Plug versus Plug
By Ian Morris on 04 November 2009, 12:00pm
The USA
Let’s come right out and say it. The American plug is a weedy little implement. That’s hardly surprising though, because their mains voltage is also half-arsed. Seriously, 110V, is that the best you guys can do? We aren’t sure why the Americans think a 5-litre V8 engine is necessary in a commuter car, but 110V is enough to power your juicer. Surely they should have gone for 500V? Or even a trillion?
The Americans never really wanted AC power at all. When he wasn’t busy killing elephants, Thomas Edison was leading a smear campaign against AC, telling people it would kill their children. Something about dead children got into the consciousness of an otherwise great nation, and they ended up with weedy mains power and pathetic little plug sockets.
And that has left the US with a plug and socket system that makes Chuck Norris weep. Plugs that hang out of the wall. Pins that are so easily bent you could write off a cable just by looking at it in the wrong way. How anyone ever gets their Apple laptop to fully charge without the adaptor falling out of the wall is beyond us. We’re not sure why the company bothered inventing Magsafe — surely if anyone in the US trips over a power cable, it flies out of the wall so fast no laptop could ever be pulled to the ground.
Sadly, the absolute best thing you can say about US mains sockets is that they look like happy little faces.
Score: 1 out of 10
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I’ve read a lot of stuff in my time — books, magazines, adverts, faces, lines, the spaces between lines, and so on. This article, however, is the chieftan of them all. I salute you.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 12:17pm
This has to be the most awsome article I have ever read. Just like the poster above me. I salute you lol.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 12:21pm
Well, it is a pretty good article, apart from the pointless national stereotyping and feeble, Daily-Mail-standard Europe-bashing.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 12:44pm
I absolutely love the page on Italians and their plugs. Its so true.
PixieWed 4 November, 2009 12:53pm
Oh good. I can feel patriotic again now. At least we have the best plugs.
PokehWed 4 November, 2009 12:53pm
I found most of this article cringe-worthy, but I did laugh (and out loud at that) at the stepping on a British plug thing.
freedoms_stainWed 4 November, 2009 1:01pm
lol at aus plug being upside down..
Get off the ceiling you bastards!!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 1:42pm
Europe-bashing? I think it’s called ’satire’. Get a sense of humour.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 1:47pm
The Australian socket looks like an upside down sad puppy.
ScutchWed 4 November, 2009 1:47pm
wot no South African plug? which is very much based on the UK system, but more… rounded.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 2:28pm
Yes your UK plugs are sturdy and strong- but you also failed to mention HUGE and unwieldy! And really explain tome how many items (besides washer/dryers) USE 220V? Oh wait that’s right most of our equipment/gadgets have power bricks to lower the power to minor volts like 5 or 12! Only thing that much power is good for is lighting fluorescent bulbs quicker….Oh and with all your fuses built in, you still are recommended to use surge protectors..hmmmmm Oh well I have no choice but use what I have…enjoy your plug pride! PS- we have better bacon still! :)
gatorrockWed 4 November, 2009 3:09pm
the holes in italian sockets are vertical, not horizontal…
and cannot take schuko plugs, unless you use an adaptor…AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 3:12pm
Actually I just went to italy and they are just put at whatever angle try 45 degrees for example. Best article in a while
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 3:38pm
I’ve been waiting for this analysis all my life! Can you bring the same perspicacity to sanitary plumbing standards. I’d particularly appreciate if you could unblock the American, big portions, big people, small wastepipe, conundrum.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 4:01pm
Canadian plug is best. Made of bacon and looks like a moose’s antlers.
Flora GrahamWed 4 November, 2009 5:01pm
The American plug is pretty scary. Try plugging something in behind a desk where you can’t see it or in the dark, and there’s a decent chance you’ll get shocked. It almost whispers to you, “Use your index finger to guide me in.”
