Comparing a British plug to North American plug...
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- čas přidán 21. 09. 2017
- Edit: For everyone asking about the fuse - see followup video:
• THIS is why British pl...
VLOG 59 - Today, I cover some unique design features of the British electrical plug and British sockets.
If you like this video, please hit the "Like" button. If you wish to see more of these videos, please subscribe. - Věda a technologie
Update: This video was wildly more popular than my usual videos. However, there is a follow up video due to the comments about the fuse below, this is found at czcams.com/video/XUv9HFKOO3c/video.html
0:28 We have the EXACT same plug design here in Ireland
@@transportfan08 It is also used in many of the old UK colonies and protectorates. Nigeria and many countries in the Middle East for example. Unfortunately they don't usually use the ring mains which are required for it to work effectively.
another thing you could have mentioned is that there is a switch on the socket in the uk
Then you live in a very strange house because most sockets have switches in the UK, in fact non in my house do not. Are you sure you're thinking about sockets and not plugs?
Sam Trott Same here, ALL my sockets have airways had switches, never to my memory have i seen sockets without one, very strange..
Adam You are right, your wiring must be very old. Not all sockets had switches. I think it became regs in the late 70's or 80's. So your house obviously hasn't be rewired sinse then.
Yea, changing the sockets may help but if the wiring is that old it could be dangerous. Maybe get a friendly electrician to check it out. Have you got a modern RCD fitted? If not I would do that before anything else!
Not every socket in the British plug design have switches. That's another thing which makes it better is the fact that you can get them with or without switches. I personally prefer the switched versions of them, but I'm completely open to using the none switched versions.
I’m 15, British and currently in school and I got taught how to wire a plug last year, they still teach it.
wcj gibbs I’ve not been taught that. Maybe it’s just a few schools?
good, as they should
i would say tho you're FAR too old to be learning to wire a plug.
they should be teaching it in primary school (my dad taught me how to wire a plug when i was about 8)
@@chemicalBR0 yeah schools honestly dont do enough to teach us basic skills
@@wcjgibbs3945 well it's not really a very useful skill. I learned it at school and I'm your age but I don't see when I'll need to use it
@@grassytramtracks since writing my original comment I've had to rewire plugs and used the same knowledge when wiring in wall lights, it's remarkably useful if you want to be self-sufficient.
It's also, almost impossible to accidentally pull a UK plug out of the socket by pulling the flex.
So when you trip over the lead it destroys the socket, or the plug, or both or your appliance crashes to the ground
Mr_Chris if the appliance is movable, like a hairdryer or vacuum cleaner, it will fall. If it's something like a washing machine, you'll be the thing falling.
GFSTaylor you or your wall socket that isn't fixed with titanium. Then again i don't know how you install a uk socket.
everyone does that here in the usa its super dumb
That would be awesome for BLOODY MACBOOK CHARGERS
The UK plug and socket is regarded as the safest in the world. I can't understand why other countries don't adopt it.
And I can confirm that treading on the prongs of a UK plug is FAR more painful than treading on a Lego brick.
I've done both 😁
booboyBL same
Would you be willing to spend money replacing all the outlets in your house and then all your appliances? Not likely.
Also don't say "use converters" because that would defeat the entire purpose of having the UK plugs to begin with.
EDIT: Though the new 'shutter' version of the US plugs are pretty much just as safe as the UK plugs.
Izicial - Why would you need to replace your appliances? It is only the plug that would need to be replaced.
I'm not saying the voltage or system of wiring should be changed, that can remain as is.
I already live in the UK, but if I needed to replace ALL the sockets and plugs in a standard 2 bedroom house, I estimate a cost of less than £200
So would I be prepared to pay that? Absolutely I would, for the safety of my children and family. It seems that some countries have more regard for money than safety..
Australian plug is equally safe as the UK plug and a far smaller form factor. We don't bother with fuses in plugs, as there is no situation where a fuse would be needed to protect a flexible cable anyway (even in the UK). We even have both 15A and 20A sockets and you can plug a 2x0.75mm² cable into them if you like. Even at a dead short and 20A, the flex never catches fire... the main fuse or MCB will ALWAYS blow first.
RaymondHng said "The need for more electric outlets in the home requires adding outlets on the same ring circuit which increases the load on the circuit and necessitated a fuse on each plug" = absolute bullshit. The circuit topography (ring or radial) makes no difference to whether fuses are needed on plugs. The UK system is just obscure - every other country has the local fuse (or some form) inside the appliance.
I really love the British plug. Glad they use it here in Singapore
Hong Kong also uses it 💪
@Dave Jones *safe*
until you drop it and stand on it at night that is
Even Malaysia uses it. And I'm glad they also included a switch on a socket as well.
Sri Lanka officially switched to UK style sockets a few years back from the "round pins" previously used in UK and still used in india. All new houses use the UK plug design, and older houses are being converted as they are being rewired (previous standard only allowed for 5 amps).
Another important part about the slightly longer earth pin is that when you plug an appliance in, the earth makes contact first, so if theres a problem with the appliance, the electrisity goes to ground and not the appliance itself.
The point of grounding is a safe route for the live current. If a fault develops internally with the device, say the metal case became connected to the live, the earth connection being of a low resistance would take the full current and break the fuse wire therefore isolating the device, as well as protecting anyone who was touching the device at the time who would most likely be of a higher resistance. Not sure how that differs from what Peter W said? www.thespruce.com/what-is-grounding-1152859 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_(electricity)#Building_wiring_installations
arfski, Peter W is not actually wrong - the longer earth pin is, in part, to ensure the appliance earth is connected BEFORE the live, such that if there's a fault in the appliance the metal case (or whatever) can't become live even for a moment - the fuse will blow. Equally, if the plug is only partially inserted, the earth pin will always be connected if the live is connected and so the circuit fails safe in the same way.
@Steve Kerr Indeed and I was completely agreeing with and backing up Peter W against the assertions of B.L. Alley, so I'm unsure how you came to the conclusion that I disagreed with Peter?
That's true, but it also provides a direct path to ground in case of an outside lightning strike on a pole or entrance line, rather than traveling throughout the house wiring. A fire prevention thing.
@Writer B.L. Alley Yes it is.
Okay, I know this is going to sound silly... but the one thing that instantly amazed me when I moved to the UK from America is the kettle. I was so used to waiting at least five minutes after turing one on in America before the water would begin to boil. The first time I used a kettle here........ wow.... I mean.......boiling water in under a minute! My mind was officially ....... BLOWN!!!!
I know what you mean. In Canada I switched my kettle to a gas stove one in order to speed things up a bit. Ha ha!
Gas stove? Oh, how sad! Not to gloat or anything of the sort, but I bet that you're missing your 230 volts by now, eh?!? But seriously, I'm so glad I moved here after the 'do-it-yourself' electrical craze died out. I can GUARANTEE you that if I had moved here during those electrical 'dark ages', I'd have burned down my flat (multiple times) by now! I must now bow my head and give my thanks and appreiation to Edward Leigh for literally saving my life!!!!
That's because us British don't fuck about when it comes to boiling the kettle. Especially when it's for a nice cup of tea. Mmm...
That's because the UK uses twice the voltage we do. That's also the reason for this bulky plug
The outlets in most American kitchens can supply 20A, or 2,400W, enough to boil water almost as fast as in the UK, but almost no appliance makers take advantage of them because it would require a T-shaped pin on the plug. If the appliance makers launched lines of 2,400W kettles, microwaves, toasters, etc. with some catchy name ("Turbo Cook!" or something), they could probably get large numbers of people to replace their old, slow kitchen appliances.
Also the right angled cord prevents you from yanking the plug out by tugging on the cord
Nicholas Lau isn't that a bad thing?Its so much easier to yank it out.
