Plug versus Plug

anonymous 4 November, 2009 12:17

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 12:21

This has to be the most awsome article I have ever read. Just like the poster above me. I salute you lol.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 12:44

Well, it is a pretty good article, apart from the pointless national stereotyping and feeble, Daily-Mail-standard Europe-bashing.

Pixie 4 November, 2009 12:53

I absolutely love the page on Italians and their plugs. Its so true.

Pokeh 4 November, 2009 12:53

Oh good. I can feel patriotic again now. At least we have the best plugs.

freedoms_stain 4 November, 2009 13:01

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 13:42

lol at aus plug being upside down..

Get off the ceiling you bastards!!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 13:47

Europe-bashing? I think it's called 'satire'. Get a sense of humour.

Scutch 4 November, 2009 13:47

The Australian socket looks like an upside down sad puppy.

Scutch 4 November, 2009 13:48

UK socket looks like upside down serious panda.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 14:28

wot no South African plug? which is very much based on the UK system, but more... rounded.

gatorrock 4 November, 2009 15:09

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! :)

anonymous 4 November, 2009 15:12

the holes in italian sockets are vertical, not horizontal...
and cannot take schuko plugs, unless you use an adaptor...

anonymous 4 November, 2009 15:38

Actually I just went to italy and they are just put at whatever angle try 45 degrees for example. Best article in a while

anonymous 4 November, 2009 16:01

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.

weetanhops 4 November, 2009 16:13

Oh my God, I want the Danish plug socket!

Nate Lanxon 4 November, 2009 16:50

Socket to me.

Flora Graham 4 November, 2009 17:01

Canadian plug is best. Made of bacon and looks like a moose's antlers.

Nick Hide 4 November, 2009 17:28

Make sure you plug this on Twitter, everyone.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 18:06

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."

anonymous 4 November, 2009 19:20

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 19:23

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).

anonymous 4 November, 2009 19:29

> - 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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 19:29

8 pages? Not a chance, you are lucky you got one hit.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 19:39

US 220V 30amp twistlock plugs beat UK 220 plugs. They do one thing that none of these other plugs do, lock in place

anonymous 4 November, 2009 19:43

> - 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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:08

no indian plugs? Our plugs are your grandfathers.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:11

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:13

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!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:15

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:16

What a stupid article. A waste of time. The USA plug is tops.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:17

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.

Rich Trenholm 4 November, 2009 20:19

"i got tired at page 6 and am leaving. will never be back to CNET."

Now you won't know how it ends!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:19

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!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:20

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. :)

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:20

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:21

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:25

Been there, done that, ouch!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:25

you guys have got the australian plug upside in the picture

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:25

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?

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:25

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:26

I once had it explained in this way:

Countries with ~220V systems are worried about electrocution
Countries with ~110V systems are worried about starting fires

Of course, real men use 3-phase power and ignore the silly plugs.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:27

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! ;)

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:30

What a lame article... But hey, centuries of inbreeding make a nation a little crazy!!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:31

A lot of ignorance in here of basic AC power.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:35

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:36

with that may features its got to be one expensive little doohickey.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:37

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:41

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...

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:46

Also British plug, being so big, wastes a lot of metal and plastic resources.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 20:50

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).

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:00

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:06

what keeps you from plugging into the italian one upside down?

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:09

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:18

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:21

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!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:21

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

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:23

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:23

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...

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:24

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:28

One of the worst articles ever!
It pretends to be objective while using hardly any facts at all.

Two thumbs down.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:30

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:32

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:32

The author is a comedian, not an electrician. Take your engineering degree, and wipe your pompous British arse with it.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:33

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:33

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".

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:37

I recently visited the UK from the US and could feel my manhood shrivel when presented with the English plug.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:39

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:40

You missed one. The Neutrik PowerCon connector: From their web site:

PowerConÂ® is a lockable 3-pole equipment (AC) connector with contacts for line, neutral and premating safety grounds. Color coded for easy identification, PowerConÂ® 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. PowerConÂ® 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. â€¢ Connector: PowerConÂ® chassis connector â€¢ Type: Power In â€¢ Color: Blue (A) â€¢ Mfg. #NAC3MPA Note: PowerConÂ® is not designed to be a "mains" connector or for speaker/amplifier applications. For speaker applications please see the SpeakonÂ® series.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:40

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:42

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?

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:44

On America...not only does my Macbook power supply fall to the ground without agitation, it broke into pieces the other day.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:46

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?

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:46

euro plugs can handle 10A, at least the ones we use in the Netherlands

anonymous 4 November, 2009 21:52

... 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'?)

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:14

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

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:17

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:19

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:26

You forgot about the us also having 600v 100a plugs also. (What Tim Allen would use to power his blender.)

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:26

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:31

... 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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:38

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:42

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:49

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!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 22:50

MUHAHAHAH

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:12

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".

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:12

Australian plug picture is upside down.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:14

What about Schuko? Imho far superior to these funny connectors presented here ;-)

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:18

Delightful article. Fun read.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:20

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:23

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!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:24

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!

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:33

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).

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:49

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

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:54

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.

anonymous 4 November, 2009 23:56

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

anonymous 5 November, 2009 00:28

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.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 00:28

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.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 00:30

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.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 01:04

The hell with all those wimpy plugs. 120VAC -v- 24VAC? Bah! I use 480V 3 phase, as any real man would.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 01:16

Saw this linked on Slashdot. Best article I've read all year. If Chuck Norris were an article, he'd be this article.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 01:26

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.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 01:42

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.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:03

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!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:06

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.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:19

Curse you, you pommy bastards, foiled again.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:23

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).

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:23

Congratulations on your many toddler-protecting inventions. Your country shall hereby be known as "Britain, home of the plug fit for children".

