Saturday, May 30, 2009

No electrician necessary


There are electrical things in India that do not come with their own plugs. Why this is baffles me. Obviously a person does not purchase a hot water heater, iron, or air conditioner for decorative purposes--they mean to plug it in. So why does that person then have to go out and buy a separate plug for the end of the cord? Why isn't it included?
As for attaching the cord to the plug, this is an electrician's job. The man who comes to install your a/c will not do it for you (at least not without much grumbling and muttering that it's not his job).
I consider it a safety hazard to have three open wires sticking in to a wall socket, so I determined to do the work myself. I bought the plug, found my screw driver, and put it together.
Then I called someone who knew about electrical things to make sure there was nothing important I'd left out or was unaware of--to make sure nothing blew up when I plugged it in.
But all was well, I'd done it correctly; and now I have a safely working a/c with attached plug .

2 comments:

dav3k said...

I think the lack of a plug end is to facilitate sales in multiple countries with varying electrical outlet requirements. So the purchaser must choose and purchase a plug end based on the requirements of their area; sending multiple plugs with the appliance would make too much sense. Great pictures. Brings back many memories of our brief time in India, the confusion, lack of safety requirements, haggling for everything, the trash etc. dk

l said...

Ah yes, that makes some sense.
It is also true that the guy in India from the shop in India selling it to me in India who knows I'm going to plug it in in India might think to sell me the needed plug for India.
But he wouldn't. 'Cause that's not his job.