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 6:06pm
what a pile of crap. not the article. i loved it even though it made fun of me (i’m a canuk). but the site sucks. two dozen words and you have to wait a minute for the next two dozen words to load. i got tired at page 6 and am leaving. will never be back to CNET.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 7:20pm
SOME CONFUSION HERE:
– You brag about the 16 amp Italian plug, but have forgotten U.S. plugs can handle 16 amps too.
– U.S. plugs actually have *three* prongs, in a configuration similar to the UK plug but upside-down.
– So at the very least the U.S. should have scored the same as Italian (8).
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 7:23pm
> – You brag about the 16 amp Italian plug, but have forgotten U.S. plugs can handle 16 amps too.
But, 16A @ 110V is only half the rating of 16A @ 220V
The only issue with the British plug is that its TOO BIG. Seriously. Have you tried cramming laptop, power supply et al. into a laptop bag. Some of these countries adapters are tiny in comparison and tuck nicely into the corner of your bag. Not so with the UK plug whose prongs insist on digging into something inappropriate.
Halve its size and you’ll have a winner.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 7:29pm
8 pages? Not a chance, you are lucky you got one hit.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 7:29pm
US 220V 30amp twistlock plugs beat UK 220 plugs. They do one thing that none of these other plugs do, lock in place
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 7:39pm
> – You brag about the 16 amp Italian plug, but have forgotten U.S. plugs can handle 16 amps too.
But, 16A @ 110V is only half the rating of 16A @ 220V
The only issue with the British plug is that its TOO BIG. Seriously. Have you tried cramming laptop, power supply et al. into a laptop bag. Some of these countries adapters are tiny in comparison and tuck nicely into the corner of your bag. Not so with the UK plug whose prongs insist on digging into something inappropriate.
Halve its size and you’ll have a winner.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 7:43pm
Wait, the australian plug gets 2 out of 10? Despite having properly phased plugs (only go in one way and it’s immediately obvious which way that is), handling 15A at 240V (those have a wider earth pin to make sure you can’t plug it into a socket not meant to supply 15A too), switches on almost all outlets and insulation on the ends of the pins closest to the pug now.
It’s certainly not perfect (shuttering isn’t mandatory and… wait no, that’s their only flaw, non mandatory shuttering. And you give them 2/10? Even factoring in your ratings given by how happy the plug looks this is ridiculous. I know you’re jealous of how awesome Australia is compared to that cloudy overcrowded hole which is Britain but really.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:11pm
Why does everyone forget the German Schuko system?!? It can handle currents up to 16V and is almost impossible to pul the plugs out by accident. And those British sockets/switches/fuse boxes look downright ugly!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:13pm
Given that the British invented everything that’s of any use in the world, it’s hardly surprising we have the best plugs.
Of course there is a little irony in the fact that tradesman working on site now have to use 110v equipment and a transformer.
I’ve had the pleasure of a 240v shock and whilst quite exciting I wouldn’t recommend it.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:15pm
What a stupid article. A waste of time. The USA plug is tops.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:16pm
I’m from the US and there’s one plus to the UK plug that Ian forgot to mention. It plugs in flat to the wall so that it won’t get squished by furniture. Another minus to the US plug, which is usually in the way.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:17pm
“i got tired at page 6 and am leaving. will never be back to CNET.”
Now you won’t know how it ends!
Rich TrenholmWed 4 November, 2009 8:19pm
Um, the reason the UK plug has a fuse, auto-closing sockets, shielded pin bases, and inner led disconnect sequence is because the amount of power it caries CAN KILL YOU!!!! The American plugs don’t have all that “safety” because there isn’t nearly as much to be afraid of! I say, GO U.S. PLUGS!. All the usefulness of the British plug minus the death. Oh yeah, and it smiles!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:19pm
I still think the brits are trying to compensate for something with that horribly large plug. The author of this article, specifically, seems to have a *lot* to compensate for. :)
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:20pm
As a Brit, I’ve love to join in with the adulation of our plugs, but they have two serious drawbacks: Their large size, and the fact that wire doesn’t come straight out the back.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:20pm
Page 1 shows you what the majority of U.S. plugs look like, 3 prong, phased plugs. The plug on page 2 is from the 70s-80s era.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:21pm
you guys have got the australian plug upside in the picture
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:25pm
I’m an American and have a 240v 60 amp plug for my welder. It’s 4 prong plug would put anything to shame. Most people’s dryers are 240v in America too but the problem with that is a real man doesn’t get an electric dryer. Also UK have fun with your natural gas deposit in the north sea running out in a just a few years.