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:34

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...

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:38

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!?

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:41

Lucas, "Prince of Darkness"

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:42

UK power plugs are HUGE, its no problem if you just have 1, but a 6 outlet power rack gets really big.
Japanese power plugs are essentially the same as US, but without the earth connection. For appliances that require earth (like microwaves) there is usually a separate cable for that that must be SCREWED (yes, screwed) to the outlet. Really, it has to be screwed, its separate, how retarded is that?
The US plug wins, hands down, I have never had an accident with a US plug, and its just the right size.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:43

The American plug is the way it is since Americans want to plug in both ways. Analize that equation.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 02:46

Canadian plugs are similar to the US plugs, but shifted to the left a bit
in the wall.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:01

Next time you write an article, can you PLEASE scatter it across 20 pages instead of 8? We only saw a little over 40 ads, and would like to hit our target of 100 per article.

Sincerely,

Your Advertisers

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:04

The Australian plug cannot be plugged in the wrong way. The live wire always goes to the correct pin. 10 and 15A plugs are similar with a larger ground pin so that you don't try to draw 15A from a 10A socket. Fuses are at the entry of the power to the building so that the building wiring isn't burnt out on the way to the overdrawing device. And yes, you need 240V here. We don't punce around with 110.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:11

To the guy moaning about the guy who is moaning about UK TVs.

America uses ATSC now. It's a 16:9 format HD format that can display video up to 320hz. I don't know what time you are stuck in but TV has improved a lot here.

Also I'd rather watch a smaller TV of higher quality than something with a few more pixels.

UK video cameras are crap too. They can't make things look the same outside as they do inside. Never understood what the problem is there.

The PAL Mega Drive also worked at a lower clock speed and had slower sound.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:32

The future is Wireless, plain and simple, no need to find the best when they will all be obsolete. Think about it, decide which is best and implement it, or have your devices work regardless of where thy are, and not be tethered.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:33

umm. just so you all know, the actual most dangerous voltages are in the 80 - 140 V range. people exposed to these voltages tend to end up having heartbeats that are arrhythmical. Higher voltages actually stop the heart - like a defibrillator, and after this the heart goes on with a normal rhythm.

And for all you non- electrical engineering types, it aint the voltage, it aint the amps, it's both multiplied together which tells you the power you can supply with a single plug.
Australia (and england, i think) use 240v/phase electic power.
America uses 110v/phase.
So for 3 phase in USA, it is possible to have 240v as part of a 3 phase. For aus 3 phase can deliver 480 V.
The worst place I have been for powerplugs is definately Peru. They had no standards, and points varied from english, to usa, to european. There wiring standards were pretty scarey too - turning on the hot tap in one hotel gave me a little tingle. I didnt shower that long that day.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:39

yeah, the British plug would be great if it wasn't used in the uk, or wasn't British.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 03:43

kind of self-serving, making the brit plug number 1. Your plugs look like a face supprised to be hanging upside down.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 04:09

British plugs are individually fused because it's /sensible/. What happens if there's a fault with the appliance? The circuit shorts, overloads the fuse, fuse blows. If the fuse is on the appliance/ it's still safe, and the main circuit is still hot (so your computer hasn't suddenly shut off). I'm thankful for this arrangement, a few weeks ago I was welding in a cave, and kept blowing the fuse on the welder (it's fairly damp in British caves). If it weren't individually fused, it would've taken more than 13A to make the circuit safe, I'd've had to wait until it hit 30A. And then changed the fuse in the pitch black.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 05:02

This article is so biased. Remember, the United States handed you Brits your asses (aka arses) on a silver plate during the war. Suck on that, Red Coats!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 05:18

Genius work chaps (and chapesses)! I'm stuck in NYC with the rubbish American plugs. Fortunately, I brought a British multi-plug with me. This means I can avoid too many travel adapters (surely the only thing worse than American plugs is British plugs hanging from the wall on a travel adapter), while simultaneously risking certain electrical death by overloading my system! Hurrah!

DWR

anonymous 5 November, 2009 05:28

Chuck Norris doesn't need plugs!
He just rips the electricity out of the socket; no matter whether it's Italian, British or the silly 172-volt 5-amp Canadian system.
No socket can defeat Chuck Norris.
Be nice to him and he'll give you a beer can full of electricity. No plug needed!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 05:44

1) U.S. Voltage is 125VAC now. I know, I tested mine and it's solid 125VAC at 60Hz. That's the other screwball thing you Brits do, the frequency of your mains is 50Hz. Plays hell with clocks that derive their timing from the power frequency.

2) The three prong U.S. plug can handle up to 15A. T off one of those sockets and you're good to 20A. Add a Hubbel connector and you're at 60A.

3) If we want we can get three phase service in the U.S. Or we can take a direct 480V feed if we want.

So much for your British superiority.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 05:49

BRITISCH, I FART IN YOU GENERAL DIRECTION ! YOU PLUGS LUUKS LIKE A CESSCLEANER AND YUUR AMPERAGE IS TASTES LIKE ELDERBERRY ! PRTTTTTT ! THE ITALIAN PLUGS CAN BE BOUGT WITH ANTI PAPERCLIP INSERTION SHUTTERS AND INTERNAL EXTRA SAFETY FUSES....
AND THEY HAVE ALL BEEN DESIGNED BY GUIGIARO.... PRTTT !!!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 06:07

Danish plugs are absolutely terrible. Ever tried to vacuum with a Danish plug? Pull the vacuum a bit too far accidentally and it comes out. This isn't brilliant.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 06:22

Bad article. Really bad article.
There could be so many sound objective criteria to discuss which one is the better system, and the author goes for which one looks like a smiley.
Sad.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 06:46

What!! no pictures?? Wasted article..