By pulling on a US plug, you may tug it out by accident, which leads to unexpected occurrences of devices turning off, or worse yet, the plug is half pulled out, exposing the legs which still have electricity going through and may cause fires if conductive material or debris fall right on to the exposed legs of the half-connected plug.
theres also the fact that brittish plug prongs are harder to snap off unlike the less bulky north american plug,,,i also noticed that some american sockets only have 2 prongs meaning even more problems
NeonNinja they don't snap off regardless so it not like it matters.
But in emergencies when you need to unplug quickly, british plug would be a pain
UK Style plugs are used also in Malaysia (former British colonial)
CZcams randomly recommended this video to me, it actually turned out to be very informative and worth watching at that too! :) I'm from the UK myself, so I'm very well aware of how our plugs look like, both inside and out, but this was a great comparison between both UK and US plugs, especially with how much safer the UK plug input/output system is on the whole too!
Thanks. This video was a big departure from what I normally do (a mix of vlog and technology/stuff that interests me), but consider subscribing. In the past few videos we've covered everything from the ISO standard cup of tea, to how to weigh pig without scales. ha ha!
Ahh well that seems fair enough too, appreciate the response and might just take up your offer/consideration there too! I've been somewhat getting back into watching CZcams videos over the past couple of months or so, and although I generally watch gaming based content, I do like exploring new content outside of that from time to time, and do like technology based content and/or anything that I'd generally find interesting also!
Just to say I am from the UK and didn't even realize the safety of our plugs and how the safety systems work with the longer pin. You just don't seem to notice
Yeah that's a good point actually, I guess for us UK folk it's just one of those everyday things that doesn't cross our minds, but when you put it into perspective/comparison with other plug systems, there's certainly quite some differences to take into account!
I'm so glad you mentioned stepping on it. I've done this once in 28 years, and it was bad enough that I can still remember every detail of the pain.
Its regarded as the best and safest plug in the whole world.
One of the most annoying differences between the UK (& European to an extent) and US plugs and socket outlets is the lack of a switch on the US outlets. In the US in order to ensure that power to my phone charger is off when not required I have to unplug the whole charger, whereas in the UK most outlets will have an on/off switch. This means that in the US I either have to inflict extra wear and tear on the plugs and sockets, or waste energy & risk fires by leaving equipment turned on for no good reason!
Use a power strip with a switch.
I think it's a common practice nowadays with duplex outlets in a room, to have one of the two always on, and the other switched by a common wall switch. This is to make it convenient to switch room lighting on and off.
I know that I can use a power strip, but the BS1363 outlets usually have the switch built in which is one of the features that makes them better!
They make American outlets with a switch. I have a few as well as USB outlets intersperced throughout the house
Or you could actually be COMPETENT and unplug your shit. OR EVEN BETTER, get a smart plug. OR EVEN BETTER, actually attach a switch to your outlet
level 3 gay dude, chill. It's not having to do with being competent or not, it's simple preference.
UK:
*+safe*
*+very difficult to self harm*
*+cannot electrocute when socket is in*
*+fuse*
*-hurts like ass on your feet*
America:
*+goes in quicker*
*-no fuse*
*-totally unsafe*
*-easy to self harm*
I would agree with your positives on the UK plug. Having a fuse, that’s more of a neutral because it’s a necessity with British wiring ring circuits. But your “negatives” on US plugs are not true. Totally unsafe? Easy to self-harm? Ridiculous. It’s a design that’s been in successful use for over 100 years. Not having a fuse isn’t a negative. They (generally) don’t have fuses, because it isn’t necessary. Convenience outlets in America are protected at either 15 or 20 amps, which corresponds to the configurations of the outlets. In the UK, outlets are rated at 13A and protected at 32A on ring circuits.
I would also say that the 240v system is superior to the 120v one, because it’s more efficient. And current at either voltage can be lethal. But 60Hz is superior to 50Hz, because it’s both more efficient (motors cost less to wind on 60Hz) and easier on both resistive and inductive loads (motors and filaments last longer). The ideal supply would be 240v 60Hz
There is another one for America +Very Popular
Couple that with the general stupidity of the people there and you've got a killer application. XD.
Type A and B (North American) is just a short circuit waiting to happen. I live in Canada and the plugs do feel unsafe a lot and I have short-circuited a phone charger. The fuse of half my home went off. Also, NA plugs are really easy to just pull out with the cable. I came to this video because I found a British power bar from when I used to live there. When I was little I didn't notice or understand any of the safety features but now I see how safer that plug is than a Canadian plug.
The eu plugs are the best
The moving covers over the live and neutral terminals of the socket are usually called "shutters." So, we have shuttered sockets and insulated pins in UK.
We used to teach children how to connect a plug to the wire in school, usually around the age of nine or ten. Back then, 35 years ago, wiring plugs safely was considered a necessary 'life skill' and was taught along with how to change a baby's nappy, and/or bathe it... (teacher brought in her own little baby.. they didn't use a doll. And the boys were better at it than the girls, apparently).
the universal benchmark of standing on Lego
It should become the SI unit for pain.
ian 1971 haha that cracked me up.
In the UK even when I was a teenager at school 10 years ago we were still taught how to rewire a plug. Not sure if it's still taught now, but it was an interesting half hour distraction in a science lesson.
Still taught, I learnt it last year in Y10
And you can still buy plugs too
BLue left BRown right :) simples
The live brown bear, slept on the green grassy ground underneath the neutral blue sky.
I left secondary school in 2016, in Year 9 I was taught in school how to rewire a plug.
Great video! I am an American Electrician. I admit, quite readily, that I agree with your opinions regarding the differences and obvious strengths of the British plug design.
One thing I noticed when in the USA (being from the UK) is the heavy cables on anything plugged in. Obviously you need twice the size of cable on 120v to carry the same load compared to 240v which then adds considerably to cost.
Yes, there's a number of nuances I didn't touch on. This is another reason for the fuse - the thinner cables (combined with a ring final circuit, meaning power will find another route on a broken ring unlike on a radial circuit that's broken) run the risk of overheating and catching fire in an appliance short.
As an electrician working everyday with 110v your best to aswer this. I am a carpenter in the UK. as you know the UK uses 240 volt (well 230 these days) but in the construction industry health and safety regulations don't allow us to use 240volt tools, they must be 110volt because they say they are safer. my understanding about electricity is that it's the current that kills you not the voltage. now if a 2000 watt tablesaw is 240 and another 2000 watt tablesaw is 110volt the 110 volt one must have more than twice the current to make it still 2000 watt. which is surely more dangerous?
Hmmm.... to use a safer voltage or lighter cables.... which to choose, which to choose.
+TheJunkyardgenius no, it's the resistance of the human body that determines the severity of a shock. 230v will produce a current of around 40mA through the body, enough to kill. 110v will produce half the current and is unlikely to kill a person with a healthy heart, it's Ohms law.
When I had my plug wiring lesson at school, my physics teacher took one look at it and said “one day you’re going to kill your self” fortunately the law changed so that all electrical items had to come with plugs.
I was a precocious child when it came to electrical things and was wiring (US-style) plugs and fixing simple faults in lamps and appliances by the second grade (age 7). I also got zapped and caused circuit breakers to trip more times than I can count (which never deterred me much). Obviously never killed myself because I'm still around to type this. :-) Sort of a mystery to me how anyone could find wiring an electrical plug intimidating.
As a kid I was obsessed with taking electrical stuff apart to see how everything works, and I did electrocute myself once but was because at the time I didn't know that capacitors can still hold a charge after you unplug the power.
+Chalky if you had electrocuted yourself you wouldn't have been able to write this comment, you mean you got a shock.
Antony Horner I
You are wrong, the word can be used to describe fatal and non fatal injuries.
Speak of when appliances used to come without a plug. I broke one of the prongs on the plug on my vacuum cleaner a few months ago and it was one of those plugs that are a sealed unit so you couldn't get into it to replace the broken prong. My housemate was saying "oh no we need a vacuum cleaner now" and was like "don't be daft just cut the plug off and put a new one on". I couldn't believe it when he said he didn't know how to wire a plug, I must have been about 10 when I learned that. It might be safer and more convenient now appliances come with plugs on them but we're losing basic skills that everyone should know really.