Also in the UK their plugs might be impressive but it always looks like an old jew scared to use too much copper wired up the house. Two hots delivering 240v at 16 amps over what looks like speaker wire.
I think I’ll stick with the lower voltage and bigger wires.
Also have fun with your 50hz system that causes you to have an inferior TV system. I can’t stand coming over to the UK and seeing your TV flicker in the corner of your eyes.
Why didn’t you man up and go with the high AC frequency like North America did?
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:25pm
As an American ex-pat living in Britain, I really do appreciate the Brit plugs for their safety. But they *are* too damn big! Shutters–great idea. Insulation on the prongs–ditto. Didn’t know about them disintegrating in the proper order if pulled, but that’s another win.
Some defense of the Americans, though….110V is safer than 240. So much so that construction workers here aren’t allowed to use 240V tools–they carry transformers to step it down to 120! Also, American plugs are phased, so the live wire is on a known side, even if there’s no ground plug.
As for Japan, they’re actually 100V, and iirc, 50 or 60 hz depending on what part of the country you are in.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:25pm
I once had it explained in this way:
Countries with ~220V systems are worried about electrocution
Countries with ~110V systems are worried about starting firesOf course, real men use 3-phase power and ignore the silly plugs.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:26pm
Sure sure, it’s only 120v in America on most of the outlet (except the dryer which gets a 240v). But we had 20A circuits and most new homes have 200A service. Huge Washers and Dryers that take a 4 prong 30-40A twist lock monster plug! Don’t tell us we don’t know how to waste electricity! ;)
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:27pm
What a lame article… But hey, centuries of inbreeding make a nation a little crazy!!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:30pm
The Australian plug was designed so as to be both simple and impossible to insert the wrong way in either its 2 pin or 3 pin form.
It was also shown upside-down.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:35pm
with that may features its got to be one expensive little doohickey.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:36pm
This isn’t a comparison. It’s just some snooty Brit who decided to pull out the flaws in other countries, overlooking that of his own.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:37pm
if you care about plugs…your a loser, I’ve never thought about these things they just work and I was amazed to see anyone bothered to waste space on the endless internet with this article.
also, the British plug is the same thing as the standard American plug. The two prongs is a fault of the appliance and not the socket. Almost every socket I’ve seen in the US has a ground and pyramid shape…
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:41pm
Also British plug, being so big, wastes a lot of metal and plastic resources.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:46pm
Way out of date for the US. That 2prong plug has been illegal in construction since the 1960s. We have been using 3prong sockets with polarity and ground for decades(NEMA 5-20).
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 8:50pm
Fair is fair, but your picture of an American socket is not correct. That was used in the 1950’s, and those old plugs certainly would fly easily out of their sockets, as you stated. But the new socket, in use for over a generation now, has three differently-shaped holes, thus forcing you to use the ‘proper’ polarity, and accounting for ground (‘earth,’ if you prefer). About the only thing that still uses the old plugs are lamps. Any appliance uses a three-pronger, and we can toast an English muffin as good as you can.
In any case, it appears you have your sockets and your plugs mixed up. You talk about plugs, but show sockets. Do you have a gender problem over there? What is your birth rate? I like the British. I’d hate to see them dwindle away because they couldn’t get their plugs into their sockets.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:00pm
what keeps you from plugging into the italian one upside down?
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:06pm
If English was so great, why did it take the Americans to save you in two World Wars? Heck, we even kicked you out of our country not once, but TWICE before the advent of electrical mains.