Seriously, loved the article. Should have had some pictures though for added fun.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 07:46

what a surprise, the brits review power plugs and just happen to find their own plugs as the best.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 08:19

Pretty much every house in America also has 220 volt service. At 50 amps of internal-organ-cooking current, too. We only use it for our clothes dryers and electric ranges, though. What do you need 220v in your bedroom for, anyway? Pleasuring your women?

We use... *ahem* non-electrical *cough* methods here.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 08:38

I would love some figures of the numbers of electrical accidents along with plugs - together with explanation of the electrical security technology involved.
The British plug is not bad - but you left out the French and Swiss ones. The "Europlug" you quote is only foreseen for fully electrically insulated devices. Anything requiring more juice or safety than that requires the "Schuko-plug"

anonymous 5 November, 2009 08:56

I'm an Australian. I think I speak on behalf of our fine country when I say my Dad's plug would smash your Dad's plug.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 08:58

Attention: web browsers can scroll vertically. This is not a new feature. There is no need for a website to break the contents of one 'article' into multiple HTML pages. In fact, doing this is annoying, because instead of merely scrolling (which is usually instantaneous) a reader has to read part of the article, then click and wait for the next to load, and repeat this annoying delay multiple times.

While I'm sure there is some benefit in terms of more ad impressions, or perhaps you think you are tracking how many people want to read the article, you should take note of all the readers that viewed the first page, and then when they realized your article was needlessly broken up into multiple bits, they closed the tab/window since they didn't want to be spoonfed.

In fact, if you had any sense you might consider adding a button that a reader could click "I was interested in this, but didn't bother because I refuse to read articles formatted across multiple pages."

anonymous 5 November, 2009 09:18

I'm afraid your so called information is factually incorrect.
first let's get the cucumber or banana out of the way: please quote the regulation. Once you have looked enough for it, you will realize it is a hoax.
second concerning the Euroland plug:
where exactly did you find this ??? I Have lived in several countries on the continent, (Belgium, Germany and now Luxemburg), and none use this. They all use an earthing system, unfortunately different from one country to the other. Some have a third plug much like the UK, albeit a round one, and some have the earthing around the ring.
As for stickin anything in the plug as you suggest, good luck.
Interesting article, too bad some of the so called research was obviously botched by an obvious bias.
Cheers

anonymous 5 November, 2009 09:29

Surely the Danish plug is better?! - it's a happy face ffs!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 09:31

Look at all the Seppos sooking in the comments! :)

You got the Australian plug upside down.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 09:39

I was gonna post a satirical comment along the lines of "We saved your limey asses in dubya dubya two", but I see that someone did that seriously already.

So, I dunno... bad teeth?

anonymous 5 November, 2009 09:49

I live in Italy so know what I've seen - firstly few Italian houses are Earthed. Officially they are supposed to be now but hey this is Italy. Officially ALL Italian houses must have a Salva-vita (RCD trip) at the supply. Old Italian houses and rustic places will have neither an Earth, RCD and will have used twin-flex that looks like speaker wire stapled to the wall that will have been painted over going to the one two-pin unswitched socket in the room. All Italian houses are current limited at the meter box. Quite a few will trip at 1.5 Kw load though nowadays it is much more common to have 3Kw trip (16A breaker) or 6Kw supplies. The electric company installs this as it is on the supply side into the meter NOT the consumer side.
The 3-pin Italian sockets are also in two versions, 10A with small pins and 16 which have large pins. The 16A sockets usually can take a 10A pin cable (but obviously not the other way around). You can't normally get a 3pin 10A to 16 A converter for obvious reasons but certain combinations of multi-way sockets will get you this. As a techie I thus end up with a mass of 3 pin Italian 10A and 16A to Shuko converters plus multi-way plugs and numerous power strips.
The UK socket is certainly the more robust of them all but the Euro two-pin unearthed is certainly the best for the modern world of light-weight low-load appliances.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 10:10

UK plugs are fat & bulky (a reflection of the British diet, maybe? :P)

This difficults its storage on small bags - a handicap for portable electronics that most the other plugs don't have.

So you may add "redundant" to the list. As you said, the British plug solves a problem that all others doesn't have - because fuses are already implemented in houses nowadays.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 11:17

Wow, a lot of ignorant statements on here.

Current kills not voltage.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 11:21

"like an old jew scared to use too much copper"

Say What??? We don't need your rasist sh1t around here.

Mods please???

The whole one wire / sockets in serial / fuse in plug thing is because of the copper shortage after WW2 when Britain was rebuilding and getting no help from her so-called 'Special Friend'.

To those Aussies complaining about the socket being shown upside-down: you do realise that's a joke, right? Down-under, upside-down, geddit?

And to all the irony-deprived yanks: it's a thing called British humour, if you don't like or understand it go back to listening to Rush is on the radio...

anonymous 5 November, 2009 11:56

Ehm, could you tell me where you got the specs of the euro plug?
Over in Belgium it can carry up to 20 amps, has an earth pin.
The system gives you the possibility to use a small plug for small devices, instead of a plug that's larger than the device it powers :p

anonymous 5 November, 2009 12:50

As I ponder wiring my (US) basement, my first and foremost question is, "Does the grounding prong go on the top or on the bottom?"

anonymous 5 November, 2009 12:55

in Indonesia we using a lot of type plug... there's no standard here, freedom :D

anonymous 5 November, 2009 12:56

"The entire article is just one big piece of crap. You suck. "
"It pretends to be objective while using hardly any facts at all."
"Man this article made me lose the last bit of respect I had for this site"
"....to save you in two World Wars"

I do love articles like this. I actually rather enjoyed reading it, but the responses are the icing on the cake.

