Today it is impossible to imagine an office or living room equipped with computers, in which the Pilot electric extension cord is not used. The need to connect the system unit, monitor and some peripheral devices to the network leads to the fact that the number of stationary sockets installed in the room is insufficient. It is here that a time-tested solution comes to the rescue - a wire, on one side of which a power plug is installed, and on the other - a set of outlets.
Very often, this technical decision is taken for the extension pilot, although this is not entirely correct. We will consider this moment a bit later. Compared to tees, the Pilot extension cord has the following advantages:
- allows you to safely interrupt the power supply;
- It filters the network from high-frequency harmonics;
- displays current consumption, protects connected devices (on some models).
What does the name mean?
"Pilot" - an extension cord, the price of which ranges from several units to tens of dollars, it is most often the only acceptable solution to eliminate the problem of lack of outlets. Buying it is very simple: just ask a consultant in a store or a seller in the market. However, few people know where the word "pilot" appeared in the name. It is believed that this is the same as the extension cord. In fact, everything is explained simply. The Pilot extension cord is a Pilot product whose products were one of the first to appear on the market. In fact, the history of photocopiers repeats, when the name of the manufacturer is attached to well-known photocopiers, becoming a household word. So, there are extension cords Buro, Most, PowerCube, etc.
Distinctive features
When choosing an extension cord, you need to remember that it is characterized not only by the length of the cord and the number of outlets, although many sellers focus on this. Inside each such device is a passive filter, which is a small board with an oscillating circuit of type CL. It is designed to filter out (suppress) high-frequency interference coming both from the network and vice versa. For example, if you plug in an electric drill with a sparking collector into one outlet, and a computer through the Pilot extension cord into an adjacent one, then the interference will not affect the operation of the latter's electronic systems. Although theoretically this is so, in practice the effect is too small to be taken into account. In other words, if there is a filter, then let it be. True, for its correct operation, you need to connect the extension cord plug to the circuit with a grounding wire.
Although outwardly all the models are not much different, the internal performance is different. In particular, depending on the method of connecting all the sockets of the device, they can withstand different
currents (power). From bent
metal strips miracles should not be expected, but if the connection is made by tires, then the permissible power (reliability) will be higher. Thus, it is advisable to abandon the operation of too cheap extension cords.
The presence of a built-in ammeter makes the device more technological, allowing you to control the current, but most often after a while the owner is bored under the table to look for an extension cord and look at the measuring device.
But the presence of overload protection (permissible power is indicated in the specification) will not be superfluous. Thanks to this, you don’t have to worry that the total load of all electrical devices included in the Pilot extension cord will exceed the permissible value for the main stationary outlet. However, not all models allow after such an excess to press a special button and restore work - sometimes a fuse needs to be replaced.