Chuck Norris laughs at your silly plugs.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:09pm
The plug is shown upside down, as are most world maps, everyone knows that Australia is on the top.
The Australian system also includes a high current version, which basically has a larger earth pin, meaning you cant plug a high current device into a normal 15 amp socket.
The Earth pin actually helps support the the plug in the wall, unlike any of those 2 plug systems. Try pushing down from the top, see how much the plug moves, then do that to a 2 pin system and see what happens.
Also, 240v is awesome, means I don’t use so much expensive copper to wire my house – ohms law :-)
Finally, electrocution? when is that going to happen, we have mandatory earth leakage detectors in Oz, you couldn’t electrify a fly with those things.AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:18pm
I really enjoyed that article. You have a flair for writing. Although humorous, you have good points and your winner is a good plug. On a more serious side though, your readers might like to know that Japan’s system is only 100v, and the American system is actually 120v (122-124.5v typical variance).
The US also uses 3-prong outlets/plugs (although there are no retracting safety shields over the prongs of the plug – but there is no reason someone couldn’t design some – it’d still work and be safer), where it’s clear which one is the ground (U-shape), neutral (tall blade), hot (short blade). There are devices with built-in GFI “fused” outlets and child-resistant covers, but they are not mandated. The recepticals grip the prongs quite well, and will long term when buying quality components. This standard outlet provides anywhere from 15-20A of current (depending on installation).
The US does realize that 120v does not “cut-the-mustard” for powering many items. We have multiple voltage installations, with different outlets. Most outlets exceeding 120v are twist-lock style (i.e. nema L6-30). The common voltages in the US are 120v, 120/208v, 240v, and 277/480v. Cheers!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:21pm
USA plugs, lets clear the confusion
1) our mains volts is now 120 VAC @ 60 hz and typical volts you find is upward of 125 VAC in practice and these few extra volts counters losses and may vary wherever you go.
2) Amps- the design of the plug has no bearing on how high of a current load it can handle, its the material and construction and FYI, USA plugs can be found to handle a max of 20 Amps at 120 VAC or 30 Amps at 240 VAC
3) USA plugs are polarized and have the dedicated 3wrd wire ground. Polarization prevents the live or hot and neutral from being flipped while plugging in a device, possibly making the outer steel casing of something HOT and the 3rd wire dedicated ground is there as a redundant ground for the neutral in case of an open neutral
4) Getting killed, voltage is less a factor, its the current that kills and a half and amp or 500 ma could do it.
5) Lastly Edison and DC current, DC holds its victims in place while frying them and AC knocks you back, frequently saving a life. DC is bad over long distances due to losses while AC is the choice for long distance since it is less lossy and requires thinner conductors.
Now plug all that in and get a clue
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:21pm
Obviously biased. I’d take a Danish plug over UK any day. The built in socket switches overheat. Which can lead to dangerous failures in the plug. The fuses fail for no reason. They are heavy, hard, pointy, expensive and bulky. They have caused me injury. You have to buy them separately for too many appliances. At least they are decent for powering tea kettles. The US would sooner go metric than change plugs although the three prong US plug is pretty universal. You might even find shuttered and switched sockets.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:23pm
About the italians, at least they have wall plugs where all the terminals needs to stay covered.
We cannot say the same thing about the American wall plugs where the terminals are just twisted and rolled around the screws and you can actually see bare copper going around…
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:23pm
Thomas Edison said such bad things about AC power because he sold DC power and his big competitor, George Westinghouse sold AC power. Edison also tried to get people to use the term “westinghoused” (as in “He was westinghoused.”) instead of “electrocuted.” Edison was a great inventor, but not so great at marketing.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:24pm
One of the worst articles ever!