Irony. Such sweet nectar.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 13:10

I enjoyed reading this tongue-in-cheek article, but the big plus of the britich plug was glossed over.

It has an internal fuse.

The fuse in the plug is chosen to protect the cable from the plug to the appliance. This allows thinner cables to be used safely where the appliance draws less current.

Any system using non fused plugs cannot be safe unless all appliance cables are rated at the maximum current the wall socket can handle... and that just doesn't happen.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 13:12

"Lastly Edison and DC current, DC holds its victims in place while frying them and AC knocks you back"

You are clearly an electrical engineer with a second degree in biology... NOT.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 13:20

but did not the us turn up quite a few years after the war started ?

and the uk was busy with the french when the us kicked out the uk

anonymous 5 November, 2009 14:13

"BTW it's a hood not a bonnet and an elevator not a lift. We invented both"

But we gave you the English language but that didn't stop you changing it, did it? Aluminium, anyone?

anonymous 5 November, 2009 14:43

If the UK plug is so safe, why can't you have outlets in the bathrooms?

anonymous 5 November, 2009 14:46

I hate to dissapoint. But I'm from Denmark, and our sockets are the European style. Only the ones with grounding has a smily face. Like the english, we also have shutters to prevent kids from putting things in the socket. Unless they manipulate both shutters. Then they're f*cked.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 14:50

It may not look like a happy smiling face, but it does look like an upside-down cyberman's face.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 15:25

Funny you mention that, because as an American, I can tell you that that's EXACTLY how it is done!

I also readily admit that our plugs suck, unless you use one that's grounded. Our grounded plugs have the third lower prong just like Denmark.

Honestly, I wish everything had the third prong, but this is America, and that would make too much sense.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:10

Odd how the author found time to sneer at Edison... but completely forgets to mention that Nikola Tesla developed the AC power system that the entire world now uses while living in... America.

British engineering is second only to British food.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:11

You gave Australia 2/10?

*They can have fuses in them (equals British)
*Sometimes they even have lights to show that long industrial ones (which can carry 480V and/or enough amps to turn your brain into guacamole) are live (beats British)
*The pins are not so close together that they spark (beats Italian and american)
*The pins are insulated near the base (beats most)
*When you have an appliance that pulls enough power to blow a fuse, the pins will be thicker so you can only plug it into a socket that will provide the power without complaining (common)
*You can't plug them in backwards (beats american)
*The pins won't bend without a hammer and clear intent (beats american)
*Newer sockets can lock switches in the off position (beats shutters)
*And to top it all off, it's still small enough to be an efficient use of space (beats British)

Plus the picture is upside-down, that's Chinese (as has been mentioned already).

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:31

Calm down yanks! Don't take it so personally if you loose.
Or we'll come and burn your Whitehouse down (again).

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:45

I was gonna post a satirical comment along the lines of "We saved your limey asses in dubya dubya two", but I see that someone did that seriously already.

-----------------

Yes thanks for sitting in the cheap seats until the last round, when both fighters were exhausted and then riding in to save the day. Imagine having the courage to declare war on Germany as soon as they began their acts of aggression.

Oh and by the way, to the other poster we have manual and automatic cars, it's a matter of preference, most Brits prefer to drive a manual because it gives you more control.

Been a lot of successful American F1 drivers haven't there.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:51

The moment you praised your health care system I knew the article was bogus. With all this whining about going green using 240 instead of 110 become the flaw in your diatribe.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:54

Bless, the voltage is irrelevant with regards to green issues, it's power consumption of the appliance that matters.

We're certainly learning a great deal about general ignorance here.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:57

A pity not using the same level of high quality design in other disciplines: roads, public transport, food, ...

Ã±

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:57

Loved the article. In defense of the US system, 240 Volts is like turning up to 11 compared to the danger of 120V. When we need the extra oomph, we have different plugs for 210 and 240V. We used to have non-polarized plugs with just hot and neutral but they are ripped out quickly whenever upgrades are made. Anything really needing a ground (earth) has a grounding pin. I like the UK plugs except they are huge. And your 50 Hz line frequency is noticeable and annoying. We are just starting to see 90 degree plugs that fit flatter against the wall here.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 16:58

This article doesn't account for cost! With so many electrical appliances being very low cost I'm sure the British plug increases.

The only time the US cord causes me trouble is when vacuuming. Clearly the low voltage is inadequate at this task, and the plug doesn't hold.

As far was easily being unplugged, we have US Standards for twist lock, but they are not intended for use outside of controlled areas, as they are a trip hazard.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 17:11

What does "Will it 'eck" mean in American?

anonymous 5 November, 2009 18:14

Australian plugs really are the best. You forgot to mention they don't fall out of the wall like the American wimps and they're more compact than any other format that is stable. Go Oz!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 18:14

Bryan here, speaking for all of America. First, our utility outlet voltage is 120V, not 110V which we agree would be totally lame. But I would like to point out, as an electrical engineer, that "power" and "voltage" are not the same things. But since we invented electrical power distribution, you are to be forgiven for not knowing that.

Since our utility outlet voltage is half of the Queen's output voltage, our currents are twice as large as yours for the same amount of power. This means that your flimsy little British "cables" as you call them only use a fraction of the metal that ours use to transport the same power. In line with our awesome 5 liter V8 engines which are totally necessary for our commutes to and from work (public transportation? Puh-lease!) our residential power system uses twice as many natural resources as yours (well, it's not really twice since the current carrying capacity of a conductor is proportional to its cross-sectional area).

But I totally agree about the Italians.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 19:38

I'd also like to know what "Will it 'eck" means in American.

