At Quail Electronics, we love our customers, power cords, and when our customers love our power cords. In fact, to make sure that you’re completely satisfied with our products, we wanted to take a minute to explain our value added services. These services will help you customize your cords to whatever you need. Continue reading Value Added Services
Hospital Grade Power Strips
Power Your Critical Equipment with Hospital Grade Power Strips
Hospitals can get crowded on a standard day. In times of medical and health crises, hospitals, and other facilities quickly become overwhelmed with patients needing critical care. Enter any room, and you will find an assortment of beeping electronics working hard to keep people alive.
With all of this crucial medical equipment running at the same time, there’s sure to be a decent number of internal surges. These frequent surges can cause electronic rust or overload, which could lead to valuable equipment shutting down unexpectedly. In the case of ventilators and other life-saving medical equipment, that is the last thing you need to happen.
Surge Protector: The Unsung Hero
This is a post for the unsung heroes. The little guys, who put in so much work, for so little rewards. The ones who sacrifice every day just to make sure everything runs smoothly. That’s right folks; we’re talking surge protectors today. As a surge protector, they put in a lot of work day in and day out, and most of it go unnoticed.
Continue reading Surge Protector: The Unsung Hero
Finding the Right Dryer Plug
The other day, my friend called me in a panic when he moved into his new house.
When trying to install his new dryer, he noticed his dryer plug did not match the outlet. His dryer plug only had three prongs, while they outlet had four holes. While this may be alarming, it is a very common problem.
Prior to 1997, all dryer cords and receptacles only had three prongs and three receptacle holes. There was one neutral prong and two positive prongs. However, in 1997, the National Electric Code mandated that all dryers be outfitted with 4 prongs. A ground prong was added. If you have read my previous posts on grounding, you will know that grounding an electronic device is very important for safety reasons. Continue reading Finding the Right Dryer Plug
Wire Harmonization
Before you start warming up your vocal cords, let me set the record straight; wire harmonization has very little to do with a capella groups and barber shop quartets. Instead, wire harmonization focuses on a standard developed in Europe to bring together wires from different companies.
Wire harmonization refers to a European process where several European standards are merged into one. Since Europe is densely populated, as well as divided into many countries, harmonization was developed in order to bring together standards, making it easier to wire electrical devices across the continent. Continue reading Wire Harmonization
Halloween Electrical Safety
It’s that time of year again, when things get a little spooky. The stairs creak a louder, there seems to be more sounds in the dark, and even though you know it’s your neighbor’s dog, you can’t help but think “Werewolf” when you hear it howl at night. The spookiest thing for me, though, is Halloween electrical safety.
With all of your lighting and blow up vampires and ghastly decorations, it’s very easy to get swept up in the holiday spirit. However, Halloween electrical safety is very important. The first thing to check when unloading old decorations is that there are no frayed or exposed wires. Decorations can sit in storage for so long that you never know what little creatures may have chewed through the wire, or what kind of damage they may have suffered. Continue reading Halloween Electrical Safety
E-Commerce
Today, I take on an important topic: E-commerce. Let me begin by saying that I love the Internet. I think it’s great. The endless mirage of cat GIF’s, and cute puppies, and countless articles that chip away at my time during work. While the Internet is a wonderful place, you may also encounter traps and tricks hidden behind cute kitty GIF’s. It is especially important to be prudent when shopping online.
I have heard many stories of friends purchasing plugs and cords online only to find them falling apart. There was a recent scandal where someone died from a counterfeit iPhone charger purchased over the Internet. Fires and other safety hazards can begin from wires made of poor quality. With access to the Internet increasing, it is important to look at quality just as much as price.
Conductor Colors
I’ve already declared my unbridled love for color, so there is no more of an appropriate time than the present to talk even more about colors. However, in this post, we are discussing conductor colors. In every standard cord, there are three conductors connecting the wires to the proper slot; ground, neutral or live, and providing inner insulation. Matching up each wire to the proper conductor is very important to ensure electrical safety, so each conductor is color coded! Continue reading Conductor Colors
Brazil Standard
Brazil is a wonderful, beautiful country filled with rich history and culture. However, previous to 2010, the country was lacking in one major area; electrical standardization. There was no formal Brazil standard for any electrical sockets or plugs. Since there was no standard, that led to a total of eight different kinds of plugs. That’s right; eight! The multitude of options caused Brazilian citizens and tourists alike to have a difficult time connecting different plugs and wires for numerous electronic devices. Continue reading Brazil Standard
RoHS and REACH Compliance
You may have noticed an uptick in the terms “RoHS” and “REACH” compliant. They seem like technical, foreign terms. In reality, though, they’re there for your protection. Quail Electronics is RoHS and REACH compliant, but that probably doesn’t mean a lot to you unless you know what those terms mean. We’ve included a description of those terms, and why they’re important.
RoHS stands for the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive. RoHS regulations were developed in the UK to promote environmental and human safety. The goal of the RoHS directive is to protect consumers from substances that have been found to be hazardous. RoHS regulations became official on July 1, 2006. While RoHS regulations were initially only used in the UK, other countries have begun to adopt them. Continue reading RoHS and REACH Compliance