# Odd (to me) Symbol



## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

The circle & three lines say to me it's a 120/240 receptacle, but I've never seen them with arrows before.


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## Hamer (Oct 5, 2010)

I agree. I'd seen range receptacles resembling that before but the arrows don't ring a bell


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

I'd install a 240 receptacle and then use a sharpie to draw the two arrows on the sheetrock. 

-John


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## Hamer (Oct 5, 2010)

Heheh. Copy that.

There were a couple other ones on there. One ended up being a Light Dependent Resistor which I'd never seen but after digging a little I found that one.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Hamer said:


> ...One ended up being a Light Dependent Resistor which I'd never seen but after digging a little I found that one.


 :001_huh: What in the world kind of receptacles are they specing that have photoresistors in them? Are these nightlights?

-John


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## A Little Short (Nov 11, 2010)

Hamer said:


> Hey all. One of the guys I work with took his Masters exam recently and when he got back he asked me about a symbol I'd never seen before that he was asked to identify. It may very well be common but we do mostly industrial and I haven't seen it in any of our schematics or prints. Any ideas?


Maybe a 240V circuit with neutral.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

Call the architect and make sure. There should be a legend for the symbols. Perhaps he/she was making sure that the installer did not miss the fact that it was different, hence the arrows.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

I would just love to be able to post a copy of the legend from a job I am currently doing. The standard symbol for a duplex receptacle outlet has been directed to mean a 240 v outlet, A circle cut in half with the top half black and the bottom half white means a 240v outlet (no amperage specified) and a goofy star shape means a " 480v receptacle outlet". Bearing in mind this is a dwelling, and we usually don't see to much 480 volt appliances in homes and all in my area........ There is about a half dozen more goodies. 


I ended up finding out the plans were drafted in the Phillipine Islands and stamped by a local guy here cause its a cheap way to get a set of plans drawn. What I would like to know is how it got passed the building dept. plan review.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Hamer said:


> Hey all. One of the guys I work with took his Masters exam recently and when he got back he asked me about a symbol I'd never seen before that he was asked to identify. It may very well be common but we do mostly industrial and I haven't seen it in any of our schematics or prints. Any ideas?


I wonder.... if that's one of those new "hallway" or "bathroom" receptacles with the built in automatic night light?


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## CanadianSparky (May 10, 2011)

Dennis Alwon said:


> Call the architect and make sure. There should be a legend for the symbols. Perhaps he/she was making sure that the installer did not miss the fact that it was different, hence the arrows.


He said it was on a Masters exam not from a job. But maybe an architect could help understand what it is? I've never seen something like this before either.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I found this -- not the same but a multi outlet recep.


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

Could the arrows be calling it out as a twist-lock? That was my first thought....


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

One arrow would mean a varistor.
Two arrows NOT touching the circle would mean photo (light) input.
But on a 240 circuit?


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

LARMGUY said:


> One arrow would mean a varistor.
> Two arrows NOT touching the circle would mean photo (light) input.
> But on a 240 circuit?


This is what makes me think this was drawn inaccurately from the memory of the guy who took the test, and what it perhaps really was is a photocell. It's not too far off from the photocell print symbol. When I see two arrows pointing on an angle, I think photoresistor, photodiode, or photoswitch. A 208 V photoswitch would have three legs.


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

Either way they should not expect you to know the symbols-- a legend is always available with the prints so why give a question like that. I have seen all kinds of symbols representing different things-- some architects make up there own symbols.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

Dennis Alwon said:


> Either way they should not expect you to know the symbols-- a legend is always available with the prints so why give a question like that. I have seen all kinds of symbols representing different things-- some architects make up there own symbols.


Yeah. I had a set of house prints that used all the shapes from Lucky Charms as device symbols.


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## BBQ (Nov 16, 2010)

MDShunk said:


> Yeah. I had a set of house prints that used all the shapes from Lucky Charms as device symbols.


They are magically delicious.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)




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## Hamer (Oct 5, 2010)

MD you may be right about a photocell. The arrows may not have been touching. I just copied what he showed me from memory. I also agree that any good print or schematic will have some kind of legend so knowing these "commonly used" (their words, not mine) electrical symbols for an exam is kind of a waste of time.

I'm just glad it wasn't something incredibly obvious I overlooked.


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## CraigV (May 12, 2011)

Geeez, everyone knows that's a solar-powered receptacle.


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## Wirenuting (Sep 12, 2010)

CraigV said:


> Geeez, everyone knows that's a solar-powered receptacle.


With a built in night lite?


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## CraigV (May 12, 2011)

Wirenuting said:


> With a built in night lite?


 
That's similar, but has two arrows in, one arrow out...:thumbsup:


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

If someone is smart enough they can make millions by figuring out how to do a search based on an object. Insert the image you want to find and the engine looks for it. If I had a piece of equipment and didn't know what it was I could snap a picture upload to a search engine and it would look for the product. :thumbsup:


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## jcrispy3 (Sep 2, 2011)

Optical CT???


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Dennis Alwon said:


> ...Insert the image you want to find and the engine looks for it....


 Google does that. Go to the "Image" search engine. Open a folder on your desktop with an image in it, drag the picture you want to find from the folder to the search bar. 

I tried it with that goofy symbol. Nothing in all of Google knew what it was.

-John


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

Big John said:


> Google does that. Go to the "Image" search engine. Open a folder on your desktop with an image in it, drag the picture you want to find from the folder to the search bar.
> 
> I tried it with that goofy symbol. Nothing in all of Google knew what it was.
> 
> -John


Dang dude that's cool. I told you someone would get rich. :thumbup:


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## Dennis Alwon (May 9, 2009)

I tried the symbol in this thread and got no match but I did one from my hard drive and it worked. Seems like it has to a picture taken from the web...


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Honestly, I just assumed that meant that this guy made up that symbol and nobody else in the free world uses it. :whistling2:

-John


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## Mshea (Jan 17, 2011)

3 wire photo switch like for a lampstandard. or the socket it plugs into.
Did I win a prize? Am I correct?


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## JohnR (Apr 12, 2010)

I did a Walgreens pharmacy that had way more outlet symbols than should have had to be there. How about a half sheets worth of this symbol means this type of outlet. Some sheets had over 150 specs. Some had only 40.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

JohnR said:


> I did a Walgreens pharmacy that had way more outlet symbols than should have had to be there. How about a half sheets worth of this symbol means this type of outlet. Some sheets had over 150 specs. Some had only 40.


I did exactly one Walgreens. Yes, I was set aback by the engineering they put into the place. On the bright side, they do so many that everything you need is in one connex box or another.


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## eutecticalloy (Dec 12, 2010)

Dennis Alwon said:


> If someone is smart enough they can make millions by figuring out how to do a search based on an object. Insert the image you want to find and the engine looks for it. If I had a piece of equipment and didn't know what it was I could snap a picture upload to a search engine and it would look for the product. :thumbsup:


Google was suppose to do that for the android market....at least that is what I heard from a guy who works there.


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## sparky970 (Mar 19, 2008)

eutecticalloy said:


> Google was suppose to do that for the android market....at least that is what I heard from a guy who works there.


Google Googles:thumbsup:


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