1000127626 5 November, 2009 19:57

Im not the biggest fan of commenting but this article just made my day. Wonderful, funny, insightful and ... funny. Loved it!

anonymous 5 November, 2009 20:21

Will it 'eck means no it most certainly won't.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 20:38

A cord that shocks you if you stand on it. That seems like a deal breaker to me (and my kids). You can keep it.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 20:40

He (unlikely to be a "she") also "forgot" (as in didn't know) that on the 2 or 3 occasions the USA tried to invade Canada (that's right next door folks!), they got their arses handed to 'em on a platter.

Also, the Australian plug is crap because the flat pins bend if you look sideways at them, so every Australian kitchen needs a pair of pliers as standard equipment.

anonymous 5 November, 2009 21:38

> UK plugs are fat & bulky (a reflection of the British diet, maybe?

I have a feeling that the commenter might have mistakenly written a 'British' instead of 'American' in that sentence. Fast Fat Food anyone?

As far as the Americans helping the UK out in wars I can only say "Was a white American in the America before a Brit or European?" Think about it - kinda historical question.

British plugs are definitely better than most - though I must agree that they are bulky (but safe)

anonymous 5 November, 2009 21:43

Really enjoyed this article, except it needs an addendum for those of us who travel with ADAPTERS. Not only are the original plugs weird, the adapters look like some alien crossbreeding program and are generally fatal because of extreme yelling and cursing if stepped on.

Thanks again for the laughs - Gareth Harris - Socorro, NM

anonymous 5 November, 2009 21:56

@Anonymous Thu 5 November, 2009 4:31pm
Haha. English* English** Fail. (*Nationality, **Language)

Definitions of loose on the Web:

* not compact or dense in structure or arrangement; "loose gravel"

Definitions of lose on the Web:

* fail to win; "We lost the battle but we won the war"

Yeah, we still walloped you at The Battle of New Orleans!
(Though I hardly want to start yet another long, drawn out Internet debate about the War of 1812.)

anonymous 5 November, 2009 23:27

I'm an American and very proud of the fact that my plug looks happier. In a country with so many nukes it is good that we have happy plugs. I mean if we had that huge monstrous British plug we would definitely have a much better plug, but the sadness it would bring could trigger the end of the world. I mean do you want a country that has over 2000 nukes to be unhappy. What you should be asking yourself is what do the Chinese and Russian plugs look like. The answer could determine the course of history and the world! Awesome article by the way. Without the British sense of humor I would never laugh. :)

anonymous 5 November, 2009 23:49

It's clear the Australian plug was given its rating based on the standard jealousy Poms have for Aussies. 2/10? Sheesh .. ours is technically equivalent and definitely much prettier, like our whole country. Just get over it and emigrate already.

And yes, yet another shout down .. it's upside down!!

anonymous 6 November, 2009 01:01

Your picture of ther Australian Plug is upside-down.

Nice work!

anonymous 6 November, 2009 01:30

dare you to post this on Cnet America, britfags. So shitty plugs, just something else to ad to the list including horrid food, depressing weather, and Orwellian surveillance. Nice job. Oh, and that internal fuse...created out of necessity (shitty, cheap internal home wiring), NOT safety.

wvh 6 November, 2009 01:59

This article was great! However, as an American, I have to say that you're overlooking a few things about our plugs. First, as previous respondees have noted, most US plugs nowadays are at least polarized, and also have a ground pin. However, we usually "fix that" because most people seem to use a three-pin-to-two-pin adapter to enable them to ignore the ground, and often also to "workaround" the polarization by using two equal-sized power pins. Secondly, you are completely overlooking the Darwinian value of non-fused, non-shuttered AC power sockets.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 02:32

Just a rocking write up - had me giggling out loud.

Well done.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 02:49

This is the New World's Order's attempt to foment nationalism prior to World War IV and the rise of China.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 04:07

I was looking for some serious banter here and all I've found is lameness. UK sockets are really poorly designed, big, have cables that head to one side. Sorry. US ones are not designed, and, like the UK ones, can have sharp edges that can cut you. The US plus also have a tendency to fall out of the wall and the pins can bend. The EU ones don't fall out of the socket, the pins don't bend and aren't sharp, and the plugs aren't huge. Better still would be for them to be a bit smaller, like the Swiss plugs.

I haven't personally had experience with other plugs and was hoping to learn more here. But this site is not for learning, just for farting out one's mouth. I've smelled enough 3 pages in.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 06:03

Australia has 15 Amp outlets which are 10A backwards compatible - something few other systems can do. not only that we have 20A outlets with an even wider earth pin that accept 10 and 15A sockets.
But wait there is even more >
We have 25Amp 240V outlets with wider earth and active-neutral pins which once again are able to accept smaller 10 , 15 , or 20 amps plugs - all by virtue of varying the width of the earth and active -neutral pins but keeping the same pin spacing and thickness.

Our electric heaters , kettles , frypans, ovens, power tools , air conditioners have UNLIMITED POWER in comparison to many other systems - american 110volt power tools are a pathetic joke and more like childrens toys , while their kettles take over twice as long to warm up a cup of water.

And one of the best things about our system is that by grinding down the size of the various pins on a 25Amp,20Amp or 15Amp appliance you can plug it into a lower rated socket outlet. A few minutes grinding down the pins will have that 6000Watt air conditioner plugged into and running of a 2400watt outlet giving an electrical power efficiency of over 200%.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 08:11

I love it when the pommies bring the "waited to enter WWII" thing. I have two words for you friend: Lend Lease. Without this intervention before officially entered the war you would be speaking German today.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 08:33

As far as the Americans helping the UK out in wars I can only say "Was a white American in the America before a Brit or European?" Think about it - kinda historical question.