No you ran into one idiot.
Any high draw appliance I either put a heavy duty plug on it or replace the entire cord! The wire and fittings they use on all these made in China crap we have here are absolute rubbish
I learnt how to do it when I was in the cubs but not had to do it for a long time now.
Chris Cartledge my head master at the secondary school was surprised that none of the students in my physics (he was the teacher too) class didn't know how to wire a plug, so he taught us.
Best lesson i got that day!
My father was a sparky, I learned how to wire plugs "Brown is live, if you touch it you'll know why..." before I was at school. However, our house still had old round-pin sockets until the early '80s. (A tradesman's home tends to be the last fixed)
When I was a kid, we were taught how to wire a plug in science class. I think I was around 13 at the time.
Honestly the best designed plug in the world. And I’m saying that as a non Brit.
But only for residential use. For other things the CEE (red or blue) is better.
Not quite sure how you came to that conclusion, Marcel, when they're for completley different currents and use cases. Red is generally for 3phase power, and requires a distro, and can supply around 400 amps or more. Blue is generally 16 amps, they're common in stage and worksites. As well as Yellow (110v)
The color is indicating the voltage. Red is (3x230)/400V, blue is 230V and yellow is 120V.
There are different sizes available. The smallest one is (3x)16A, next one is (3x)32A, (3x)63A and the biggest one is (3x)125A. On the blue ones you'll find the same rating: 16, 32, 63 and 125A. All are different in size so you can't put the smaller one into a larger outlet without an adapter (containing a fuse or three fuses, depending if it's single or three phase).
63 and 125A have a pilot contact inside to avoid arcing if you connect or disconnect the plug.
But you can make an adapter from three-phase to single phase CEE, in this case three-phase 3x16A to single phase 16A:
www.kabel-licht.de/out/pictures/master/product/1/k_cee_kupplung_16a_stecker.jpg
And here you can see the sizes, on the blue and yellow ones it's the same:
www.e-driver.net/images/CEE_Groessenvergleich.png
I'm going to install two red CEE 3x230/400V 16A outlets in my workshop. But I don't had the time to install them yet:
www.amazon.de/gp/product/B004JYEJRS/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
In Germany three-phase power is common, even in residentials.
Yes, the colour generally determines the voltage. Blue comes in 16, 32, and 63 amps like you say, and red is 3phase (different colour because of the voltage) I have worked with all the standards, (i'm a live sound engineer) And Like i said, comparing it to a DOMESTIC plug, is irrelevant. They are for a different part in the supply chain.
In the post I've answered to was said: "the best designed plug in the world". Nothing about residential or industrial!
The blue CEE in the 16A variety have the name (literally translated)"caravan plug" here in Germany. And if you've got a house with a workshop you have the red CEE (table saw, drilling machine, welder) too. In older homes you'll find Perilex instead, which has two varieties. 3x25A and 3x16A. On the 25A version the earth pin (which is flat, the other pins are round) is vertical. On the 16A version the earth pin is horizontal.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilex
Actually the CEE is the newest design, so if it would not be one of the best designs something would have done a poor job. The newest in design in the domestic plugs is the BS 1363, therefore is the same as I've said in my last sentence. The Schuko system for example was introduced in the year 1930. To prevent contact with live connectors (partially inserted plug) the outlet is recessed into the wall, so you can't touch exposed live parts because there's nothing exposed. Newer versions have shutters. Only thing is, it's not polarised. The polarisation wasn't necessary when it was invented because there was no neutral wire, there were two live wires and the earth-connection. Now this disadvantage must be compensated by using 2-pole switches on appliances and switchable power strips.
You only ever tread on a UK plug once. Then you learn not to leave them lying on the floor. THe US design horrifies me. A Lot of nursery schools insist on using so called safety socket covers, which are in reality more dangerous than the uncovered socket. There is no safety standard that covers these covers and if they break they can leave the pin cover open if the earth pin is inserted..
Look up tamper resistant receptacles. They've been mandated by the national electric code for a decade. If your nursery school is still using the old style, get a new nursery school! TR plugs are $1.50 at home depot, almost as cheap as buying those covers.
www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/By-topic/Top-causes-of-fire/Electrical/Tamper-resistant-electrical-receptacles
Cheaper if you go for a contractor pack, I think (under $1, in fact). My wife went crazy with the safety covers with our first child and I hated them so I think I'll just splurge and do a full replace. My British sensibilities hates the ivory color sockets anyway so I'll get to do them all over in white and brown.
That's what I did before the birth of our first child; went around and replaced every ooooooooold receptacle with TRs. Doesn't take but five minutes per outlet, and then you don't have those goofy covers to lose!
I think it is the same with the Australian plug, well only the ones with a flat back or like one of those AC adaptors. Yes they do hurt when you stand on one. It is not the first time for me.
The Australian/NZ plug is even worse. Many people end up bleeding:
www.google.co.uk/search?q=side+entry+nz+plug&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=QuaRNLyRHvxwvM%253A%252CWKyWsQ8daPCo8M%252C_&usg=__YH_2zb0-fFgUyxwXPOMbMSFp98A%3D&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEjovf24DZAhWKAcAKHUEiCv4Q9QEIMzAE#imgrc=QuaRNLyRHvxwvM:
As far as "safety socket covers" go, they should be outlawed in the UK and also in NZ/Australia (for the same reason - sockets have had safety shutters for a long time and only extremely old ones don't.)
One inherent draw back of UK plugs is that if you were to trip over or pull an appliance cable the UK plug may snag and break the socket or plug or both, where as the US plug would just pull out, - also the reason we have 3 or 5 or 13Amp fuses in UK plugs is because our ring circuits often have a 32Amp circuit breaker which is too high a value to protect appliances. The EU tried unsuccessfully to make UK drop this 32A ring circuit design. USA sockets operate at 15A and supply at 120V 60Hz which is safer than UK which is 230V 50Hz. UK appliances may work in USA but using a converter of some sort is advisable - thanks for posting
Standing on that is worst than getting stabbed. I have flash backs every time I step on them
Maqim Hussain MAQ yes one time it was in my hallway and it went through my skin, had to get stitches
One thing it seems isn't mentioned in the video or comments: In a UK-style plug, if the wires happened to be pulled to the point of tearing out of their terminals, the earth wire would be the last to fall due to the internal wiring inside having slightly more slack than the other two.
What many poeple don't normally understand is that the fuse is there the protect the wire between the plug and the appliance (not the appliance ). The reason for this is the wire is the most likely part to catch fire
My understanding of UK wiring, they use a "ring" method. One wire runs the house, so it's running higher amps. Unlike North American method, which uses a "star" method to wire. Which has groups of sockets running lower amps.
spencer s: I could be wrong. Older houses use the ring method. The ring method uses a 32 amp wire that attaches to the fuse box at both ends. This supplies current from both directions. The wire is limited by a fuse to 15 amps. The ring configuration leads to a balancing out of the loads. I'm prepared to be corrected by a professional electrician
Hey, you are right on both parts. The primary purpose of the fuse is to protect the cable/cord from the plug to the appliance. if you have a standing lamp with thin cable in the USA and you put chair leg on it causing a short then often that cables resistance isnt low enough to trip the breaker in the distribution board and the cable catches fire, in the British system the cable would only have to draw slightly over 3 amps to be protected by the fuse in the plug. there is a long standing myth that the ring system was adopted to save copper, this is utterly unfounded, it was adopted due to its stability (when correctly installed). the beauty of the system used in Britain is that when it is correctly set up its actually impossible to overload an plug and fires caused by to-code electrical installations are incredibly rare. the beauty of using 240v is also a reduction in both inrush and current draw and a huge increase of power available from a domestic outlet, as an example - you wont find gas powered clothes driers in homes in Britain. heres the crux though, the American system *is* abysmal and thats well known but imagine changing that system, it would be incredibly impractical and pretty financially devastating so the only thing practical is to improve it as best as can be without changing the outlets etc. Britain was pretty much destroyed by WW2 and had a damn good opportinuty to roll out a new system - so they did!. a lot of countries use their outlets - its referred to as 'type G' in the international idetification table.
