EU plug, UK socket

[tuga]

Probably because European domestic plugs don't have an earth; it's one of the few examples of where a European standard is actually lower than a UK one.

But they do. In Portugal domestic installations have had earth since the mid '70s. For years appliances have come with a schuko plug, only lighting fixtures and lamps still use a 2-prong plug.

Years ago the prongs of 2-prong plugs were all-metal then it changed to only the tips. I got zapped a handful of times when I was a kid.

 

[Bob McC]

Every plug/socket in my French gaffe is earthed.

 

[tuga]

In one odd hangover of colonialism, Singapore, Malta, Cyprus and Hong Kong* also use these plugs, which was always handy for people doing a bit of consumer-electronics shopping on their way home from Australia. (Especially back in the days of analogue TV, as HK also used the same PAL-I colour system as the UK)
__
* but only Hong Kong: in mainland China, domestic installations use whatever was in the first box the electrician pulled from his van.

In Macau they also use UK plugs and sockets and cars drive on the UK side of the road too.

 

[Seeker_UK]

The French have 'earths' for example

Technically it's the CPC rather than the 'earth'. The earth is the connection provided by the 'board' at the meter

But they do. In Portugal domestic installations have had earth since the mid '70s. For years appliances have come with a schuko plug, only lighting fixtures and lamps still use a 2-prong plug.

When I was a child the prongs were all metal then it changed to only the tips. I got zapped a handful of times.

Every plug/socket in my French gaffe is earthed.

Thanks for the correction.

I also seem to recall that you can't reverse live / neutral and that's important for fuses to work safely. I might have remembered wrong.

 

[tuga]

Thanks for the correction.

I also seem to recall that you can't reverse live / neutral and that's important for fuses to work safely. I might have remembered wrong.

In Portugal you can reverse the plug.

I also do it here in the UK with my amplifier which still uses a 2-prong plug (it's double-insulated). I use a polarity checker and reverse the plug to wathever outputs the lowest level from the RCA socket.
The amp plug goes into a fused Schuko to UK adapter.

 

[KrisW]

@tuga - same as Hong Kong, then, which also drives on the left. I asked once what this meant at the border with the PRC, and the answer I got was "the way they drive up there, left or right doesn't really matter".

Italy still has two plug types in use both look the same (three pins in a line) until you put them side-by-side and see that one has wider pin spacing than the other. The difference is from the old days when houses were wired with a low-voltage (125 V) lighting supply ("luce") and a higher-voltage (220 V) appliance ("forza") supply that were billed at different rates. These days, houses are wired with a single 220 V supply throughout, but in older places (and that definitely covers rural holiday accommodation), you'll still see both varieties and the occasional Schuko.

@Seeker_UK yes, it's to do with fuse safety. If the fuse is on the N leg, and it blows, then no current flows because the circuit is broken, but the equipment remains live because the L input remains connected to the supply. In the "correct" orientation, the fuse blowing disconnects L from the device (N remains connected, but it is effectively at 0 Volts, which is not quite the same as your safety ground, but it's near enough).

As I noted above, though, most equipment comes with an internal fuse just inside the L input on the power-supply, so it's not really an issue (Also, type BS plugs tend to be fitted with 13 Amp fuses by default, which is plenty enough current to fry an electronic device and still not blow the plug fuse)

 

[martin clark]

But then, the BS136x plug-fuse pairing is mostly to protect the mains flex from wall to the equipment, more than the equipment itself (since with a Ring main, that flex otherwise might have to withstand the full capability of the Ring breaker/fuse upstream - easily 64A/1min, for a class B breaker; or the original, massive variability of a nominally-32A fusewire. Either represents a lot of power heating a potential fault... and the alternative, > '32A' mains leads on e.g. a table lamp, would be daft)

(Very nice summary of considerations @KrisW )

 

[narabdela]

Probably because European domestic plugs don't have an earth.

Eh! When did you last visit Europe?

 

[chartz]

No safety problems at all when live and neutral are reversed. Hence the German plugs! Very convenient when you have noise issues.

 

[Seeker_UK]

Eh! When did you last visit Europe?

I live in it, every day.

 

[Seeker_UK]

But then, the BS136x plug-fuse pairing is mostly to protect the mains flex from wall to the equipment, more than the equipment itself (since with a Ring main, that flex otherwise might have to withstand the full capability of the Ring breaker/fuse upstream - easily 64A/1min, for a class B breaker; or the original, massive variability of a nominally-32A fusewire. Either represents a lot of power heating a potential fault... and the alternative, > '32A' mains leads on e.g. a table lamp, would be daft)

(Very nice summary of considerations @KrisW )

It always ends up about cables.

 

[martin clark]

Ha, splutter....