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You can definitely see who named these.
military engineers?
Americans. Same reason US country code is +1. I have done zero research to back this up.
Fuck it, I’ll bite. The reason for the +1 area code wasn’t just because of the US, but they and a few other counties coming together to create a standard. +1 isn’t the US, it’s the North American Numbering Plan.
Well, I live in Canada, so I’m aware of the last point ;) Despite all this, my americanocentrism point still stands.
This has got to be only the most common plugs around the world.
I’m only familiar with US standards but this doesn’t seem to cover our other plugs for higher voltages.
It’s missing the European high voltage plugs as well.
Upvote for Type-F
That plug is only useful for a device that pays respects and nothing else.
The superior plug design
What makes it better over a type e? Personally i prefer type e, i dont trust the springs of type f :')
You can rotate F 180 degrees and plug it in.
What about polarity, I’m actually curious about that
It’s AC. Polarity doesn’t generally matter.
Bridge rectifiers are also not polarized to convert AC to DC.
Type F plugs also works with the type E sockets. Superior.
You can plug it in upside down?
Thats a fair argument that people have had issues with actually! Sometimes that is annoying but ive never had to much issues with it tbh
What’s great is that it’s also “backwards-compatible” with type E. Male type E plugs will usually also have ground connections for a type F, so you can plug it into female E and F sockets.
Edit: In fact, looking back at the picture, that’s exactly the kind of male plug shown for both type E and F. It works with both types. It has the hole for an earth prong, but it also has a contact on the bottom side if you look closely.
I will say the comparability is amazing and a really good thing! The type f plugs are amazing. Nothing bad about more ground connections!
Just wished the type f plugs had a solid piece of metal, instead of the springs. Then they’d be perfect! :D
Nearly, that’s the type G
Can’t rotate type G 180°. And since type F sockets are recessed, it’s just as unlikely to get shocked as with type G. Ground even connects first. And it’s directly compatible with type C and most type E plugs (since E&F usually share the same plug design, just the socket is a little different). What advantage would type G have to F?
The fuse: https://lemmy.world/comment/10644612
That’s neat. I can remember maybe one or two instances in my life, where that could have been useful. The rest of the time, I much prefer smaller plugs that I can plug in upside down and a home electrical network with good wiring.
Type G only exists because the British skimped on wiring after WW2 and needed to put a fuse in each plug for safety, hence the chonkiness.
Go watch any video comparing plugs and I bet the majority say Type G. It has so many safety features it’s unreal.
Which are only necessary because British houses are wired with a ring main. It’s a false economy.
Also, when it was created, most appliances were earthed. Nowadays, most things one plugs in are small electronic devices which don’t need an earth. Type G/BS1363 has no 2-pin variant, and even mandates a mechanical shutter to prevent a plug without an earth pin from being used. Which was great in 1947, but not so much now, when Europeans, Americans, Japanese, Australians and such have slender 2-pin plugs and economical sockets to put them in, while the Brits/Irish/HK/UAE are stuck with their enormous clownshoe of a plug.
I would have thought two pin plugs are easily to break. I’ve not broken a British plug in 40 years of life.
Anyway I’m not trying to debate this. There are plenty of resources online where electricians discuss the different plug types and the order is typically UK, Germany, and Australia.
What I’d like to see is apples-to-apples comparison of home and office safety between the different plug types. The data is sorta out there, but it’s not normalized in a way that’s convenient for comparison between countries.
On paper, yes, the North American plug is pretty bad, but will that show up in actual practice? There may be a case for changing it, but that needs a comprehensive study before going to all the effort to transition to a better design. Even if we had that study right in front of us, I can already hear conservatives complaining about Marxists electrical plugs.
BS. Type F/Schuko is the USB-C of power sockets/plugs.
No fuse, no way
Why would I want a whole circuit to be cut because of a single device fault, and then have to spend time figuring out which device on that circuit actually has the fault.
Plus if a device only needs 3A it shouldn’t be able to draw more
and then have to spend time figuring out which device on that circuit actually has the fault.
Usually that happens just when you plug it in so…
Why would I want a whole circuit to be cut because of a single device fault
Dunno, if I have a fault in my home, I want it to be spectacular.
A couple of years ago I literally had massive blood pressure and walked like 2 km to go buy a box of fuses.
Burning two fuses, I figured out one of the extension strips was bad.
If I plug something in and half of my apartment goes black, TWICE, and needs a fuse replacement each time, maybe that thing needs to be tossed anuway. I’m no electrician, I can’t troubleshoot a power strip. It has served its years. Bye.
