This article was posted 09/25/2012 and is most likely outdated.

Mike Holt - Helping the Little Guy - Exterior Retractable Electric Receptacle , a New Product
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Helping the Little Guy - Exterior Retractable Electric Receptacle , a New Product

New Product - Exterior Retractable Electric Receptacle

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We were recently contacted by John Neyens, a consulting engineer about his Power Dugout Retractable Receptacle. John developed this product to fulfill a request expressed by one of his customers and would like to get the word out about this product to the electrical community. If you have any feedback for John please feel free to contact him. We love hearing stories like these; where a simple request leads to a new product or innovation that could greatly benefit the industry. We hope that this story inspires you to think 'outside the box' the next time you're faced with a challenge and come up with a solution to a problem rather than simply saying it can't be done.

John Neyens' Story:

Hi my name is John Neyens and I live and work as a consulting engineer in Quincy, Illinois. I graduated with a degree is in mechanical engineering from the University of Missouri in 2006, but most of my work experience has been in the electrical industry. Even though I had not planned on working in the electrical industry while I was in school, I have found it to be very rewarding.

Given my lack of formal training for the electrical industry, almost all of my knowledge of the electrical industry has come from on the job training. As I am sure others in this similar situation and even those with extensive formal training have experienced, I was humbled on a regular basis by the amount of information I needed to acquire to work in the electrical field. Fortunately, I had the privilege to work with several very experienced and knowledgeable individuals who helped to show me the ropes of the electrical industry. To this day I cherish the moments when I can get a few moments of time and input from more experienced individuals in the industry, and I encourage all of those with this knowledge and experience to take the time and effort to share your experiences with the next generation entering the electrical industry.

I believe Mike Holt epitomizes what it means to give back and help newcomers to the electrical industry. I have found the information offered by Mike to be an invaluable tool in learning about the electrical industry. This respect for Mike and his work led me to contact him after reading several newsletters where Mike helped the little guys in the electrical industry get the word out on their new electrical products. As I am sure everyone has experienced, it is a rare event when unsolicited emails are returned in a timely fashion. I can tell you I was floored when Mike responded to my email the next day regarding the product I had been developing. Mike generously offered to help me spread the word about the product I have been working to develop.

Approximately three years ago I was working on an electrical renovation project for a local park district and the park superintendent had an interesting request. The existing electrical system included receptacles mounted on steel posts throughout the park to serve various temporary events such as summer festivals, farmer’s markets, and Christmas decorations. Most of the time the receptacles were not in use and the superintendent was tired of having to mow around the posts and generally thought they were an eyesore when compared to the rest of the park. He asked that the electrical renovation include the installation of a device that would allow the receptacles to disappear when not in use.

I performed an exhaustive search for a product that provided this functionality and assumed that the reason I could not find such a product was because I just did not know where to look. After talking to a few more seasoned individuals in the industry, I realized that a product to allow the receptacles to disappear did not exist. I then decided to develop a product to fill this void. After sketching out many different ideas and a lot of tinkering in my basement, I felt like I had come up with a solid idea for a retractable receptacle.

I was fortunate enough to receive a patent for my idea and I am now seeking to commercialize the product. To date, I have done all of the development work on the retractable receptacle myself. However, my past experiences have taught me that working with experienced partners leads to greater successes than approaching problems independently. Therefore, I am seeking partners to help develop my idea into a commercial product.

I am very grateful to Mike Holt for sharing this information with his subscribers. The base of knowledge and experience represented by this group is incomparable in the electrical field and I know the feedback from this group of people will be more beneficial than any other feedback I can receive. I appreciate your time to read this letter and hope that you will review my product further at my website www.powerdugout.com I have included a couple of pictures of the prototype of the product which I installed in my yard. I appreciate any and all comments and they can be sent to me via my website, this newsletter, or you can email me at powerdugout@gmail.com

Sincerely,

John Neyens

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Comments

  • I want to thank everyone for your comments on the Power Dugout. As several of you have stated, there are several challenges to a product of this nature. Water entry is probably first among them. I designed the vault such that when the receptacle is retracted and the lid is closed, a watertight seal is formed to keep surface water from entering the vault. When the receptacle is extended, the lid is not watertight. The bottom of the vault is open to allow any water that enters the vault to drain out the bottom during this condition. During the next round of design changes, I intend to look at methods to make the vault watertight in both positions. A UL listing is also a necessity. I have talked to UL about getting this product listed, but have not initiated the process just yet. I am hoping to gain a partner with a little more experience in the manufacturing process and then initiate the UL process.

    John Neyens  October 3 2012, 4:57 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • I want to thank everyone for your comments on the Power Dugout. As several of you have stated, there are several challenges to a product of this nature. Water entry is probably first among them. I designed the vault such that when the receptacle is retracted and the lid is closed, a watertight seal is formed to keep surface water from entering the vault. When the receptacle is extended, the lid is not watertight. The bottom of the vault is open to allow any water that enters the vault to drain out the bottom during this condition. During the next round of design changes, I intend to look at methods to make the vault watertight in both positions. A UL listing is also a necessity. I have talked to UL about getting this product listed, but have not initiated the process just yet. I am hoping to gain a partner with a little more experience in the manufacturing process and then initiate the UL process. Thanks again for your comments and please feel free to contact me directly at powerdugout@gmail.com if you would like to discuss my product further.

    John Neyens  September 28 2012, 4:44 pm EDT
    Reply to this comment

  • Looks great, but is it listed?

    Gary Line  September 27 2012, 6:46 pm EDT
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  • This looks like a violation of code. not at a given hieght above grade.

    Ralph  September 27 2012, 9:14 am EDT
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  • This is an example of "inspired innovation", something which was common in America...once upon a time. A person encounters a problem, a set of circumstances or events and says "What if I could...?"

    John admits he is not an expert in the electrical field but that hasn't stopped him. Yes, there will always be issues which need to be addressed before a product can be launched but that is part of the process.

    We, as a community, need to appreciate John's efforts.

    Don't give up!

    Pine Brumett  September 27 2012, 4:38 am EDT
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  • How resistant is it damage from Ants and Gophers?

    Mark Glenk  September 26 2012, 11:06 am EDT
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  • I'd be concerned about flooding when the receptacles are in the stored position. I would definitely feed this with a GFCI breaker rather than using a GFCI receptacle. NEC 406.9(B) indicates that the receptacle shall have an enclosure that is weatherproof; however, in this case, I'm not sure that would suffice. It would seem like the inner receptacle enclosure would need to cover submersion (i.e. - IP67) at least while not in use. It is very difficult to keep water out of below grade enclosures in outdoor situations. Does the outer enclosure here utilize a gravel bottom to drain water out or does is it designed in some way to keep water out all together?

    Dave D  September 26 2012, 10:04 am EDT
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  • Will this product be corrosion. Resistance below grade. To the environment

    jeff  September 26 2012, 9:32 am EDT
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  • I assume there will be an NRTL label assinged to this product?

    Dale Hamilton  September 26 2012, 8:47 am EDT
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  • Interesting story. I am not sure how it raises and lowers. What is the cost and what does the cost include. I ask because I coach in a baseball league that uses a pitching machine. The plug is in a box underground that gets filled with field dust and dirt and despite best efforts, it fails twice a season. Are the plugs dusttight or NEMA 3R only? Are the covers plastic? I would be concerned about the impact of a batted ball.

    Brad Zilch  September 26 2012, 8:22 am EDT
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  • Just wondering how the receptacle would stay dry and clean when stored below grade.

    Dale  September 26 2012, 8:05 am EDT
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