It pretends to be objective while using hardly any facts at all.Two thumbs down.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:28pm
Anything above 40V kan kill you, so 110-250 won’t make much of a difference. The euro plug can carry way more than 2.5 amps. There are flat plugs with thin wire that are meant for 2.5A, but the wall outlet and standard plugs can carry at least 16A. Which is the regulatory limit, not a technical one.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:30pm
But the american plugs don’t even look like happy faces, they’re more like distressed faces reacting to some dire tragedy. Article failed to mention the utility of UK plugs in use as melee weapons swung at the end of a cord. It’s pretty amazing really how they’re even legal to bring on board airplanes. The absolute best plug is however not the UK type but rather the 16 A 3P+E 400 V IEC 60309 industrial plug which is surely the kind safety minded aliens would use for their IKEA lamps.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:32pm
The author is a comedian, not an electrician. Take your engineering degree, and wipe your pompous British arse with it.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:32pm
The entire article is just one big piece of crap. You suck.
You didn’t mention USSR plug, which is able to carry 6A, 250V.BTW, most of Europe now’s using CEE 7/7.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:33pm
Real Mean (Chuck Norris included) build their own generators and connect their manly construction equipment directly to the output terminals.
How much voltage/amperage/current/whatever is carried by a plug from USA/UK/IE/JP/EU? Real Man know the answer is always simply “Not enough”.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:33pm
I recently visited the UK from the US and could feel my manhood shrivel when presented with the English plug.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:37pm
Typical British. 40 years behind the times. We use this plug over here NEMA 5-15 (North America) That plug picture you got there is 40 years old and you would be hard pressed to find a single one, Lower voltage is safer, it’s grounded, it’s has a polarity reject feature. We don’t fuse it because it can be bypassed by the British. It’s the same energy as the British plug. We also have them in every shape size and configuration imaginable. There is over 50 over here depending on the use. We even have plates with the finger guard, and flat plugs. Having gone to Britain I can say that your plugs and boxes are just plain BUTT UGLY.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:39pm
You missed one. The Neutrik PowerCon connector: From their web site:
PowerCon® is a lockable 3-pole equipment (AC) connector with contacts for line, neutral and premating safety grounds. Color coded for easy identification, PowerCon® offers power-in (blue) and power-out (gray) versions with different keying to avoid the possibility of short circuiting. The contacts are designed to prevent damage from arcing when disconnected while under load. PowerCon® meets or exceeds the demands of applications in the fields of A/V usages, test and measurement equipment, computers or industrial designs. UL recognized, SEV and VDE approved. Rated at 20A/250VAC. • Connector: PowerCon® chassis connector • Type: Power In • Color: Blue (A) • Mfg. #NAC3MPA Note: PowerCon® is not designed to be a “mains” connector or for speaker/amplifier applications. For speaker applications please see the Speakon® series.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:40pm
hey mate, the UK plug is the best but dont leave it out or you’ll get electrocuted…what crap. russian is the best you UK redneck redfaced drunken hooligan hicks.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:40pm
A little stupid considering you ignore the fact that one side of the US plug is larger than the other and the reasons for us doing such a silly thing. our high power cable plugs are ignored as well. matter o’ fact, you just included an out of date plug for the US and ignored the standerd. can i get a re-count or have us americans used them all up still in that 2000 ellection?
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:42pm
On America…not only does my Macbook power supply fall to the ground without agitation, it broke into pieces the other day.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:44pm
Being a bacon-eating Dane, I might still wonder: why do you Brits need a fuse in every single plug?
Don’t you have a central fuse box?
And if not – Do you trust your old cabling?AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:46pm
euro plugs can handle 10A, at least the ones we use in the Netherlands
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:46pm
… And did anyone mention that the UK sockets put the power switch on the plug, instead of the appliance? Oh yeah, when I want to turn on something, it’s ever so convenient to hunt around behind the furniture for the outlet instead of using a switch on the device. Not to mention how many cases where the end user has to manually install the plug onto the end of the device’s power cord (anyone remember ‘Help’?)
