Old-fashioned continuous "power strips"

6 years ago

When I was a kid in the 1950's and '60's, my parents had some power strips on which a pair of electrified slots ran the length of the device (maybe eight inches). You mounted one on a baseboard and plugged it into a regular outlet. You could attach ungrounded plugs anywhere along the slots, and you could attach as many as the slots had room for.

I think these gadgets would solve a number of problems, such as the AC adapter that's just wide enough to block the connectors on both sides of the one it's attached to. I've looked for them, but I can't find them. It's made more difficult by the fact that I don't remember what they were called.

Does anyone know what these things were called, and whether they're still sold?

Featured Answer

Justin Culmo

5 years ago

I remehember those old slot strips, my grandpa had a few in his garage. Cool, but otherwise outdated and not safe.

The continuous slot is certainly not safe for kids, and it cannot be guarded with outlet covers. Simply put, more stuff can fit into a long slot. They also fail to hold a plug as securely and they lack the versatility of having an available ground or overload protection.

Most power strips, today have grounds and overload protection, often enough, they also have surge protection. Even that 16-outlet strip. I'll do ya one better, I have a dedicated 20A circuit to my shed. From the outlet, I have this magnificent beast: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X8JL7A2/ which supports 20A and has Nema 5-20 in and out. Once again it has protection to make sure I don't exceed the 20A rating and is fully grounded.

Also, the point of these 12,15,20+ outlet strips isn't so I can run 20-devices at the same time, it's so I don't have to keep switching plugs. I have a bunch of chargers, a few work lights, a bench grinder, a fan, a vacuum, a phone charger, I pretty much have all 12 plugs filled, but I don't have everything on at once. So far, I've never hit the limit, but if I did, I have multiple protection devices in place.

Also, if standard strips are an inconvenience, there's a million and a half unique designs that will safely accommodate. Like this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AOR2QZG/

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

kudzu9
6 years ago
If they were still sold -- and I hope they aren't -- I don't think it would be a good idea to buy one for the following reasons, all relating to personal and equipment safety:

1. They would be easy to overload because you could plug in so many things.

2. They could only be used with ungrounded cords.

3. They would be prone to accumulating all kinds of debris in the slots.

4. They could not be child-proofed and would be attractive to children who like to experiment by shoving things into crevices and slots.

5. They wouldn't provide surge protection.

I agree that the diverse range of sizes and shapes of chargers can make some modern power strips annoying to use, but there have been new designs in the last several years that are more able to accommodate larger chargers without having the charger hog two plugins.
central_valley
Original Author
6 years ago
I don't see why the slots would be any more prone to accumulate debris than conventional outlets. If anything, the power strip as I knew it would be less likely to do that because it was fixed a few inches above the floor with the slots facing out, instead of lying on the floor with the slots facing up.

I also don't see why slots would be any more an attractive nuisance than conventional connectors. In any case there are no children in our household.

Most of the things I want to plug in are electronic devices that draw ten or twenty watts each. With LED bulbs, lamps fall in the same category. I just don't think overloading is a real issue. I see that the strip could be overloaded, if it were on a >20 A circuit with no other significant loads and you plugged monster ungrounded devices into it (assuming you had any), but I don't think it's likely to happen. You could do the same thing to a conventional multi-outlet extension cord, where it's also not likely to happen.

Surge protection would be nice to have, but if you plug a gizmo straight into the wall it has no surge protection, so it's hard to call that a safety issue.

Bottom line: I see no logical reason why these gadgets would not be reasonably safe, i.e. as safe as any comparable device now in use.

Which makes no difference at all if no one makes them because manufacturers think they are unsafe, or for any other reason.

Life will go on with or without continuous power strips. Today they make tiny extension cords that let you use every socket on a power strip no matter what size adapters you've got. The result is messy, on the other hand they work with grounded devices too.
Related Professionals
Belleville General Contractors · Bloomington General Contractors · Indianapolis General Contractors · Charlotte General Contractors · Murfreesboro General Contractors · Dubuque General Contractors · Chicago General Contractors · Butte General Contractors · Kansas City Home Remodeling · Columbia Home Remodeling · Springfield Bathroom Remodelers · Martinsburg Bathroom Remodelers · Enfield Bathroom Remodelers · Newark Bathroom Remodelers · Middletown Bathroom Remodelers
kudzu9
6 years ago
Chacun à son goût....
weedmeister
6 years ago
"Bottom line: I see no logical reason why these gadgets would not be reasonably safe, i.e. as safe as any comparable device now in use."

That is UNGROUNDED.
Stax
6 years ago
A GROUNDED device (with a third prong) can not be used in the strip device.
Stax
6 years ago
An Example
wdccruise
6 years ago
Here's a power strip that has so many outlets that they might as well be continuous: 16 Outlet Power Strip, Heavy Duty Metal Power Strip with Overload Circuit Breaker, 15 FT Long Cord
kudzu9
6 years ago
wdccruise-

And it's protected and grounded....
J Raef
5 years ago
The continuous strip outlets became effectively removed from the market because UL changed their standards to require that 2 prong plugs could be used on "double insulated" devices, and to attain that rating, the prongs had to be "polarized", meaning the Neutral prong was larger than the Power prong. That then meant that receptacles had to be polarized as well so that the plug could not be connected incorrectly, and there is no way to make that work with those continuous strips.