I once damaged the motor on a small compressor when a carrier bag got caught up in the belt.
There was a 13 amp fuse in the plug instead of a 5 amp one, had it not been, the fuse would have blown and protected the motor.
Ceil Fox you can overload a uk 13 amp socket simply by plugging to much into it for instance if you plugged a kettle and toaster into a twin socket you would draw more than 13 amps and less than 32 amps which would be the breaker size at the consumer unit.
The great thing about a 2.5 mm socket outlet ring is you can have a 32 amp breaker at the board and keep the cable size lower ie 2.5 as opposed to a 32 amp radial circuit which would require 6.0mm cable.
Ring keeps cable size down smaller terminations in socket easier to terminate shallower back boxes.
UK Style plugs are used also in Ireland
Also Saudi and the UAE
On a visit to Malta, a few years ago, I noticed that they were used there also but I do not know if that is still the case.
I lived in Saudi Arabia for eight years, and I can assure you that BS1363 plugs and sockets were not used there. They are used in the UAE, however, though not exclusively.
Of course it's part of Ireland - that is a geographical fact even proven by your reference to "Northern Ireland". That has nothing to do with the fact that the UK claims sovereignty over it. Geography and political circumstances are not mutually exclusive.
And Cyprus
I'm 17 now and we were still taught how to wire a plug at school. I'm pretty sure it's still on the national syllabus
Toby Wenman yea I'm 15 and had a couple lessons on it in secondary school.
I'm not sure if they're still on the new GCSE
Toby Wenman I'm doing the new syllabus, it is still on there. I was tested on it last year by having to label a diagram and explain the functions of each part and the colour codes.
I remember doing it in year ten. I did triple science though.
My mother would wire a plug by copying the picture. I would read what the connections were and find out what the appliance was.
I'm British and appliances were commonly sold with plugs back in the early 80's, if not earlier. I certainly don't remember opening a new radio or suchlike and just seeing bare wires at the end of the cord.
It was certainly routine to know how to wire a plug and change a fuse though.
Also, on sockets in the UK the earth ping is uppermost, so if something falls from above and partially dislodges the plug and comes in to contact with the uppermost pins it will safely be touch earth. In the US/Canada and Australia/NZ the sockets are arranged so the earth is lowermost - in the above scenario it would be quite possible for something to come in to contact with the bare pins. This is even more dangerous in Australia/NZ than North America as their supply is 240V.
Best plug design in the world. I'm from Hong Kong
1:16 - "I'M SPENDING SIX HUNDRED QUID ON A TELLY AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO CHUCK IN A FREE PLUG!"
Oh those were the days!
When I was much younger I had a part time job at a electronics goods shop. Often a plug was thrown in and we would have to wire it up for the customer who did not have a clue (that was in the UK).
Another amazing feature that is widely looked past about the U.K. plug is the internal wiring. If you yank on the cable that holds all three wires and for what ever reason it comes loose inside the plug, the live and neutral will be pulled out first and then the earth as there is a bit of slack inside the plug.
When you had to wire an old style plug the first thing i learned in college was the brown live wire was shorter so if you pulled the wires out the first wire to come out would be the live wire so it left the appliance safe
When I run into the European, or at least UK wiring setup, I use the memory trick that the neutral wire is blue, like the clear blue sky, the ground wire is green, like things that grow in the earth, and the hot lead is brown, like the dirt you'll be buried in if you touch it.
I know kind of silly, but it works for me. :-)
In the U.S., the white wire is neutral, the green wire is ground, and the black (or red) wire is hot.
bLue bRown or b(left)ue b(right)own green is easy theres no where else for it go to after youve done that
it does change however if your wiring a socket its the other way around but only electricians should be doing that and theyll be aware of such differences
ive never understood the whole ethos of brown is the color you undies will go if you touch it or brown is the color of the dirt youll be burried in we run on the ac system both are verry much live and both are verry much capable of killing you infact neither one does anything special for the most part evidenced by the fact your radio shaver and toothbursh all have cables capable of being plugged in either way and most electronics run on dc which uses a rectifier that really doesent care what orientation the wires are in
Brown is the colour of your underwear when you touch it and thats why its the live wire. ;)
It's AC... it goes back and forth. International plugs go in either way. Corrected by a rectifier to convert useless AC to DC...
The British plug may be as painful as Lego (past experience) but I've seen pictures where people have stepped on a North American plug and cut their foot. At least the British plug rounded the edges of the pins for safety to not be sharp
lul
The American ones never point upwards though
That would have to be a very worn down plug to cut someone
The reason you have fuses on plugs in the UK is because of those preposterous ring circuits you have over there which were invented to deal with the copper shortage. (Ring circuits are not used in new construction, but there's still loads of them in the wild over there and will be for many years to come). We've never used ring circuits here, thus no fuses on plugs.
Secondly, the U.S. electrical code now mandates that all new socket outlets are required to have UK styled shutters inside them, so we're making progress there. While I've never heard of an adult killing himself by sticking a paperclip into a socket, I have heard of children doing so (they rarely die from it, but do end up in hospitals). One thing you must remember is we're on 120V mains here. In the UK you're on 230V, which provides a much nastier shock.
As a British man I can honestly say I can't get enough of these plugs, in fact I have 12 plugs in place at the moment and that's just in my bedroom! They are attached to a 4 gang and an 8 gang socket but as my appliances are 'low energy' (lol) I'm very safe. I've stepped on a few plugs though in the past and it hurts....a lot.
I found that fascinating!
Thanks. There is a follow up video about the fuse aspect and how the ring circuit differs from the rest of the world, the link being in the pinned comment.
Yes. We're obsessed with safety here in the UK. I'm glad about that tho. When my kids were tiny i didn't need to worry much about electric plugs.
Chris Ward 240v is much more likely to kill you than US voltages so it makes sense to be extra cautious.
snolan1990 don't be fooled. 110V across your heart is easily enough to kill you at anything above 100 milliamps. It's heart crossing shocks at any low voltage above around 100 milliamps that do the killing. Getting a shock in one finger won't harm you, but touch a live wire in one hand and touch any earthed metal in the other and you're in trouble.
It’s the 50hz frequency that’s more likely to stop you heart as it becomes 100hz harmonic. The voltage is negligible.
mark houston it's nothing to do with the frequency. It's the power that stops hearts. DC is even worse and that has no frequency!
Us too in Malta. We have the British Standard of which I am very grateful.
I can't remember what age I was when I began rewiring plugs, but I still remember at about 8/9 learning to use bare wire instead of a fuse. And being able to change main big fuses. I wasn't even double figures when I noticed the wire in the dark grey ceramic block. My old man would get a new fuse when an old one went. We had dozens of them along with stubby fuse wire for 5,10 & 13 amps. I showed him what he'd ignored, changing the wire.
A few years after I installed a bugler alarm, now that was hard. This was a cheap diy unit and use box connectors for the tamper detection, it was literally wires upon wire and de bugging was so difficult. I was proud, lasted a good 6/7 years at which point the mainboard began acting funny. Second time round installation was fast, reused the pirs' and mag door switches.
The US motto of service free promotes stupidity and hinders learning. Yes mistakes can occur but it's a great way to learn. I can't count the times I hurt myself or couldn't fix something. But I also can't count the successful repairs, modding and diy I've done over the years. I still service my car even though companies put everything in the way to stop you. A service is a service, just reading the haynes is needed to ensure you dunt miss something
Maybe I just never noticed when I was a kid back in the 70s and 80s but I don't remember ever buying an electrical device without a plug. It's true that Changing broken plugs and fuses was second nature but the devices always seemed to arrive with them installed. As much as the new moulded plugs are nicer I do miss the flexibility you had with the old style ones.