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 9:52pm
not sure what you all mean but i use 480v 50a plugs all the time in the us not limited on low power or voltage and the plugs stay together fine since they are twist lock
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:14pm
Man this article made me lose the last bit of respect I had for this site. Well done, I didn’t think you could pull it off.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:17pm
How about power strips? Most Americans use them to plug several devices into one wall socket. It seems like an English one would just be gigantic and annoying to deal with.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:19pm
You forgot about the us also having 600v 100a plugs also. (What Tim Allen would use to power his blender.)
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:26pm
If English was so great, why did it take the Americans to save you in two World Wars? Heck, we even kicked you out of our country not once, but TWICE before the advent of electrical mains.
———
‘If English was so great…’
Oh the irony… oh sorry I forgot you don’t understand irony do you.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:26pm
… And did anyone mention that the UK sockets put the power switch on the plug, instead of the appliance? Oh yeah, when I want to turn on something, it’s ever so convenient to hunt around behind the furniture for the outlet instead of using a switch on the device.
———-Er no, if there’s a switch on the socket you just leave it on all the time and use the switch on the appliance, and you can choose to have sockets with or without switches, they don’t have to have switches.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:31pm
The Australian plug shown here is wrong – you’ve detailed the CHINEESE socket.
Oah – we don’t have American cars here any more than you do – we have Australian and Asian cars.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:38pm
You have no idea what you are talking about. The Australian plug is the best designed plug in the world. Polarity sensitive and you have pictured it UPSIDE DOWN!!!! Our legal system has split from the Brittish system years ago and is now more advanced and yes, we drive Australian cars.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:42pm
Australian plug FTW! How dare you only give it 2/10?
15A @ 240V! That’s a whopping 3.6 kW of raw POWER! That’s more power than a 4-cylinder car!
It has ALL the advantages of the British plug – it has a longer and fatter earth, so it is the first to connect and last to disconnect. Active and neutral have shielding for the first half of the pin so you can’t touch it when you pull it out. It can only go in one way – and even if you have an unearthed appliance THAT can only go in one way too! There is a switch at the power point, and the power point doesn’t need protection because unlike the British ones, the holes AREN’T so big a child can fit their arm inside!
And the best part – it’s not ENORMOUS!AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 10:49pm
To the guy earlier moaning about the UK TV system… we might not have so many frames but we can’t understand how you can be happy with a third fewer pixels. I believe the technologies are in the US NTSC “Never Twice the Same Color”, in France SECAM “System Essentially Contrary to the American Method” and, in the UK, PAL “Perfection At Last”.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:12pm
What about Schuko? Imho far superior to these funny connectors presented here ;-)
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:14pm
Nah. Even the grounded three-prong American plug is for wimps. C’mon, accept it. There ARE (sometimes) things elsewhere that ARE better than in the US. Really!
Lovingly,
A fellow Yank.AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:20pm
Let’s switch the US already! Hell, I need that extra power to run my servers in the other room… 110 just doesn’t cut it!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:23pm
You have shown the Australian plug upside-down. That is what a Chinese plug looks like. Pity that such an amusing article is so factually wrong!
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:24pm
The Australian plug is actually the best of them all. Why only 2 out of 10? You must be joking. Given that you have also shown the Australia plug inverted shows that you obviously have done very little research – only enough to put the fat and unwieldy British plug first (the one that you obviously know the most about).
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:33pm
What a piece of insular British Tripe. Admittedly it is a safer system. However carrying 110V makes you engineer products with lower power draws. With the exception of a major appliance most products use a step DOWN converter. Introducing the Europlug is a great ideas as when I travel through the Euroland one adaptor would be nice thank you very much. I’ve got a feeling the insular Brits will never adopt either one. BTW it’s a hood not a bonnet and an elevator not a lift. We invented both
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:49pm
Nice placement on slashdot, however, you are using 50 year old textbooks to get your info. The average American house now has 3 phase (240 V) power into the breaker box with typically single phase outlets except for large appliances. We typically have circuit-breaker controlled ground fault protection with 3 prong plugs (standard), and in the bathrooms and usually kitchens, circuit-breaker controlled outlets for ground-fault protection. You can still find some of the old kit running around, but, I live in a 100 year old house which has been refurbished up to code with all the improvements.
