What is the best Power Outlet, and why?
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Some images of the plugs, since I didn't know what they looked like.
It was mentioned the pins started being insulated like that second image 20 years ago, but going by the images I found the older uninsulated style is still more common. This is ofc a major shock hazard when plugging in your stuff.
Even with the insulation, you can still reach under the half inserted plug, just less easily and maybe only if you have smaller hands (like children).
Fundamentally flat sockets are doomed to be shock hazards, compare it to the recessed sockets where the entire surface the contacts insert into is cut off from reach before the pin insertion starts, and on top of that the pins of say type F have been insulated for so long many don't know there were uninsulated variants.
Another bonus of the recessed style is the plug doesn't stick as far out of your walls. For extension cords it's probably a bit bulkier, but when you sink the recession into the wallbox of the outlet you can get as flush as the width of the cable with an angled plug.
Also pretty sure you can step on angled type I plugs resting on their backs. The recessed plugs usually have grips on top so can't rest on their back even when angled. Their pins are also ball-shaped on the end, type I looks quite angular and more painful.
I live in Australia and I just did an audit of the power board that was sitting next to my bed. All four devices and the power board itself all have the insulated pins.
I can't remember the last time I saw one that didn't have insulated pins. I'm sure they exist, but they are not common.We also have RCD on all our circuits so if someone is able to short the pins, it will trip within 20ms or less.
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And having your chargers look like clown shoes compared to the slender 2-pin chargers used in Europe, Australia and elsewhere is a small price to pay.
Do more kids really die of electrocution in, say, France or Germany than the UK?
Just jab a pen tip in the earth shutter, so you can push a European plug in, with little force. The diameters of the prongs are close.
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And type B just realized how insecure it is.
You can make it a hell of a lot better just by installing it with the ground prong up.
But we won't even do that.
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comfuck's happenin in italy
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Is this loss?
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comSchuko (Type F)
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Schuko (Type F)
wrote last edited by [email protected]Type G beats Schuko because if you put a Schuko adaptor on a UK plug, it will wreck Schuko sockets. That's what you get for leaving your earth connectors hanging out. They are no match for the mighty type G earth pin
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G.
The plugs are shuttered, so they're protected from being stabby-stabbed. The plug's prongs are sheathed so live metal is never exposed, negating the need for recessed sockets. Compared to recessed plugs, it takes less force to insert/remove them, but the oversized prongs and their triangular arrangement means it can safely withstand more lateral stress than any other plugs. Every plug has a fuse appropriate to the appliance so every device has appropriate protection while also allowing any device to be used on any outlet - no need for dedicated outlets for tumble dryers. And the plugs are traditionally right-angled, so once they're plugged in they only protrude about a centimeter, making it easy to plug things in behind furniture.
The whole 'every plug has a switch' thing is bullshit, though. That's just weird.
The whole 'every plug has a switch' thing is bullshit, though.
There are way too many devices that will light up an led the moment you plug it in with no way to disable it.
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comItaly shakin'
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Just jab a pen tip in the earth shutter, so you can push a European plug in, with little force. The diameters of the prongs are close.
That is true, though it is still taking up far more space than it could if the system accommodated unearthed plugs.
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fuck's happenin in italy
Three prongs widths changed added earth support
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G.
The plugs are shuttered, so they're protected from being stabby-stabbed. The plug's prongs are sheathed so live metal is never exposed, negating the need for recessed sockets. Compared to recessed plugs, it takes less force to insert/remove them, but the oversized prongs and their triangular arrangement means it can safely withstand more lateral stress than any other plugs. Every plug has a fuse appropriate to the appliance so every device has appropriate protection while also allowing any device to be used on any outlet - no need for dedicated outlets for tumble dryers. And the plugs are traditionally right-angled, so once they're plugged in they only protrude about a centimeter, making it easy to plug things in behind furniture.
The whole 'every plug has a switch' thing is bullshit, though. That's just weird.
So you can turn it off without unplugging it. Some devices say “unplug after use” eg. toasters, but instead just switch it off. Good for decorative lights, blenders, cats
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.com -
A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comK is the happiest. I like that one.
B is shocked (pun!) at what's going on.
H is encouraging me to see things in a racist light. -
A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comany of the ones with a ground, i'd say
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comAppreciating the UK's plug (type G) is the closest I get to feeling patriotic.
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Yes G, the UK one, is generally regarded as the safest.
This showcase also doesn't show that UK sockets have flaps come down on the interior of the socket, so unless the longer and shielded earth pin is pushed in first, the flaps exposing live and neutral won't raise.
My mum discovered this firsthand when I was a silly child who tried poking stuff in the plug socket
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fuck's happenin in italy
Compatible to everything. Takes type F without issues.
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K is the happiest. I like that one.
B is shocked (pun!) at what's going on.
H is encouraging me to see things in a racist light.Well, if we are going to hell I might as well say it's "I" that has me racist now that you bring it up
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The British standard is still stuck in 1947, where the expected use cases were kettles, washing machines
People still use kettles and washing machines.
For your USB power supply, mobile charger, LED table lamp, game console, etc., which doesn’t even have an earth connection, not so much.
You can get a USB power strip.
You can still have sockets that accept grounded appliances like washing machines without ALWAYS requiring a bulky third prong that's not gonna get used anyways. And about the shutters you can have them open when both prongs are inserted at the same time
