What is the best Power Outlet, and why?
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I really think we should give japan more shit for this. Type A is terrible on it's own merits, they don't even polarize it. But then they have the gall to use two different frequencies with the divide in the middle of Honshu (the big island with the major cities). And unlike reasonable people they don't do a "50 hz gets this plug, but 60 gets a non compatible one". No, both use the plug that North America phased out over safety concerns.
But to answer the question, type B is nice and homey, but types I and N feel a fun mix of weird and foreign but close enough to be interesting. Most of the rest just feel like various "yeah it's a circle with two circular prongs all right"
What a mess.
Fortunately, the frequency thing is less of an issue with modern power supplies, like my laptop charger is rated for 100-240V 50-60 Hz, so it Just Works. But I imagine that was more of a pain before these were widespread. -
And for kettles and washing machines we still have earth connections. Doesn't make sense to make it mandatory so a 5W charger has to be bigger than the phone.
Just use a usb charger
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Fair point, thing is there just exists a better way of doing small ungrounded plugs like phone chargers, I honestly haven't used a British phone charger but from what I saw they seem pretty bulky compared to what I have
Most public places including buses have USB ports. And my mains phone charger folds the earth pin in anyway, so it's not too bulky.
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comThere was two different ways you could have ordered this alphabetically, and you failed to do either.
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Just use a usb charger
That was my complaint...
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comType B, H, or I. They look unpleasantly surprised by what I'm shoving in their mouths. Definitely not K, because he looks like he likes it.
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The British one. It has a switch and a fuse, and later versions have age-verification so your kids can no longer plug in your adult toys.
I'm actually kinda surprised that more don't have switches, but I suppose if you have radial rather than ring circuits you don't have to play 'hunt the appliance that tripped all your switches' quite so hard
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comwrote last edited by [email protected]Brazilian Type N looks like it's not a big deal, but the shape and depth are actually extremely good - you get a fantastic connection that never wobbles but also comes out when you need it without having weird pins or moving locks that always end up failing in some other designs. It's also compact and stacks nicely.
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B or N. They’re simple and effective, grounded but optionally, but most importantly you can fit two in a small space.
I can’t tell if N is polarized though, so B is the boss
N is polarized - but it assumes the device will retain the grounding middle pin, which forces a specific orientation. If the device uses two pins, or the user cuts out the middle pin, there's no physical size difference to prevent inverting the polarity.
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There was two different ways you could have ordered this alphabetically, and you failed to do either.
Isn't it beautiful
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Italy WTF man? Also fuck Type H!
wrote last edited by [email protected]Type-L is three prongs in a row. But there are two different Type-L sizes. Because one is rated for 10A and the wider one for 16A. The round socket in the middle is just a universal socket that also accepts Schuko/Europlug/Type-C/Type-E/Type-F
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I see a lot of your comments about F being objectively same or better compared to G. The only thing I'd throw into the mix is the socket switch feels so logical, I'm really surprised it's not more standard.
High frequency use case: I don't need my microwave on all the time showing me the time, so I switch it off at the socket unless I'm using it
Low frequency use case: before going on holiday I switch all the electrics off at the sockets
Socket switch isn't really a feature of the socket itself. I've had schuko sockets with switches. It's just not as common
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Because:
- It's bi-directional
This is very convenient, and not a problem in 99.9% of cases, but there are some devices where it's important to not have the hot and neutral wire swapped
What sort of devices
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Type E and F plugs are not really a thing anymore, today it's more common to find combined Type E/F plugs.
Fuses in british plugs are a mistake and only a requirement because of sketchy practices allowed in british electrical code immediately after WW2. Nobody else does that because nowhere else electric code is built in such a way that it is necessary. Switch seems to be mildly useful tho
this is totally wrong. type F (“schuko”) is the main standard in europe.
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Why Tom Scott Is WRONG About The British Plug: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwnIwgT60jw
I watched that already, he seems mostly salty. He brings some good points but i was not convinced at all.
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Only if they're charged.
P.S.: since battery cells need to be disposed properly, they are now an 18+ purchase.
Age verification on batteries?
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In my opinion it's Type-F
Because:
- It's bi-directional
- It's grounded and ungrounded plugs use the same socket
- It's already widespread (50+ countries) source
- Your fingers can't touch the live wire as you're plugging in a wire
- It's recessed
- Low footprint
- Accepts Type-C
As the least biased swiss person. Type J (or type N, Idk) is so much better. We put three plugs on the same surface as you have 1. I am always frustrated to see how impractical your plugs are when I go to the EU
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No, not even close.
Well, the amount of differences isn't really that huge.
Unlike told in the video, if you pull the continental European plug out enough to be able to touch the pins, it's no longer connected. That safety feature exists in plugs of type J, F, E, K, and, I think, L. Plus, I'd guess N.Also the slack in ground should exist in all sockets with grounding, as well. (I have never checked if they really do, though...)
So, the only real safety differences are:
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While it is indeed a bit difficult for a child to insert a pencil or similar into the plugs of type C-contemporary, because there are usually kind of covers that require some strength to push through, the feature where the ground pin pushes the other holes open is a much better solution
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The fuse can save you in case that there's a short-circuit that causes the appliance itself to catch fire without tripping the central fuse. The British standards enables each appliance to have a fuse only as big as the maximum that appliance might ever need in normal operation, so that if it ever tries using more current than designed, the fuse will blow and a danger gets averted.
This means: one of the listed safety features is partially implemented, another one can save you from a fire in a fringe case, and the rest of the features exist at least in types E, F and K.
Type K, BTW would allow for the same kind of shutters for the live holes as in the type G plug in the video. I wonder if that's implemented? I hope it is!
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comThis is the most definitive argument that type J is superior to all others:
Image showing an arrangement of 3 swiss plugs in the same footprint as one french one
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.comsafety-wise, type F is used with 240v. less likely to touch prongs. they are different to keep from plugging in incompatible devices from other systems.
