Survey: Is your mains-powered gear mostly 2-prong or mostly 3-prong?

[KSTR]

I have a closet full of three pin IEC cords. I'd have to do some major searching to find any two pin. I think I'm typical in this regard. So, yes, it's likely this was done as a convenience and the third pin is vestigial.

Uhm, you can insert a standard 3-pin cable in the 2-pin IEC C17 receptacle as it is mechanically compatible, so I fail to see your point.

 

[SIY]

Uhm, you can insert a standard 3-pin cable in the 2-pin IEC C17 receptacle as it is mechanically compatible, so I fail to see your point.

Oh cool- I’ve never actually encountered a two pin IEC in the wild.

 

[mhardy6647]

I have a closet full of three pin IEC cords. I'd have to do some major searching to find any two pin. I think I'm typical in this regard. So, yes, it's likely this was done as a convenience and the third pin is vestigial.

My (sold originally in the US -- and still in the US) Quad ESL-57s have two-connector IEC-style power input 'jacks' (ahem, sockets) on them. Just a random & empirical datapoint, offered strictly as-is and FWIW.

I castrated (so to speak) the plug on a couple of three-wire generic IEC-style power cords for them. The cords they were supplied with were (are) crazy long (i.e., too long for my application -- or at least my preference) and that 'vestigial ground [pin]' thing kind of weirded me out.

 

[Ingenieur]

It is a standard to have double insulated and the ground. It is often connected thru caps and R as a functional ground and at times as a safety ground.

How do I know? I spent an hour looking for the meaning of my symbol. Finally find it in my Luxman safety warnings. It is marked as such due to the TT external ground connection.


Some info, often related to medical gear

https://en.globtek.com/pdf/technical-article-pdf/PSU%20Isolation%20and%20Identity.pdf