I've been sprayed with CS gas, I've been punched and thrown about in Krav Maga, I've had pain compliance techniques tested on me (back when I was a young police officer), but none of it compared to the pain I suffered from standing on a UK plug, with the prongs in my instep. I literally collapsed straight down to the floor in agony. Never ever do it!
What a coincidence - I've been tear gassed as well. I should do a video about how that happened!
We're still taught how to wire mains plugs/sockets in the current GCSE (to be taken 2018)
In America, we use the GFCI outlets in outdoor, kitchen, and bathroom locations. We also have something called an AFCI, to protect against arc faults. If utilized, they are usually installed in bedrooms
Couple of extra points - The earth pin being longer means that the device is earthed before voltage is applied and vice versa. Also, the design means it's not possible to pull the plug out of the socket by the wire. Lastly, the diagram of the plug wiring should show slack in the earth lead so if the wire is pulled out of the plug, the earth disconnects after the live and neutral. All clever stuff!
Herts more than Lego 😂 true that 👍
Do you mean Hertz?
Simon Richard
I was going to make that joke 😞
Danny Brooks Ikr Lol I've stood on it before it feels like a bullet on ur foot
Especially when the earth pin lifts off you big toe nail...
blackcountryme
You guys are making me not want to go back to the UK 😀
The British plug is standard in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Oman as well
wasnt when i worked in saudi in the 80's...was usa style
Singapore too
JumboTEK and Kuwait too
Bob Dobalina ... Inventing a new art style: Calligraphy, a new music style, a new dressing style. Want me to go on?
Bob Dobalina Mental Institutes, Tin glazing, Lusterware, Frequency Analysis, Vertical Axle Windmill, Mercuric Chloride, Hybrid Trebuchet, Military Bands.
And guess what, Coffee; Invented by the Arabs.
Not to mention the 110VAC vs 220VAC - a device running, say, 2.2kW in the UK only needs 10A, while the same device in the US is going to need 20A, meaning you'll either need wiring rated at the higher amps, have twice as many circuits to supply the same number of sockets or just have shoddy wiring that'll burn the house down. Then again, America's track record for product safety isn't really that good, when you look back on it.
Australia has the plastic sheathing on the pins now, but we're still well behind the UK on safety on that front - our sockets don't close when nothing's plugged in. Pity - it's a feature of the UK design that is really very nice
Each country has its ups and downs with safety. The EU had a rash of TV fires in the 1990s because the flame retardants that protected USA TVs had been banned; during that time, EU sets were 100 times as likely to catch fire as those in the USA, which had their own fire problems back in the 1960s. Our outlet design is 120 years old and although it's not quite as safe, the risk of a wimpy 120V shock doesn't seem worth the cost, confusion and potential risks of switching to a new design.
In the UK the wiring used a "ring" topology, that is to say the cable starts off at the fuse board, goes round the building serving all the sockets, then the other end goes to the same terminals in the fuse board.
The breaker protecting the circuit is usually 32A and given that we use 240V that's a lot of energy released if there is a short!
That's why the plug fuse is essential, to protect the appliance cord when the dog chews through it.
Newer North American receptacles are TR (tamper resistant), they basically have small covers over the live and neutral holes which only move out of the way if both are pressed at the same time.
It makes it more annoying to plug items into them, but it is much less likely that a child could poke something conductive into a receptacle.
I do like the insulation on the terminals on the UK plugs though.
It would just be nice if they weren't so bulky.
They aren't that big, when in use there on the wall not in the middle of the floor, any way I thought yanks liked everything BIG ??
@@alemgas
Not a Yank, but a Canuk :p
IDK, the UK plugs just look bulky, but I get that they have a fuse in them and are replaceable so it's unavoidable.
@@MatthewWeiler1984 sorry my mistake about the yank bit ,I know how you feel ,I have fat noisey obnoxious next door neighbours as well ,keep safe mate, from Scotland
The NA one looks angry af
Yeah
I am a Brit and a long time US resident, over the last few years SHUTTERED electrical sockets have been available and are now required in new Home construction in many places.
And of course fully molded electrical cords have always been used in the US.
The other big difference is that in the UK electrical power comes with 240 volts and from personal experience I can attest that a shock from 240 volts is EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT.
One 'feature' of the self terminated British plug was that if you didn't make sure the strain relief was properly secure the earth wire would be the first under strain, and once it comes out it often finds itself touching the live - which makes the appliance live! Turns a perfectly safe appliance into a deadly one.
One thing you failed to mention is that UK plug voltage is 220 VAC while the American plug is 110 VAC. IF you could make contact with either the UK voltage would be twice as devastating ! FYI: I am 81 years old and I have never known anyone who was electrocuted by an American plug !
rodhigh7 American plug is also 220V in the Philippines and China (2 pin).
rodhigh7 Most 220V appliacnes in the Philippines uses American plug and also Chinese 2 pin appliances uses 2 pin US and 3 pin AU plugs.
The first part of this video is mostly a word for word copy of Tom Scott's british plug video czcams.com/video/UEfP1OKKz_Q/video.html
theLMGN I noticed it aswell basically all the way through. Kinda pissed about it as he's such a great youtuber
Thank you. That citation was needed.
I knew I'd watched a video about UK plugs before.
CheeseAndChips I was convinced it could've been accidental copy but that point made it a pretty obvious copy...
British- Switches on/off
America- We don't do that here ,proceeds to directly unplug running appliance 😂
America - we have switch for electric outlets mostly for lampshades.
@@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY good to know but after watching final destination even that safety measure sounds dangerous.
Just kidding 🤣🤣🤣
Also an interesting tidbit - the UK design was originally called the Multi Kontact known as the MK and was subsequently adopted at the UK standard and became so popular the company that invented it changed its name to match its most popular product - MK
In the us they changed the codes recently and new construction requires tamper proof sockets.
Source?
I concur. I just did a new build on to my house and that is what current code requires.
NEC 406.12
www.electricallicenserenewal.com/Electrical-Continuing-Education-Courses/NEC-Content.php?sectionID=312.0
Been code for about a decade. Canada also requires it. Canadian code is only available by sending craptons of money to the ESA, so if you want the cite for that, you can pay for it. ;) Or use google and find an illicit copy.
British plugs are fused because of the ring main system we use which would make another video!
I've addressed the possibility of doing a ring final main video in tomorrows vlog. Basically, I don;'t want to become an electricity channel. ha ha!
Curious. Why would it be needed on a ring circuit but not a radial circuit?
Because the ring main is designed to have more power outlets than a radial system the fuse on the ring is large, to make it safe the individual appliances are fused in the plug with a small fuse. The advantage of the ring system is it uses less and potentially thinner wire, it is more fault tolerant. The system was envisaged during WW2 so that the reconstruction coursed by German bombing would be more efficient.
Thank you for the explanation!
Having a fuse in the plug means that you can select exactly the right rating fuse for best protection of an individual appliance. The achilles heel of the system is that most if not all new appliances are supplied with a 13 amp fuse in the plug. In my house every appliance I buy gets the correct fuse in the plug for the appliance, I have a selection of 10, 5, 3 and 1Amp fuses for this purpose. Obviously some appliances keep the 13Amp fuse - like electric kettles for example.
Getting zapped with 110v vs. 220v is a different experience. That's why fuses are needed in plugs. Should of covered the different voltage as part of comparison. In over 50 years, I have never been shocked by a North American plug in! Amazing!
As a American electrician. You are 100% right about our stuff. There are no fuses within our plugs and I like that ground "earth" safety because alot of times when earth prungs break off, people still continue to use a broken earth plug. And I see in Europe if it's broken. It can't be used.
At 5:01 it was "rite of passage" for kids to jam things into an (U.S.) outlet, cause after we did that. We never fooled with electricity again...
Joe Blow cough* north American cough*
I thought mains was pretty lethal Lmfao
i cant actually believe i watched all that, i kinda enjoyed it tbh nice video
When I recorded it, I thought it was just a bit of "small-time trivia" that might appeal to like 10 people, yet it's clearing like 14 man-days of view time per day! It's insane - ha ha!