-------------------

The Native Americans were in America long before either. Why do you marginalize their importance of having lived their first? To answer your narrow minded question, the Spanish were in what is now the US long before the Brits, what's your point?

anonymous 6 November, 2009 08:35

A pity not using the same level of high quality design in other disciplines: roads, public transport, food, ...

--------------------

Dental care....

anonymous 6 November, 2009 08:39

Yes thanks for sitting in the cheap seats until the last round, when both fighters were exhausted and then riding in to save the day. Imagine having the courage to declare war on Germany as soon as they began their acts of aggression.

Oh and by the way, to the other poster we have manual and automatic cars, it's a matter of preference, most Brits prefer to drive a manual because it gives you more control.

------------------

Get a clue. Both fighters exhausted? The Brits were for sure, but not the Germans. The Germans already had one foot planted firmly in your arse and was in the middle of planting their other foot up there when the US and Aussies fought your fight for you.

It's ironic you bash the US for coming in "late" but at the same time bash them for being too eager to go in too early. Make up your minds, do you want the US to wait until the world devolves into a massive blood bath war like WWII or do you want them to take care of it early so as to avoid such a huge mess?

The manual gives you "more control"? That's one of the greatest misinformed cop-outs of all times. Don't know too much about modern automobiles do you?

anonymous 6 November, 2009 12:28

Oh dear...am I sensing a sense of humour failure from our American cousins? It's called satire, my dear American friends. Do try and keep this in mind when getting into a rage.

It's a jape. A bit of a laugh.

Instead of us all having a good laugh, we have people fighting over car transmission types, world war II and God only knows what other arguments to prove their "national/racial superiority".

It used to be that the people who were primarily on the internet, were actually rather intelligent types. What ever happened to those times? Oh, that's right...it became "the thing" to own a computer with a modem where every idiot and his dog signed up to hotmail and geocities.

Good grief.

By the by...my Grandfathers WW2 medals, dodgy knee and missing finger say to me that Britain saved itself with the paid help of the U.S. It's not like our grandparents and great grandparents all sat around in Blighty while your own troops were landing on the beaches.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 12:44

Godwin's law will be satisfied in less than 15 posts.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 20:17

The main plus point of British plugs (which I can't believe a few people cited as a MINUS!) is that the cable comes out of the bottom of the plug, parallel to the wall, rather than out of the back, perpendicular to the wall. Much more sensible.

anonymous 6 November, 2009 21:31

Enjoyed the article, even though I'm a 'Merkin (taking a well-deserved drubbing, I guess).

The only disappointment was the lack of illustrations of the various plugs & sockets, which would have made the whole exercise even more educational (and entertaining).

anonymous 7 November, 2009 02:26

"as such"... geez, learn how to use this phrase correctly!

anonymous 7 November, 2009 04:25

"The British system is pretty much the only one in the world that is fused in the plug. This extra safety measure keeps you safe from too much current going through a mains lead and setting fire to it."

lol

An article written by a guy that's most likely British, an idiot (of course) and most likely has nothing to do with being an engineer or knows anything about electricity. If you were, you'd understand why the UK uses fused plugs considering their electrical wiring is something out from a century ago (and a laughing stock of the world), and I can tell you right now it has nothing to do with safety on your part. Meanwhile, you'd like to bag on the European style plugs and American NEMA style plugs which have been thoroughly tested in many situations, proven extremely safe and work through a lot of situations, unlike it's British counterpart, where the fuses completely limits it to small uses and completely inconvenient.

When will the UK catch up to the rest of the world and start using circuit breakers and GFCI's for protection of small appliances (It protects both humans and the electrical system, not to mention a lot more sensitive than fuses nowadays)? Probably never.

anonymous 7 November, 2009 08:33

"Calm down yanks! Don't take it so personally if you loose.
Or we'll come and burn your Whitehouse down (again)."

Promise?

anonymous 7 November, 2009 12:09

16amps yes but they need to handle the low voltage, and besides the resistance for such lov voltage with long cables is inpractiable. Check out your cable length next time you connect a high power device.

anonymous 7 November, 2009 19:55

You've got the Australian plug upside down - the earth is usually at the bottom.

anonymous 7 November, 2009 19:57

The British plug is upside down too. What is this?

anonymous 8 November, 2009 04:05

NTSC? SECAM, PAL? Um, I have digital TV like most of the civilized world these days, you should try it, it's really nice.

anonymous 8 November, 2009 09:22

well haven't you ever seen an indian plug its even better than the british one!!!!!! gotcha poms hehe

anonymous 8 November, 2009 22:06

the hell, The australia plug in the picture is upside down.........or is that part of your upside down joke, damn poms

anonymous 9 November, 2009 02:48

watch what you say or next time we might let the dictator take your country! WW1 cough WW2 cough cough

anonymous 9 November, 2009 02:54

never coming back to CNET uk it's awful. If I don't agree with somebody's comments I want to reply directly to them not be pushed to the end of the comment list. CNET U.S. #1. By the way the comment about the dictator and the world wars is directed to the poster above threatening to burn down the white house.

anonymous 9 November, 2009 05:45

Typical bloody Brits! "Our stuff is the best" blah blah....
Your plugs are rubbish! They are unwieldy at the best of times! Fused plugs?? Ever heard of a circuit breaker? Yeh didn't think so. Building standards are so bad in Britain that you need these to ensure that all those living in houses with sub standard wiring (read: most of the population) don't kill themselves while trying to make themselves a cup of tea.
Funny move with putting the Australian plug upside down too. Har har we are on the other side of the globe, get a new joke! I think you are just jealous that you sent your criminals to a better country! Oh BTW its November, and its 30 degrees. Have fun in the rain. I'll be at the beach.

