What is this part / plug / prong called?

Started by LucifersTrip, July 17, 2014, 04:30:19 AM

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LucifersTrip

I've come across these "prongs" in numerous electrical devices, but don't know the technical name so can't find the replacement part.

The two identical parts make up a standard 2-prong plug for a standard wall outlet. Anybody know the name?






thanx
always think outside the box

italianguy63

I used to really be with it!  That is, until they changed what "it" is.  Now, I can't find it.  And, I'm scared!  --  Homer Simpson's dad

duck_arse

QC (quick connect) spade/terminal/lug?

we need a "what's this part correctly called" thread, I wanna know those re-an flange/nut/bush names.
don't make me draw another line.

R.G.

Those are called Pflugerblades, after the inventor, Georg Pfluger, who was the first generation descendent of Austrian immigrants to Texas. Georg predated Stevie Ray Vaughan by a long time when he literally couldn't stand the weather in Texas, and moved to the upper east coast, where he had run-ins with Edison and Westinghouse. He quickly saw that if this electricity stuff had a future, the connections to the power supply grid could not stand the screw terminal connections which were used. At the time, only light bulbs and motors were used on electricity, but George (as he anglicized his first name) foresaw a future where things could be powered by electricity but moved from place to place and reconnected to electrical power on a whim.

George tried many configurations of contacts, including round, square, hexagonal, and flat, but the flat blades won out because they were massively cheaper. Early industrial spies were at work even back then, and some of George's early attempts were copied and hauled back to the spies' home country, where they evolved into the plethora of various plug connections we see even today.

George's relatives still live in central Texas, where the farming community they founded  - Pflugerville, oddly enough - is still there. In fact it's become a bustling suburb of Austin Texas, and is now a bedroom community where many of the employees of the mail Dell computer site live.
R.G.

In response to the questions in the forum - PCB Layout for Musical Effects is available from The Book Patch. Search "PCB Layout" and it ought to appear.

italianguy63

Geezzz R.G. that was a "Paul" answer.  You must be drinkin' from the fountain too...   :icon_lol:
I used to really be with it!  That is, until they changed what "it" is.  Now, I can't find it.  And, I'm scared!  --  Homer Simpson's dad

Jdansti

I've been to Pflugerville many times. Beautiful place.
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R.G. Keene: EXPECT there to be errors, and defeat them...

R.G.

#6
If you're familiar with Pflugerville, you might enjoy the Austin Lounge Lizards' homage to it, properly titled "Pflugerville".

See a video capture of this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNvK-VNvx4

The quality of the video  (and the band's state of sobriety... ) is not their best, but you can get a good idea of the meme.

If this appeals to you for some bizarre reason, try out "Cornhusker Refugee" and maybe "Hot Tubs of Tears".

:)
R.G.

In response to the questions in the forum - PCB Layout for Musical Effects is available from The Book Patch. Search "PCB Layout" and it ought to appear.

Quackzed

QuoteI've been to Pflugerville many times. Beautiful place.
it really is, or at least i've heard it is.
i was gonna stop there once while driving through texas, but I don't own a shotgun...
nothing says forever like a solid block of liquid nails!!!

R.G.

Quote from: Quackzed on July 17, 2014, 01:14:11 PM
QuoteI've been to Pflugerville many times. Beautiful place.
it really is, or at least i've heard it is.
i was gonna stop there once while driving through texas, but I don't own a shotgun...
You'd have been fine. They can detect outsiders almost instinctively and don't expect outsiders to behave like normal human beings.

Besides, a shotgun is too clumsy for close-in work. A revolver is OK, but messy and very loud. A good semi-auto is handier.
R.G.

In response to the questions in the forum - PCB Layout for Musical Effects is available from The Book Patch. Search "PCB Layout" and it ought to appear.

Jdansti

Quote from: R.G. on July 17, 2014, 12:27:51 PM
If you're familiar with Pflugerville, you might enjoy the Austin Lounge Lizards' homage to it, properly titled "Pflugerville".

See a video capture of this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNvK-VNvx4

The quality of the video  (and the band's state of sobriety... ) is not their best, but you can get a good idea of the meme.

If this appeals to you for some bizarre reason, try out "Cornhusker Refugee" and maybe "Hot Tubs of Tears".

:)

Thanks, RG!
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R.G. Keene: EXPECT there to be errors, and defeat them...

LucifersTrip

Thanx RG and others for replies (italianguy63 very close)

Unfortunately, even though that's the correct technical name, it doesn't seem that they are sold under that name.

http://tinyurl.com/nuvqlv8
always think outside the box

Jdansti

#11
As for replacement parts, you might be able to remove the Pflugerblades from a replacement plug that you'd purchase at a hardware store.

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R.G. Keene: EXPECT there to be errors, and defeat them...

R.G.

Quote from: LucifersTrip on July 17, 2014, 05:33:33 PM
Unfortunately, even though that's the correct technical name, it doesn't seem that they are sold under that name.
Ummm...

OK, I may have "enhanced" the ancestry of the blades a little bit.  :icon_redface:
:)

I only say this because it seems like you're on the verge of believing me.    :icon_eek:

There may have been a George Pfluger, and there certainly is - and was - a Pflugerville, but I'm pretty sure he didn't meet Edison or George Westinghouse if he was.

The devil sits on my left shoulder and sometimes he pokes me with this very sharp needle until I do what he says...  :icon_lol:
R.G.

In response to the questions in the forum - PCB Layout for Musical Effects is available from The Book Patch. Search "PCB Layout" and it ought to appear.

LucifersTrip

Quote from: R.G. on July 17, 2014, 08:16:44 PM
I only say this because it seems like you're on the verge of believing me.    :icon_eek:

I did actually believe it until I did the search...who would have time to deliver an elaborate story when there's soldering to be done.

Jdansti...exactly what I've been doing. Looking thru the plugs I have for ones that can be taken apart.


thanx again
always think outside the box

PRR

There was just enough truth to that Texas tale that I couldn't call "bull" on the first line.

But I know enough of the very poorly documented history of the Common US Plug to have doubts about any tale so detailed.

Nice diversion though.

Many of us will identify with the Lizards' "Hey Little Minivan".

I'm pretty sure the ONLY source for less than a truckload of ""Pflugerblades"" is to hack up a power plug. What else are they good for? Who makes their own power plugs? You can buy a crappy plug for a buck; I can't imagine anybody stocks one blade for anywhere near that price.

If you are going to make your own Pflugerplugs, YOU are responsible that it does not Direct-Short in the outlet.
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Jdansti

>See a video capture of this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTNvK-VNvx4

They'll flog me tonight in Pflugerville...  ;D
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R.G. Keene: EXPECT there to be errors, and defeat them...

Beo


tubegeek

Is George the "Flat Foot Pflugie With The Floy Floy" you hear so much about?
"The first four times, we figured it was an isolated incident." - Angry Pete

"(Chassis is not a magic garbage dump.)" - PRR

Jdansti

Besides being the flatfoot Phlugie with The Floy Floy, he's also a fantastic flugelhornist and flautist for the Phlugerville Philharmonic.  ;)
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R.G. Keene: EXPECT there to be errors, and defeat them...

duck_arse

if you was here in australia, I'd say "clipsal", even though I know they are now a global conglomerate called "schneider" or similar. what the name of a company in america churning out the bent parts for electricals is, I don't know.

or saying "H.P.M." would be just as useless.
don't make me draw another line.