Some of the comments are interesting too.
This is correct, I was born in 1984, And By the time I was about 8 I knew how to wire a plug! Mainly because I impatient and wanted a new fuse or a plug on my scalextric so I was taught how to do it and never forgot, These days most electrical items are now shipped with sealed plugs and only thing you can do is change the fuse, but there's something about nicking a plug off something you don't use no more like lamp or a old portable TV
From what my electronics teacher old me, the holes in the prongs on the north american plugs are for when a device breaks, you loop say an insulated wire or some other non-conductor through, so that the prongs cant come in contact with the contacts in the socket, possibly damaging the device if its plugged in.
There are also safer building regulations in the UK which ban the fitting of electrical sockets in bathrooms. It horrifies me to see sockets, often with hairdryers adjacent to washbasins in North America. Although the UK plug is bulkier, it is safer and gives some protection to the cable as well as the appliance.
Mervyn Partin The outlets next to the sinks should be protected by GFCI, though, so if it happens to fall in the water the power will cut off immiediately.
you hope things brake
If you grow up with these, it is no big deal. Plus we use 115 for most outlets, not 240. You would have a hard time selling a house where I live without a bathroom plugin.
In older homes with out GFI or GFIC, yes as a DIY person, it scares the Crap out of me to see that. When I bought my home it was 80amp fused, all 4 fuses were 30AMP! The first thing I did was to put in GFI outlets everywhere I could.
They are safe in America because they use a GFCI which cuts off the power if there is an alternate path to ground (such as dropping a hair dryer in the bathtub).
Also in ireland
I've stood on a few of those in my time :) great video Jason
In a lot of the US, child proof plugs are being put as standard building code. They have similar trapdoors to the UK plugs, but they open through equal pressure on the faces, instead of the ground hole.
On the continent of Europe we have two different standards of earthing, the "German" kind with rails on top and bottom of the plug and a deep socket where it´s impossible to come in contact with live things, then we have the "latino" variety where the earth comes as a pin sticking out of the socket and the plug has a hole to accommodate it. That´s why we have a system-neutral kind of plugs who are flat that we use on doubleinsulated things or things with lower effect and they are flat to pass by the pin in the "latin" countries and still get into the earthed sockets i "German" Europe, naturally we have the uneathed sockets too but they get rarer every day.
wait a second, are you tellin me that the shoket whit the earth pin stiking out is not a german thing? wow.... looks like my contry borrowed more than the time zone fron germany....
That´s correct yes, where do you live?
I'm from spain, also I'm a electrician
Let´s see if I can link a picture of a German plug to you: www.clasohlson.com/se/Skarvsladd-jordad/32-1908
There is the spain's counterpart www.architonic.com/es/product/simon-detail-82-base-de-enchufe-schuko/1281253
And in 2018, wiring a plug is still on the curriculum!
My grandaughter did it yesterday at school. Said she had loose strands everywhere!
I agree, the Brit plug design is safer, I do like the way the inlets, on the socket close up preventing easy access to the powered terminals. the problem I see with the Brit plug, is that they are huge. they look industrial. what is odd about this, is that US plugs will have to handle twice the amperage for the same device, because in the US, 110 VAC is standard, instead of 220 VAC.
Regarding the fuse, In the US, we use circuit breakers / or fuse box. so any short circuit, would trip these. also should state, we have other type plugs, which are standard, for heavier loads that are plug and twist. I like these, but they are never used for common household devices. only Air conditioners, and things of that sort.
UK homes also have circuit breakers
I was taught to wire a plug at school as part of the Physics GCSE curriculum only about four years ago. I'm not sure if it's made its way onto the new style GCSEs though.
Another feature is that the earth wire inside the plug is longer than the other two, meaning that should anything pull at the flex to force the internal wires to disconnect, the live and neutral wires will disconnect before the earth.
FWIW The US now requires TR (tamper Resistant) outlets (they have that shutter system) in child accessible locations.
I also seriously doubt you could touch the 5-15P prongs after the plug was inserted far enough to make contact.
For those who commented on the T blade. That is to make the 5-20 socket compatible wit a 5-15 plug (there is a 6-20 version also)
I suspect you are wrong. The BS1363 L and N pins aren't that different in length to the 5-15P NEMA prongs.
i make all receptacles tamper resistant.....that will most likely be code soon .like afci was only in living/bedrooms in the early days.
Same thing in Canada
and I remove them. the idea is good. Its VERY bad in practice. The fact the shutters are opened by L N not Gnd means stamped( bent over brass) blades tend to not mate at just the right point in time. so you bend them
( lamps are the worse) Bar stock blades work better. the BSI plugs have A TON more metal to them and as pointed out use Gnd as a start pin to the shutters/
shutters are just a poor way to try a fix a long term problem in the US system
is a bad deisgn. Needs a clean ground up rehash not a poor bandaid
Except in Indiana, where we don't have to use TR receptacles nor are AFCI required.
Going back about 30 years the British plug had bare metal on the live and neutral for the entire length. One day I pulled out a plug and curled my fingers around the back and touched the live whilst still connected! 240 volts does hurt! (It's incorrect what you say in the video that you can't touch these two pins even though today that part is plastic sheathed. I proved the point if you have slim fingers.)
neville mason It was about 84-85 ish they changed to insulated prongs.
I was born in 94 I'm so glad my mum showed me how to change a plug and a fuse
North American Electrical codes evolve. For the older two wire outlets one can install a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). This will protect other outlets down stream of the one installed. GFCI's (rated at either 15 or 20 amps) have been required in many locations where there is a potential for exposure to water.; bathrooms, kitchens, laundry rooms, garages, outlets on the outside of the home. There are GFCI breakers for your main distribution panel. New codes/new builds now require tamper proof outlets (rated at either 15 or 20 amps) to protect people from shocks (required in pediatric hospital wards for over 25 years). The newest requirement are Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (AFCI rated at either 15 or 20 amps) as breakers or in distribution panels. These detect arcing which may occur any time one makes a circuit or if faulty wires arc (extension cords) which may cause fires. And lastly there are GFCI/AFCI (rated at either 15 or 20 amps) breakers and outlets. Same 'nasty' plugs. (Normal homes use nominal 120Vac at 15 A with #14 AWG.)
No question the British plug is the better of the two designs. No surprise, either -- it's the more modern of the two designs by far. The British design dates from the 1940s but the original North American plug goes back over 100 years! The downside of being the home of Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and George Westinghouse is having the oldest electrical infrastructure and standards. It would be possible to modernize, but it would mean a LOT of expense changing every outlet out there, so don't hold your breath. You still sometimes see buildings that have the old, unearthed 2-wire electrical outlets in service, and it's been nearly 60 years since those were the standard.
Personally, I have been "zapped" more than once when fumbling with a US electrical plug, so it definitely is an issue, though our line voltage is about half the UK's so that lessens the hazard somewhat.
British plugs are all fused primarily because the circuits they were on used to be fused at 30A. That's FOUR TIMES the maximum power that the standard branch circuit in the US and Canada is fused at (15A 120V versus 30A 220V); the higher power rating of British circuits means (absent fusing every device) a greater risk of an accidental short that draws enough current to start a fire but doesn't draw enough to trip a breaker or blow a fuse in the panel.
It would probably be easier to convert than you think. If I moved to North America I would simply put British sockets on the walls, cut the plugs off appliances and wire them into British plugs. Voila!
Teach people how to do that, start offering appliances pre-wired into new safer plugs at a gradually increasing proportion, and within probably 5-10 years you could convert the whole continent.
Matt and let’s not forget computers and phone chargers etc are super easy to change. In the case of computers just change the tip!
Actually there's no need to change those, since the last few times I bought a PC it came with power leads for all three socket types, not fussed about having 110V or 240V incoming and phone chargers are generally USB so that's universal already - may not work as well if you put a British USB transformer into a 110V NA socket, but it would be cheap and easy to manufacture a British style USB transformer for 110V income.