anonymous 9 November, 2009 22:23

Exactly. I was hoping someone would say that. Also, the reason much of the world uses 240 volts is because they're too cheap to put in decent wiring and they need 240 volts to push the current through the thin wires. The combination of 240 volts and thin wires is much cheaper but extremely dangerous.

anonymous 10 November, 2009 09:03

It looks bigger number is the worst. So, Euro/US/Japan are the best parts. Above all, all the products tend to need less power supply in advanced countries.

anonymous 10 November, 2009 09:14

The British plug is oversized, overdesigned and ugly. Electronics have got so small the massive British plug is now often much bigger than the item it supplies. As for having a fuse, well this is overkill [no pun], a relic from the days when houses had wire mains fuses instead of earth leakage breakers. The two pin Europlug is neater, small and WHEN it's necessary to have an earth the plug is beefed up to accommodate it and still weighs in trimmer than the UK's butch plugs.

anonymous 10 November, 2009 10:21

>the Japanese use a meagre 110V for their mains
to be more precise, we use 100V AC@50Hz(East Japan) or @60Hz(West Japan).

anonymous 10 November, 2009 13:15

One problem with ya story bloke, our Aussie plugs have the Active and Neutral on the top not the bottom as shown in ya picture. Ya dill.

anonymous 10 November, 2009 15:21

lol! I lived in England for years! I hated the plugs there with a passion. I made sure that my equipment was all purchased in France and I used French power strips. :P Did I mention I'm an American? Yes, even Americans recognize the vast superiority of the Europlugs!

I realize that Edison was a twit and 220V has advantages over 110V, btu the British plus is by far the worst plug in existence. Otoh, I guess a British woman has more fat relative to a French woman than a British plug has relative to a French plug.

anonymous 10 November, 2009 17:01

this could possibly be the most uninformed article i've ever read.

only a brit could accomplish that.

congrats

anonymous 11 November, 2009 09:26

The Aussie one's upside down.

Kenmate 12 November, 2009 16:24

Yeah, liked it a lot. Thanks.

anonymous 12 November, 2009 18:29

So do I, the BS plugs are simply too big and cumbersome.

anonymous 12 November, 2009 18:36

Oh my God, I want the Danish plug socket! So do I the BS plugs are simply too big an cumbersome. I would also settle for the DIN type plug.

anonymous 12 November, 2009 20:01

I always smile at the "we kicked you out of our country twice" nonsense from US Americans; we were for the most part both the same peoples back in 1776, and many of your generals and founding fathers were born over here in the UK! You were not a nation then, but a collection of colonies; all you did was free yourself from the mothercountry Government control so that you could become an independent nation, hence the declaration of independence. If you insist that we were different people/nations, why do you speak English? Why is your predominant culture "Anglo Saxon" (and Celtic!)? Why is your Legal System based upon ours (Magna Carter etc)? And why do you use the King James version of the Bible? Your Stars and Bars is even based upon George Washington's English family coat of arms!

Basically you're family from a national point of view

As to saving us in two World Wars; you were late in both and we paid you back by giving you bases all over the world and allowing you access to our previously exclusive British Empire markets.

Mike

anonymous 12 November, 2009 21:11

So Indian plugs are our grandfathers? I don't mean to be rude and I don't know what they teach you at School in India, but do you seriously think that India had electrical plugs and thus a distribution system that were the inspiration for the developed world?

The power system and the plugs that you use in India today came via the British Raj. Your big three round pin 15 amp plugs (live, neutral & earth) are those that were the current British 546 Standard back in 1947 when you gained your independence from us.

This large 15 amp BS546 plug and socket had two progressively smaller versions of the same plug for 5 amp and 2 amp with the separate circuits being only fused back at the distribution board.

All of these were replaced in the UK by the single sized British Standard BS1363 fused 13 amp plug. The plugs are supposed to have the correct fuse for the appliance to protect the appliance and to prevent overload of thinner flexes from starting fires. There are separate ring circuits that can carry a total 30 amp current load for upstairs, downstairs, and kitchen sockets with a 35 amp wired in circuit for Cookers. The lighting circuits are also separated similarly. All of the circuits are fused to prevent overload and possible fires at the distribution board and it is also becoming increasingly common to have RCD (residual current device) trips to protect humans.

Something that none of you have mentioned is that the British 13 amp plug is rarely moulded onto the cable of the devices and until recently one did not get a plug when buying a device; you either bought a plug and put it on yourself, or you took the one from the previous obsolete device and fitted that. Nowadays the plugs are fitted at the factory but are generally still the removable type! The whole top (facing the user) can be unscrewed via a long screw in the bottom (facing the socket) so one cannot take off the top once it is plugged in. When the top is removed all the pins are free to move upwards so it can't be plugged in once the top is removed; each pin has a hole for the wire and a tightening screw to secure it except for the live pin which has a clip for one end of the sealed cylindrical fuse and it is the clip for the other end of the fuse that has a screw terminal for the live wire. There is also a flex securing bar fastened with two screws that are also reached from the socket facing side of the plug.

Each plug when bought on its own comes with a small cardboard wiring diagram and the internals of the plug have moulded in labels for each of the three pins. Generally the plugs come with a 13 amp fuse in them, but you can buy fuses of various ratings and are supposed to use the correct one.

However, how long they will trust the British People to wire up their own plugs remains to be seen as the Government seems hell bent on tailoring society to the lowest common denominator; it is after all the stupid people who breed the most and the nation will become progressively thicker as the educated and skilled classes restrict themselves and the others drop 'em like flies!