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:54pm
The Australian Socket is being shown upside down, the two diagonal holes are on top, not on the bottom. Might want to correct that you whining pom :P
AnonymousWed 4 November, 2009 11:56pm
As an american it’s my job to as belligerent and ignorant as possible. But this article is erroneous, the connection to the home is a 3 phase 240 V connection. At the outlet we don’t see the need for high current, high voltage output… it’s dangerous to run that much power to an end user outlet… not to mention wasteful. But you know much more about conservation of energy than we do, so I better keep it on the hush hush.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 12:28am
I’d like to respond to your
Next Page >
article. You see, I think
Next Page >
that the US outlets are
Next Page >
simply the best on Earth because
Next Page >
Give me a break guys! Two paragraphs per page? A 500 word article over 8 pages?
How do you say it over there? BULLOCKS?
I enjoyed the article but I didn’t enjoy all the clicking and scrolling required to read it.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 12:28am
The only comment I have to add is that you forgot to mention the *reason* British plugs have fuses in them, which is that your entire damned house has 1 daisy chained circuit with a *total* capacity of 16A@240V. My house (in the US) has 300 amp service, which even at 110V is still 10x as much power capacity.
On the up side, you get to save on copper.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 12:30am
The hell with all those wimpy plugs. 120VAC -v- 24VAC? Bah! I use 480V 3 phase, as any real man would.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 1:04am
Saw this linked on Slashdot. Best article I’ve read all year. If Chuck Norris were an article, he’d be this article.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 1:16am
Speaking of electrical power, I just wasted some power reading this stupid blog and someone wasted even more power writing it. To bad 220V cant fix their terrible teeth.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 1:26am
I will take this opportunity to say, You’re doing it wrong.
Aussie plugs are right way up surprised faces. the only time you find them upside down is if some retard installed the socket the wrong way. the rest is spot on though.AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 1:42am
I live in the US, and just hate our plugs. They are so dangerous. You have a charged live prongs when plugging the thing in, completely exposed, or if it gets partially dislodged. It lacks the safety feature of the plastic halfway up the prong or the recessed outlet found on better designs. I agree tht the british plugs are great, and the other european ones are all better than the american one. Why american ones dont have such a basic safety feature is beyond me!
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 2:03am
It’s funny that the British have all those extra features to protect them from themselves, and yet they’ve never adopted the automatic transmission. Instead, they have a plug about the size of a small family hatchback, loaded with features to protect infants, which regularly breaks down because it’s so complicated. You can call American plugs “flimsy” if you want, but I’ve never seen one fail.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 2:06am
Whoops! The Australian plug isn’t upside down: your picture is. The depicted plug is actually the official standard CHINESE plug. China took the Australian design, and inverted it (there is a good reason for that too, but well beyond the intellectual level of THIS discussion).
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 2:23am
Congratulations on your many toddler-protecting inventions. Your country shall hereby be known as “Britain, home of the plug fit for children”.
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 2:23am
strange I don’t see the Swiss plug mentioned here… it combines the best features of the Euro Plug with greater stability and smaller size. it seems to be one of the most efficient designs out there and – that’s the important thing – it is almost identical to the new IEC 60906-1 plug… so the Swiss plug can’t be that bad…
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 2:34am
Sorry Lads,
The Canadian Electrical Code stipulates a GFCI is the only plug you can install in Canada, there’s the two forks on the side then the ground on the bottom. The larger blade is for the neutral, the smaller blade for the line/feed, and the bottom is for, yup, ground, adn they are now all TR Tamper resistant, which means you need to apply force to all three cover-shutters beofre they will release to let you plug it in and c’mon how can you argue with 15AMPS/plug!?
AnonymousThu 5 November, 2009 2:38am
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