Honestly, I remember the "Earth pin protection covers" coming in as a standard over here in the UK, and I was born in 82, these 'uk plugs' you showed are a 80s/90s thing, and it wasn't that way until then (I also remember plugs WITHOUT the sheathing on the live/neutral)
And because the earth pin is already longer on the NA plugs, they could EASILY make all future sockets with covers like ours do, AND still be FULLY compatible with the current setup - all they do then is any replacements/new builds would use the new sockets with covers...
Colin Hadley I remember it was the mid 80s as a kid we had to move into a caravan as they upgraded all of the electrics in the house and added central heating as before that every room needed a fire to get heated.
Best plug
Actually some appliances like electric kettles often came with a moulded plug already attached ( before 1990) but it was quite rare to get a plug fitted on an appliance .
One thing I will say is the UK plugs look strong. US plug conductors are usually folded sheet metal and get bent easily.
I was taught how to wire a plug in my first ever Physics lesson at school... it was the first week of 2ndary school, so not much was happening -but that was the One usefult hing I learned that week !
You also didn't mention that UK sockets usually have On/Off switches - which US/Ca ones just don't.
Yes, it was kinda a rite of passage for many people. As for the On/Off switches, yes, I forgot about that (I've been out of the country nearly 19 years - some things get overlooked or forgotten these days. ha ha!
I'm 21 and we are still thought how to wire a plug in Irish secondary schools
That's interesting... It's probably so you know how to deal with existing appliances.
It certainly was a part of the national curriculum in the mid nineties, we didn't do it in the first year I think it was 2nd or 3rd year of secondary school in physics, whilst learning about electrical circuitry.
This is the standard in Malta...
yup
Another good reason why i should go to Malta.
I also live in Malta but everything comes with the eu plug
Since 1961 (when we gained indipendence) there has been time to switch to the European standard from the 5A standard of that time when whoelsale changes were taking place, but the authorities (and rightly so), thought the British Standard 13A plug was safer...
No, this is the standard in the UK lol
You can buy outlets that have the safety doors on them here in the US, not required by code but are available to help stop little ones from sticking things in them.
My fondest memory with this plug is that time my parents cut the power cable of the telly to get me off it. Little did they know my school taught me how to put it back together.
Living in Canada now, I realise the plugs here are not as well thought out too.
Cheers mate, Great video!
Hi. We use these in Singapore and Malaysia as well
The fuse is a british specialty. The ring circuits for the outlets are fused with 30 or 32A, and to protect the cord between appliance and plug the fuse is necessary. In other countries the outlet circuits are radial and fused with 15, 16 or 10A. In some cases with 20A in America. There is an additional fuse protection not necessary.
16
Are you saying that every single socket has its own fuse back in the consumer unit? They must be huge to take so many fuses. Also every time you want to add a socket you need to put another cable back to the consumer unit, with its own fusr? Doesn't sound like the most convenient system.
Nope, but it's splitted into zones. In most cases one 16A-MCB per room, or two if you use a separate MCB for the lighting. Appliances with a high demand (washing machine, dryer, refrigerator) have their own circuits. And kitchen cookers of course too, they're fused with 3x16A (three-phase power is common here in Germany, even in residentials which means you've got 3x230/400V) which are round about 11 kW.
The MCBs are the same as in the UK, in most cases B-characteristic and C for workshops.
In the UK the sockets are in a ring circuit, that means from the last socket of the circuit a cable goes back to the consumer unit. So the current is splitting on these two cables. The conductor size is 2.5mm², so it's only rated for 26A at max (since there are no 26A fuses it's actually 25A) and the circuits for outlets are fused with 30 or 32A (30 in older installations with rewireable fuses, modern MCBs are B32A or C32A). A ring inside of a ring is not permitted, so it must be a simple ring. This system was invented to spare copper, actually it was invented during a copper shortage. For 32A you must normally use 4mm² in a radial system. Radial means there's no cable back to the consumer unit from the last outlet. Meaning there's a first and a last outlet within the circuit. If you want to add a new outlet then you must install a wire from the outlet or junction box next to the position of the new outlet you want to install.
No, anywhere from one to several outlets or lights are daisy-chained along a single circuit which will have 14-ga wire and 15-amp breaker, or 12-ga wire and 20-amp breaker with 20-amp outlets (which will accept 15-amp plugs).
In the forties a typical house might have sixty amp service with four 110V circuits with Edison-base fuses, with two additional 220V circuits using cartridge fuses on both lines for stove (cooker) and electric clothes dryer. Later, hundred amp service with maybe twenty 110V fuses or circuit breakers became the usual, and now I think that 200 amp service is common.
The service comes into the house as center-tapped 220V. The center tap is tied to ground at the entrance. 220V circuits use the two hot wires, and 110V circuits use one or the other of the hot wires and the neutral.
The breaker box (consumer unit) is constructed such that alternating breakers in a vertical row are connected to opposite phases; so that all that is needed to create a 220V circuit is to plug in a double circuit breaker with ganged handles (or a single handle) and to wire to both the hot leads instead of to one hot plus the neutral bus.
I know the construction of the US breaker boxes. In Europe the circuit breakers are lined horizontal. Here in Germany in newer installations you've got three fuses, each one is rated 63A. This is round about 44kW. The 200A service in the US is round about 48kW. In old german installations the service fuses are rated 35A, which are round about 24kW.
We don't have a center tap, this is a specialty of the split-phase system used in the US. Three-phase is common here in Europe. In the UK there's three-phase laying under the street, but the houses are spreaded onto the three phases. Inside of the houses there's only single-phase. And there are different systems, their names are in french:
1. TN-C-S (Terre Neutre-Combine-Separe)
You're getting a cable into your home with four conductors. The three lines (L1,L2 and L3), and a so called PEN which is a combination of earth/ground and a neutral. Inside of the house they are splitted into a separate neutral and earth/ground.
2.TT (Terre Terre)
4 wires too, but in this case only a pure neutral wire is supplied by the service. The earth/ground is provided with an earth/ground rod local only.
3. TN-S
You're getting a cable with five conductors. One could be concentric or excentric like the british SWA, steel wire armoured cable. In this case the steel armour is the earth/ground. L1, L2, L3, N and earth/ground.
Most common is number one. Here in Germany the houses have an additional grounding rod anyway, as a backup if the service cable is getting damaged during counstruction work for example. But the provided ground is much better than the local one. On TT you must use an RCD/GFCI to reach the specifications to switch a circuit off in case of a short circuit (circuit breaker with 32A or less in case of a short-circuit must trip in less than 0.4s). But on TT the ground-loop impedance is often bad, so the current is too low to cause an immediate trip of the circuit breaker.
The three-phases have a voltage of 230V against neutral or ground. If you measure the voltage of the lines against each other you'll measure 400V. The three lines have a phase deviation of 120°, the interlinking factor is sqroot of 3. This phase deviation could be used for electric motors because this is creating a rotating field, like table saws to create a rotation in the motor without connecting a big capacitor (Steinmetz circuit). This big capacitor is costing you round about 30% of torque and power of the motor.
This socket is actually surprisingly more common than you think, especially in nations that that have grown more recently such as parts of Asia and in the middle east.
Something that the video completely missed was that the insulated sections on the Live & Neutral prongs of the plug was a late innovation. When I was a kid, plenty of sockets were still the old round-pin design. These were not only unfused, but people often just bared the ends of wires and wrapped them around the prongs to add another wire, and yes, as a kid, I did that myself. Now, originally, the fused square-pin plugs were also bare, as well as the sockets not having a safety-blind. Of course, people carried-on using bare wires to attach another device, so the insulated shanks were added to very effectively prevent this very dodgy practice, and of course, it meant that a child inserting, lets say a metal ruler behind the plug, can only contact the Earth/Ground pin. There are some comments below to the effect that a fuse in the plug is somehow superfluous. this is not the case. The fuses in UK plugs come in different ratings, so for example, low-current items such as a table-lamp will only need a 3A fuse. If the bulb blows, it may take-out that fuse - and not the whole circuit. Higher-draw items can be up to 13A, and the same applies. If an item of equipment fails, the lower-rated local fuse is far more likely to blow - and protect the house from fire - than a main fuse. Also remember, the UK Mains Voltage is 240VAC, whereas in the USA it is 110VAC. The biggest down-side of UK style plugs is the sheer bulk, especially if one travels. Otherwise, they are great. I used to think that they could be made smaller, but on higher-current devices, there is simply no substitute for plenty of metal - and the larger size also helps to cool it. The US-style plugs have the advantage that they are compact, but in every other aspect, they are terrible design, decades overdue for replacement.
