- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Does anyone know why this is called a California standard connector? The NEMA number is CS6364 which is different than the typical L14-30P or L15-50P number.
I heard that same thing.I always heard that it started with the film industry
"I believe the California plug gets its name from being developed as a safer connector for the early days of the Hollywood Film Studios. The first hi-ampereage connectors used in the studios were paddle plugs used in theatres, which were ungrounded. The California plug was grounded by the outer steel shroud, which also protected the male contact pins from damage when the cables are dragged around the set every day. The grounded shroud helps absorb the Arc-Flash if the connector is plugged or unplugged while energized. The paddle plug was notoriously dangerous for Arc-Flashes, especially in the older DC powered Theatres in the first years of electric lighting for the stage! "
The 50 amp locking nema is SS2-50. This connector is NOT compatible with the CS. It is common in marine and RV applications and does not have the center alignment pin..
The CS connectors came from construction. Early on there were two different formats. The California Standard had the alignment pin, and there is a very similar one with no alignment pin. CS was used on the west coat, and on the east coast the other one was used. CS eventually won out.
AFAICT, without the pin (on the line side) they're quite compatible. We get a fair number of food trucks that have the no-pin varient; just pull the pin and plug them in (save/reinsert the pin when done).
Could be.... have some references to that? I haven't found any. Why "California standard" (which was the original questions), and why two variations (different manufacturers?).
I read something once that said because there wasn’t a NEMA equivalent plug, what we now know as the CS plug is what was approved by California regulators.
One of the restaurant brands we build for has started using CS plugs in place of 15-50R/P on their fryers and grills. A common service call for me over the last several years has been replacing the 15-50 components when they don’t get fully inserted after sliding the appliance out for cleaning.
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AFAICT, without the pin (on the line side) they're quite compatible. We get a fair number of food trucks that have the no-pin varient; just pull the pin and plug them in (save/reinsert the pin when done).
I wonder if it is something stupid like the pin was added as a workaround on a hubbell twistlock patent?
Yes, that's it. In the early days of the film industry, the filming was always done outdoors to have enough light, which is why it ended up in Hollywood (the precursor to Hollywood was a little town in the Bay Area called Niles, which is where most of the early Charlie Chaplain films were made. But fog became problematic for filming schedules). Even the notorious sunny skies of SoCal were not enough though, so they started filming indoors where they needed very bright lights (Klieg Lights) that required a lot of power. NEMA twist lock did not yet exist, and the standard paddle plugs used for stage lighting had problems with arcing. Film is VERY flammable, so arcing was a potential disaster. So the film industry developed their own version of plugs and receptacles that had early forms of arc resistance and a twist locking feature so that they wouldn't come undone when being dragged around. When Hubbel later used that concept to create the Twist-Lock that was eventually adopted as a NEMA standard, the California Plugs were already in use for decades, so they were not going to change.* It's still used a lot in all of the entertainment industries because the special gensets for the film industry get rented out by other industries as well and have those on them.I always heard that it started with the film industry and the thinking was that they were a better design. Don't know if this is fact though.