fee was moted to attend the alled by the Bureau of Star is on its proposed I's conference late! for a period of two weeks, t of the docgroton which took place at et of es were male in the prop solde, which⠀ Vagreed upon as 1: nga of ot of wir. ידי e on of your Committee the question of expense reportant than the question of the safety of we tur ticular detail in electric wiring or of electric wiring in general Any electric service is so much safer than the service it re places that even the most simple electric wiring is usually ar improvement. If a uniform standard of safety for all services, electric and non-electric, should be adopted, the case could be handled differently; but so long as our prospective customers are not required to install electric service, any increase in the expense of the elec tric service is a danger, not a safeguard, because it has the effec of causing the public to continue with an installation less saf than they might have if the rule increasing the expense were not adopted. This does not mean that we should neglect to make all wiring as safe as is practicable, but that we should never require wiring to be so expensive that something cheaper and hence more dangerous is used instead. WIRING HANDBOOK Last year the Committee co-operated with Mr. H. C. Cushing, Jr. in the preparation of his manual on Standard Wiring. This co-operation saved the Commercial Section the expense of getting out any special wiring handbook, and resulted in a profit to both. The arrangement has been continued. STANDARDIZING SCREW THREADS FOR SOCKETS AND SIMILAR FITTINGS The American Society of Mechanical Engineers has had a committee at work on this subject. This committee consulted our Association, and our Secretary referred the matter to us, as well as to some other of our committees. The suggested standardization appeared to be based on what has been developed by our individual manufacturing members, and to meet the approval of those interested; and as it appeared to us that it would be an unnecessary duplication of effort for us to study these details further, we reported to this effect to the Secretary of our Association. WORK IN PROGRESS The following matters are under consideration by the Committee, but no report can be made other than one of progress. COLOR OF NEUTRAL WIRE 1.e develpment of the system of grounding secondaries, wire and of the solid neutral al: tend on the one to vari a distinction between the neutral or grounded wire, stantially the same or even less potential than bell on the other hand, the potential wire, which needs mach_pr_tection as in the days of ungrounded ereIs distinction would be the use of a different color, and lene where the system of a grounded nentral has been I further than elsewhere in this country, the neutral wire ed to be white Some wire manufacturers have, how !t red would be a better cor, and the Wiring is now conferring with manufacturers and w remen. en which shall be best for all It world seUIT of arcached cotton with a paraft se filler would ather without the dith ulties come fed with the a tion has been taken at the tire this report is For that still further progress may be made ng of the Association ster end of a jetta' le cord can be star, dardized, then Se fat ifac prer can be used with the ord that ", the fijnen or percolator of another ni. facturer, the underwriter and the wiring contractor to let alone rather than to spend time in adjusting for the general good of their competitors, we recommend that the Committee be continued. We recommend that it continue to bring new methods to the attention of the three parties interested, manufacturer, underwriter and wiring contractor, and continue to urge these three to co-operate. No one, no two of these, can afford to put any development through alone, unless it be in the nature of a monopoly. Developments such as the solid neutral or concentric wiring, need first to be brought to the attention of all. Next, the manufacturer must (under our present Code) be encouraged to spend his money to show an actual device in advance of the time. when he can sell it. In the meantime the underwriters must be encouraged to consider and report on something which the manufacturer is ready to show only in model and which the wiring contractor is not yet ready to use, even if allowed to do so. The wiring contractor must be educated toward the future use of something not yet either on the market or permitted by the Code. Only such a body as the Wiring Committee can perform these functions, and unless it is proposed to limit the improvements in our industry and in the National Electrical Code to those which can be made the subject of a profitable monopoly, we must depend upon a body like the Wiring Committee to act. We recommend that the Committee continue to interest itself in the standardizing of plugs and receptacles, in concentric wire, in any wiring systems that are not controlled by patents, in the solid neutral, in precautionary rules that will promote safety by encouraging the safe use of electricity, and in any similar matters that may be assigned to it from time to time. Respectfully submitted, ER DAVENPORT W A DONKIN THEODORE DWIGHT JJ GIBSON D A HEGARTY JOHN A HUNNEWELL W P LYON RS HALE, Chairman SE DOANE, Vice-Chairman ROBERT MONTGOMERY LH NEWBERT FD PEMBLETON CE ROBERTSON HR SARGENT JE WEISMANDEL |