Mike

anonymous 13 November, 2009 09:22

Spot on. I couldn't agree more

anonymous 14 November, 2009 12:58

I once stepped on a 13A plug in the dark, and I can tell you it's NO laughing matter! Went back to bed with an old towel wrapped around to soak up the blood.

anonymous 16 November, 2009 11:11

lol @ american ego fail

anonymous 16 November, 2009 12:00

I'm Australian, and you put our plug upside-down, It's never upside-down you useless poms!

anonymous 16 November, 2009 21:40

Having owned and tried to figure out the wiring in a British built self powered horse cart (when it ran) masquerading as a car I absolutely refuse to accept any comment from an Englishman about electricity. Besides US plugs aren't like that anymore

anonymous 20 November, 2009 14:56

I must take you to task for your artcle!!! You have missed the most important issue concerning, plugs, outlets and sockets. Reverse polarities are responsible for electrical shocks and fatalities including the destruction of equipment. Electrons do not know what part of the world they operate on. I think you need more information concerning the technical aspects of the UK/euro outlets that have not been adressed properly by the euro/ UK /IEC standards.
I have traveled all over the world and designed electrical systems of all kind based on several standards. No system is perfect but usually is germaine to the working environment. Your article miss-leads your readers. I kindly ask that you do more research and then redue your article for the health of your readers. You may email me if you like and I will send you to the correct info and studies performed on these issues.
David R. Carpenter, EE, PhD

anonymous 22 November, 2009 12:39

useless article... one can easily see the author didn't travel much. It's full of mistakes...

anonymous 15 December, 2009 18:33

Correct.

anonymous 18 March, 2010 05:10

Wait, you are telling me most British homes only have one circuit interruptor device for the WHOLE house, and thus have fuses in the cord of the appliance so you don't knock the power out in the whole building if something goes wrong?

US homes usually have a whole house master breaker right after the meter, and then each circuit in the house has it's own breaker.
Why bulk up and carry this stuff around in the cord of everything you own when you can build it into the house?

As for the child safety shutters, on outlet switches, built in GFCI, or serge protection that is all available as well on american outlets. As for the cord, many appliances do have built in fuses or breakers in the cord, but the better wiring makes them un-necessary most of the time. :P

This is what a modern american 20A 120V outlet looks like...
And yes that is the "correct" way for it to be mounted, but often times in residential buildings it is allowed to be mounted either way.

http://static.zoovy.com/img/kyledesign/-/electrical_devices/20a_tamper_resisitant_black_gfci_wall_outlets.jpg

anonymous 21 March, 2010 19:31

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. Ha ha, that's cause we aint too fat and lazy assed to move our feet and hands at the same time. I expect that kind of coordination would fry you average Yanks brain. Or they're too busy shaving or watching TV in the car to be arsed shifting gear. Fat lazy Yanks LOL

anonymous 28 June, 2010 15:32

I must offer one more obvious benefit to the UK plug: It makes it much easier to keep track of today's otherwise miniaturized electronic devices! If it weren't for the half-kilo chunk of plastic and metal attached to my phone charger, I'd have lost the thing the day I bought it.

anonymous 25 July, 2010 18:59

My word, you colonials are a thin-skinned bunch :D. Did you read the bit that said "let's take a 100 per cent objective*" at the beginning? It was put there just for trigger-fingered thickies with a patriotism complex. Also is there a Godwin's Law equiv for the number of posts after Australia is ribbed for some chippy Skippy to come along and whine about their really great beaches (which they didn't even discover, let alone invent)?

anonymous 28 July, 2010 16:37

Reply to: Anonymous @ 4 November, 2009 21:21
USA plugs, lets clear the confusion

1) rated is 115. You should not be seeing well in excess of 120V unless you are very close to a substation or distribution transformer. You should probably see closer to 118V from outlets typically given voltage regulation rules.

2) The actual plug connections on any of these designs are not likely to fail at 20 amps, its the wiring that will go first. And yes the plug design absolutely affects the amount of current handling as you yourself mentioned since material and construction are the basis of plug design...

3) Grounding will have any effect with an open neutral. Open neutral will cause an open circuit therefore no power will flow. A FAULTED conductor will be shunted to ground if in contact with a grounded surface of a device ie. a metal chasis part.

4) What do you think the current is determined from? Voltage over impedance... Therefore higher voltage with only a person in between source and sink will result in higher current!

5) Actually AC has much higher losses over long distances due to skin effects, mutual and self inductance effects, and other issues crop up such as elevated voltages due to ferranti effect. DC has no inductive component when flowing in a steady state level which is why HVDC is used for extremely long transmission. The problem was that when Edison was around, we didn't have the electronic converters (or maybe not even the mercury valves) to transform the DC voltage up like a transformer could at the time with AC therefore no high voltage DC transmission.

You told people to get a clue. Take it from someone who actually knows about electricity and electromagnetics, you clearly have no clue what you are talking about!

anonymous 28 July, 2010 16:52

"And one of the best things about our system is that by grinding down the size of the various pins on a 25Amp,20Amp or 15Amp appliance you can plug it into a lower rated socket outlet. A few minutes grinding down the pins will have that 6000Watt air conditioner plugged into and running of a 2400watt outlet giving an electrical power efficiency of over 200%."

...... I hope you're joking, I think you're confusing efficiency with running your circuit at 250% of its rated value. And how the hell would your protective devices (ie. fuses and breakers) not trip when you have a device drawing 25A on an apparently 10A circuit?

Let's face it if 90% of the people posting here were ever to design electrical equipment and we didn't have CSA, ESA, UL, NEMA, etc etc backing us up we'd probably be dead.

As far as who won what wars, etc etc. I'd say the UK held up pretty well considering their small size and small amount of natural resources. Likewise I'd say Germany did especially well considering how many they were able to hold off and how much they were able to expand their fronts. Also the US did quite well considering they had to transport across the globe to fight. No one wins in war except technology which usually gets a nice big kick forward.

Plug versus Plug

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