Also your talking about 120, vs 240, and the brittish plugs can run appliances like washers and dryers on the household outlet, if not a welder. I don't think our houses are wired THAT good. But yes, I love the brittish plugs better from some 60s model HiFi equipment I had to learn about from my father.
Warren S. Yep a 13 amp plug will have no problem running a welder even up to 160amps+ though you are at this point supposed to change before this point to an industrial 16 amp plug. Really the main limiting factor of the 13amp plug is the breaker on the ring main its attached to.
police are about!
Finally an actually GOOD arguement regarding british plugs. Im sick of people just blindly saying "its bEttER"
Correct. American branch circuits at 120V and 20A do not provide enough wattage to power a welder. Plus, standard American branch circuits provide only a 120V live rail, neutral and ground/earth. Circuits designed for heavy equipment (like welders) provide two power rails (total 220V), a neutral and ground/earth.
I must say the British plug and socket is the best..I am Australian and the Australian plug and socket is rubbish, very weak design....the British design is used in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore....not sure where else....I really only approve of moulded plugs there are better and also really don't need a fuse, today it's all RCD and RCBO, so should not need them..
Fuses are still needed so long as the fixed wiring is protected to 32A or thereabouts!
An RCD won’t protect against an overcurrent from, eg, a shorted transformer. Fuse must still be there to prevent cabling catching fire.
The Australian and British plugs are similar; the main difference being the addition of a fuse and thicker pins in the British plug. That being said, the standard Australian plug is designed to carry more current than 10A, which is the typical rating of a socket. What does annoy me about the British plug is when you have the underside of a socket positioned close to the floor or another solid object; inserting the plug into that socket can be a real pain!
From what I understand, the reason why fuses are needed for British plugs is due to the use of ring circuits, the size of flexible cable to an appliance (typically 1mm2 is used, but in the UK you can get appliances with a cross sectional area of the flexible cable as low as 0.5mm2) and the fault current which can be delivered. Put simply, an appliance plugged into the ring circuit (typically protected by a 32A circuit breaker) may draw more current than the flexible cord connecting the appliance to the ring can safely carry, potentially causing failure of the cable. What happens under failure is anyone’s guess (as it’ll depending on where the cable fails and the material surrounding the cable at point of failure), but fire is a real possibility.
I think it’s telling that countries who don’t use the British Standards (eg BS7671) as a basis for their wiring code (ie most countries in the world) haven’t adopted ring circuits...
One of the reasons ring circuits were adopted in the UK is that before the world wars many houses were not even wired for electricity, or only had wiring for lighting. That rapidly started to change after the wars, however with rationing continuing for a very long time copper was considered a strategic material and could only be used sparingly, so having ring circuits worked out to be the best way to wire a home using the least amount of copper wire.
Don’t quite understand the volt drop and melted plug issue you’re referring to…could you please elaborate?
Also, there isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with installing 240V sockets in bathrooms; so long as the necessary safety precautions are taken into account, and a suitable installation location for the socket is found.
Not sure there’s any advantage in Australia adopting British standards for wiring. Not so much for the political aspect, rather the economic and practical perspectives.
Oz sparkies would have to learn to install, test and fault find on ring circuits; appliances would now need to be installed with fused plugs; all socket outlets will need to change to the British pin layout…what advantages to oz would that bring?
The main difference is that in America, we have 110v standard service not 220v. Another consideration is that small devices get plugged and unplugged quite frequently and carried about. A plug that large and that heavy is unwieldy and can cause damage to the internal wiring due to its mass. The UK plug prongs are also a lot longer and require a lot more force to insert. That is the reason for the plastic protective coating on them. The American plugs are shorter and easier to insert thus, there isn't any need to protect the prongs because touching them while inserting the plug is so unlikely as to never happen. We do have specialty outlets and plugs for 220v appliances but the design is different than the standard plugs. They are not commonly plugged and unplugged very often. They are used mostly on electric laundry driers and large air conditioners. We do have optional "child proof" outlet covers where the outer face is spring loaded and rotates a quarter turn to allow access to the opening.
Regarding buying equipment before the 1990s without a plug attached as mentioned in the video...
There were new EU regulations (dated 1994) that required portable equipment to have cables with integral plugs attached, also improved manufacturing processes meant it was easy to have integral molded plugs that met EU regulations. To be honest long before this manufacturers often included a plug pre-wired (but not integrally molded) or the shop selling the product would wire a plug on for a small cost or for free.
Remember also UK families only had a few bits of equipment until the 1980s, I mean I just had a mono cassette recorder when I was a kid and I probably bought batteries to use it. We had a TV (no video recorder), a vacuum cleaner, an electric kettle, a 'music centre' and a fridge, I think that was about it! So half a dozen plugs at most. Non rechargeable batteries powered any other electrical equipment (toys). I built a ping pong video game and that was battery powered.
Before these molded types of cable/plug, the plugs were held in place on the cable with screwed in grips that could come loose. So the issue was also a quality one, the molded cables and plugs would be tested at the factory and would likely work at the customers home, where as the old grip style plugs may come loose in transit, which would require the purchase of a replacement plug or a repair and rewiring of the attached cable to the plug.
Although the British plug is a brilliant design, here in Britain we were slow to use RCDs domestically and in replacing the domestic fuse box.
www.gov.uk/guidance/european-commission-product-directives#plugs-and-sockets-etc-safety-regulations-1994-si-19941768
In my secondary school the still teach us how to wire a plug at year 11
Jonty Woodbridge yup same here
Jonty Woodbridge same mate my last science lesson was on wiring
One of my earliest memories is getting shocked from a North American plug. I was trying to plug my lamp in under my bunk bed and my fingers slipped and touched both hot/neutral prongs. It hurt.
Have you seen the way those things spark too, when you pull the plug out?
At least it only hurt, do that in the UK where they use 240V and it can KILL YOU! That's why they use this bulky plug with all this safety equipment!
I would like to point out that here in North America, we DO actually have a guard system like the one you demonstrated. I have observed that you posted this video in the late third quarter of 2017. I'm not a Professional eleckchicken, but I first ran into the guard system back in 2011 when we were invited to some friends' brand-new house for the housewarming. The kitchen and bathrooms (and possibly other locations as well) had the guarded plugs, and we were trying to plug in 2-pronged plugs (unsuccessfully) for the hot trays or steam table thingies to keep the food warm. Evidently, the city/county electrical code required that type of "guarded" outlet. From a distance, they look identical to the simple double-outlet that you showed here in your video, but when you get close up, you see that the hot and return receptacles are shielded, requiring the ground pin to go in first to open the shields. This is a great idea, but it proves only to be quite annoying when trying to plug in anything that doesn't have that ground plug. Our 2-prong plugs in North America are (and have been) quite common forever. In the 1980's, they began to change to a "polarized" version of a 2-prong plug, and same with the female versions of extension cords, outlet receptacles. The one blade will be slightly "wider" (or taller, if you like) to ensure that the entire plug is oriented the "correct way" so that hot and return are not reversed. The reversal of hot and return generally isn't an issue at all, but with so many things being electronic (as opposed to simply electric), the devices have become somewhat more sensitive nowadays.
There is also the switch on the socket on the wall. I don't know if there is such a thing in North America, but as a South American, I find these quite useful