Nick Demos
>
>Yes, I remember some of these gadgets.  Seems to me there is a
>problem nobody has yet mentioned - your power comes into your
>house on two lines to make up a 240 volt circuit.

Plus a third - the neutral line, which is grounded at your house.

> Each line is then
>split into 120 volt lines by msking a circuit that goes to ground from each
>leg.  These gadgets did not work if the place you plugged in the second
>gadget was not on the same leg as the first gadget.

Actually there is usually enough leakage from one leg to the other for it to
work. If not, there is another gadget you can buy that you install in your
main  box
and that couples from one leg to the other.  You can also do the same thing
cheaply
with small capacitors, but I wouldn't recommend it.  If you aren't really
knowledgeable
about hardware design you could cause some very nasty consequences.

>As an aside, you had
>to be careful that you did not wire a 120 volt light or appliance from one
>leg
>to another - result - burned bulb or appliance.

Or a serious fire.  If you don't know enough to tell the difference between
the
neutral and a live leg, PLEASE hire a professional electrician.

This thread must be getting quite mysterious to members of the list from
Europe.
When I first came to the United States from England and was specifying 3-phase
equipment, I had a major problem trying to figure out what the electrical
supplier
was talking about!

John D. Alleyn-Day
Alleyn-Day International
408-286-6421   408-286-6474 (Fax)
[log in to unmask]       http://www.Alleyn-Day.com