Type G is UK and we have the best plugs in the world. Go watch any videos on YouTube discussing all the safety features. Work of art they are.
Eh, the fusing on the plug is a dealbreaker for me, especially with that load potential
Other features are present in AU (three pin safety, switched outlets, etc)
The fuse offers per device protection, as well as per room/area.
E.g. you have a lamp that draws 1A. It’s cable is rated for 3A. It has a malfunction and starts drawing 10A. This won’t pop a breaker, but will overload the cable. Eventually it could catch fire from overheating. If it has a 3A slow blow fuse, it will kill the fuse before it kills the cable.
It also helps to isolate problems rapidly to 1 device.
yeah but the only reason it happened was because you use ring mains.
aint’ nothing going to convince me that shit belongs in the 21st century.
The ring main was the impetus for it. However it allows for safe down rating at the plug. My lamps don’t need 13A flex. If the only safety system is a 13A breaker, then you’re stuck with it, or risking a cable overload
The fuse is part of why it’s the safest.
What? You’re against a fuse in the plug? So you’d rather the circuit breaker cuts off everything if one thing fails?
Edit: After searching online it’s not even a debate. The UK has the best plugs.
Germany and Australia also have highly regarded plugs but still ranked 2 and 3 respectively.
Ok. What happens if you pull 15amp load on a 10a circuit?
It would blow the fuse and likely trip the circuit breaker as they’re rated for 10amps.
We have fuses are only a requirement for our ring main system though, most countries dont use that.
True.
What happens when a device fails in a non Type G plug country? Does the whole house go off, a portion of it, or just that device?
As I understand it, just a portion. So where we tend to have breakers for something like, downstairs sockets, upstairs sockets, downstairs lights, upstairs lights, cooker etc. they would have it broken down far more granularly so maybe a single room or even multiple breakers for a single room and limited to much lower currents. Like our breakers are for 32 amps generally, theirs might be 16 or lower.
Thank you for answering my curiosity.
I still don’t see how that would be better than fused plugs where only the device will go off, even if it was more granular I wouldn’t want the whole room to cut off just because one thing failed. I’m not an electrician so obviously don’t know the intricacies of it all, just every time I’ve seen plugs discussed ours are top.
They are extremely sturdy and safe, but they are too large and unwieldy. Infinitely better than the schuko plug though. No idea what kind of insane people thought a circular plug that has to be plugged in one direction a good idea. Always fun to spin around your plug hoping your prongs are lined up.
a circular plug that has to be plugged in one direction
Two directions since it’s reversible, unlike Type G. Also the guides on the left and right help a lot with alignment. But none of these are perfect, really. If Type L was recessed and had shorter prongs then maybe…
Or just standardize USB-AC.
Type B has definitely seen some shit. And type K stands for kute I’d guess?
Type B seen some shit, and it is probably Type-I’s fault. Regardless, I want whatever life strategy Type-K’s figured out.
I sometimes wonder if other parts of the world label their local specification as Type A.
The Chad Type-G.
Where’s the weirs tri-pin 240V one for US?
What do you mean? A twist-lock
Something like this.
Why are there so many that lay flat with prongs up???
Because when it’s plugged in (as it usually is) it lays closer to the wall and needs less clearance.
oh that? that is so you can learn a lesson
I’ve never known any of these to be identified by letters. Where I am in North America, I tend to refer to receptacles by their NEMA code.
The plug design from my country looks elegant and rational, all the rest are koo-koo-krazy-town.
– everyone
Type I best. I don’t have anything to back that up but also it does stay in pretty good and it’s my one so yeah
Thankfully Tom Scott can tell us which one is best:
People in the continental Europe: “Fine. We concede the British plug is a Truly Worthy Adversary to the one true plug, Schuko (Type F).”
I like when I go to some hotels and they have “international sockets” - basically the bastard child of all these sockets.
Also called a fire and electrocution hazard.
Tom’s got every right to be proud for the British plug. It’s super over engineered and a love it.
…until you step on one due to its flat back and split your head open on a coffee table.
They are worse than Lego on the floor.
Type G right? Those are our counties plugs and every time I’ve watched videos people love all the safety features.
Indeed!
Type B: °⌓°
It’s the saddest because it’s the safest.
It’s definitely not the safest
It’s even almost the least safe. Topped only by type A.
so that is more likely a face of “oh the horrors I have seen”
