A to Z
- Body code
- The standard's description of a device in one word: wires, amps, device letter, hour, ingress. 320P6W. Reading a code.
- Connector
- The female device on the load end of a cord (device letter C). Mates with a plug or an inlet.
- Earth contact
- The protective-earth pin and sleeve, larger than the line contacts, whose angular position is the hour. Called the ground contact in North America.
- Hour position
- Where the earth contact sits when the face is read as a clock with the keyway at 6. Fixes the rated voltage for a given pole count. Hour positions.
- IEC 60309-1
- The general requirements: construction, temperature rise, mechanical strength, IP ratings, marking.
- IEC 60309-2
- The dimensional interchangeability standard: the pin sizes, shell diameters, hours and colours that let one maker's plug enter another's socket.
- Ingress protection (IP)
- IEC 60529 rating. Pin & sleeve bodies come as IP44 (S) or IP67 (W). IP44 vs IP67.
- Inlet
- The male device mounted on equipment (device letter B). Takes a connector.
- Interlocked receptacle
- A receptacle with a switch that will not make until the plug is fully inserted and will not let the plug out while on. Common at 60 A and above.
- Keyway
- The groove in the shell that indexes the plug to the socket; the hour is read relative to it.
- Pilot contact
- A small auxiliary contact (suffix P on our numbers) that makes last and breaks first, used to control an upstream contactor so the main contacts never switch under load. Found on 63 and 125 A bodies.
- Pin & sleeve
- The North American name for IEC 60309 devices: round pins on the plug enter tubular sleeves in the connector.
- Plug
- The male device on the supply end of a cord (device letter P).
- Pole count
- 2P+E, 3P+E or 3P+N+E: how many current-carrying contacts plus earth. Written as 3, 4 or 5 wire. Pole counts.
- Receptacle
- The female device mounted on a wall, panel or busway tap (device letter R). Takes a plug.
- Series I / Series II
- IEC 60309-2 body series. Series I is the worldwide series with the 16/32/63/125 A ratings; Series II covers the North American-derived configurations. Most of what you meet is Series I.
- UL 1682 / UL 1686
- UL 1682 lists plugs, receptacles and cable connectors for industrial use; UL 1686 sets the pin & sleeve configurations. Together with CSA C22.2 No. 182.1 they are the North American listing behind the 20/30/60/100 A figures. NA vs IEC ratings.
- Voltage colour
- The body colour assigned to each voltage class. Colour code.