because what became the NEMA 1-15 & 5-15 plug/receptacle was invented and settled on in 1913. BS 1363 wasn’t invented until after WWII and there’s no reason to expect everyone in the US to tear all of the existing shit up just to please a handful of self-loathing Americans who desperately wish they were European.
Wait, did that get turned around? I can plug a flat type C plug both in wall sockets of type C and F; but the big grounded type F plug will only fit into a big F socket, not a C socket.
Other than not wanting them to be electrocuted or killed in a fire?
any evidence that shows a statistically significant difference? especially for the second one? you do understand that BS1363 puts a fuse in the plug because of the prevalence of ring circuit mains in the UK, right? the US uses branch circuits with short circuit protection at the breaker panel, obviating the need to incorporate it into the appliance plug.
US mean yearly home fires caused by electrical failure or malfunction: 45,210.
UK fires caused by appliance or supply fault (in all structures, not just homes): 6,226. Multiply that by five to approximate a per capita comparison and you get 31,130.
Granted, not all of the disparity would be related to plug/socket design, but I’m having a hard time thinking of much else that would account for it.
If you look at the figures for fires caused by “electrical distribution” equipment, the disparity is broadly similar.
I think 2square4u means the plugs which are round all over, with the two prongs but without the slits or the hole. They’re type F but try to look like type C without actually having the additional safety features of these. The prongs are the same for type F and type C; the round plug with no slits and no hole will not fit into a properly-grounded type C since these have either a “pin”, two bendy metal things, or both.
Well, aside from your personal opinion, the reason to Change existing infrastructure would be that the new way of doing things is safer or cheaper and therefore better.
Yes, early adopters sometimes pay a Penalty for re-doing things once they have improved - but the US power System in General Needs an overhaul anyway, and changing household wiring along might be worth it.
Is it better to use an old System Held together with (figurativly) duct tape and pay for continous repairs to it, or Switch to a (by now) tested and established stable System and have less Problems in the next decades?
No, I meant what I said. These are the plugs and sockets I have in my house (apologies for the image quality, the pics were taken with my mobile phone in crappy lighting and cropped on my phone. If necessary, look up my original link):
Type C socket, perfectly circular, 36mm diameter: http://sk.uploads.im/t/HvhFq.jpg Allows grounded type F, ungrounded europlug type C and the round type C plug.
Type F socket, with ground prongs and extra blocking features for the old, round type C plugs, 36mm max diameter: http://sk.uploads.im/t/tRyfC.jpg Allows type F and the narrow europlug type C plugs.
Europlug type C socket: http://uploads.im/5VwXi.jpg Allows only europlug type C plugs.
Type F plug: http://uploads.im/v7Qnp.jpg Max diameter 36mm. Has contacts for the ground prongs in the type F socket, cutouts for the blocking features in type F sockets and a hole for the ground prong in type E sockets. Fits type C, type E and type F sockets.
Narrow europlug type C plug: http://uploads.im/tGfMU.jpg Max width 36mm. Fits type C, type E and type F sockets. The design allows the width to fit into the irregular shape of the type F socket.
Old style circular type C plug: http://uploads.im/6LxtB.jpg Perfectly circular, 36mm diameter. No cutouts, no ground prongs. Fits only type C sockets. Slowly becoming obsolete in my part of the world, replaced by either type F plugs or europlug type C plugs.
All plugs have 4mm prongs and the same prong distance, so in that respect they’re perfectly compatible. It’s all about whether or not the plug is physically able to fit in the socket. And the advantage of this system is that if you have an old appliance with an old ungrounded plug (old style type C plug), it can be plugged into a socket located in a place where ground isn’t considered necessary. OTOH, if the location of your socket means having a ground lead is a good idea (e.g. in the bathroom or the kitchen), it’s physically impossible to plug in an old appliance which neither is grounded nor is considered harmless enough to not require a ground lead.
Of course, since national standards differ somewhat, even within Europe, YMM(probably)V.
And this is one feature of the European system which I prefer over the type A / type B sockets and plugs you find on the left side of the pond. IME, with the type A / type B sockets and plugs an ungrounded appliance can easily be plugged into a grounded socket, so you aren’t able to block ungrounded appliances from being plugged in at a place where it’s not a good idea (like in the bathroom). OTOH, a grounded appliance can’t be plugged into a socket located in a place where ground isn’t considered necessary.
that’s why the National electrical code has required GFCI receptacles in “wet” areas (e.g. kitchen, bathroom, etc.) for decades now. simple (earth) grounded receptacles/circuits won’t reliably (and aren’t meant to) protect you. they’re meant to protect the wires by causing the breaker to trip. a faulting grounded appliance can easily shock you at low current levels which won’t trip the breaker.
That’s of course fine and dandy if you’re trying to plug an ungrounded appliance into a grounded socket. It still prevents you from plugging a grounded appliance into a socket located in a place where ground isn’t really required. Like in the living room or the bedroom.
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Sorry, those links get blocked by my browser as being dangerous.
From what I can see, your Pictures are different to the classification guide.
I’ve never seen those, and I wouldn’t use the classification from the original link to refer to that.
To be honest, I have no idea which of my sockets are grounded or not. I assume that, despite my house being built in the 1950s, that current sockets and wires are up to code because that’s the law. My bathroom has an F-Switch specially designed and presumably added later.
Because it’s an old house, there are not enough outlets for modern Needs, so I use multiple sockets. These come with F only, or F and C mixed. Some applicances have big F plugs, some have thin C plugs. I haven’t collected data on how it relates to power consumption or current Spikes, but all electrical appliances I buy have the CE Label, meaning that they won’t short out, because that’s the law. (Some illegal Chinese knockoffs don’t have the CE Label, but only stupid People buy that stuff, and then get surprised when the stuff Shorts out/ catches fire/ similar).
UK has has several different types of plugs and sockets (2 Amp, 5 Amp, 15 Amp) over the decades and you can still find some of them in older houses. Hell, you can even still buy them if you look hard enough.
Doesn’t the UK also have wall sockets that can be individually switched on/ off?
Why was there never a law mandating all power sockets to perform to one Standard, to make things easier? How do you tell which current is correct for a certain socket, especially if you are not the owner of the house, but a renter? How do you buy new appliances if you don’t have the right sockets?
Not that big a problem since NEMA 1-15 two prong (non-grounding) receptacles have been prohibited for new construction since the 1960s.
Most modern production 13A sockets will have a switch, but sometimes you get ones that don’t. I’ve got a bunch of salvaged ones in the garage somewhere.
The various plugs/sockets were different sizes and pin separation so that they could not interchange. Generally 13A was for cookers, most appliances were 5A and small lighting circuits were 2A.
After WW2 a new 13A standard (BS1363) plug/socket appeared that was meant to be universal for all applications, the in-line fuse being changed as appropriate to the application. The old sockets gradually began to disappear.
And what do I plug my computer into? Don’t tell me it’s turtles all the way down.
No, but it’s only one turtle. The advantage to using the computer as your charging station is that so long as that one plug behaves, the stuff connected to the USB ports will charge just fine.
If you bring a sockets bar and one adapter that you’ve previously verified is good, you can plug a bunch of stuff into a single socket.
They’re not supposed to; different countries use different plug types (and some countries use two, I’m glaring at you Italy), but a type F is supposed to be a type F and the local norm is supposed to be a direct translation of the DIN which originated those.
if I had an adapter that worked with every receptacle, I’d just plug my US charger into it. The problem is that all the receptacles are different. Some are too loose and the plugs fall out, others have a slightly different hole placement so the plug won’t fit.