanted to be able to recharge en route (especially the camera) if needed. We leave in a few days!

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Trust God, love your neighbor, and never mistake opinion for truth.
-Mr. Toy

The Del Monte Club Car


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TBlack
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Mr. Toy,

I've just returned from a LA-Wash. trip on #4 & 30. I had my battery powered camera and cell phone - both need recharging. Yup, the outlet is just as described above, but it also has a little sign saying "razors only". Presumably the circuit breaker is small and won't take a big load. I was inquiring of other passengers about the availability of an outlet that would handle my requirements. The only one anyone seemed to know about was in the smoking lounge, altho the ones in the bathroom have no admonition about razors only.


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Mike Smith
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TBlack;
I believe that "for razors only" had to do with women's hair dryers and curling irons tripping the breakers.

I've had all of my electronics hooked up and a battery charger going with no problems.


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Mr. Toy
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Back when Superliners were designed, the only electrical devices people carried with them were personal grooming devices. Hence the "razors only' caution. They won't handle a 500 watt hairdryer. Electronic devices such as battery chargers and laptops don't really draw much power, so they should be OK.
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RRRICH
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I've connected my camcorder battery charger to the "razors only" outlet for many years -- no problem.
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Sheriff
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Mr. Troy,
As stated above all the outlets are OK for any of your plug-in's I can assure you. They are set up for the ground plug (3 prong) but you can also use the 2 prong plugs also.

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panamaclipper
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Would one of the small block style surge protectors be enough to clear the recessed Superliner bedroom "razor only" plugs? That way I wouldn't need to carry an extra cord and could plug my off-set laptop power supply into it.
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Mike Smith
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That's a tough call, Panamaclipper.

As best as I remember, you only have about a half inch of space below the actual plug prongs before you hit the recess barrier.

A power strip with a 3 foot cord sits on the window ledge/arm rest and is mostly out of the way. If you can find a power strip with a 2 foot cord, that would work, also.

If you are in a Superliner II, you won't have that problem. Their plugs are flush with the wall.


Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001  |  IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
   

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