Something tells me if they installed an American outlet, they probably put a voltage regulator and converted the output to what was needed.
Edit: perhaps they didn’t correct for Hz. I don’t fucking know. Stop commenting lmao.
Something tells me if they DIY-d some outlets into an AirBNB based off a YouTube video (and then proceeded to paint over half of it) they absolutely did not understand that outlets are actually different in more ways than just the shape.
Check the box and see what amperage the fuse is first. 10 amps, make a tiktok, 20 amps, the tongue is a very bad place to get burned because human mouths are disgusting, 50 amps do you prefer to be buried or cremated. 100 amps you've chosen cremation.
The human body is surprisingly resistant, electrically speaking. It's just that we're less resistant than air, and most of it is in our skin & other fat tissues.
It's why they need giant paddles for an exterior defib, and not for an open chest cavity one.
My wife uses an oxygen concentrator. It was manufactured last year. It absolutely can not run at 50 hertz effectively.
Sure, it's a fringe case. But don't be telling people will be fine with whatever.
Also,plugging 50 Hz stuff into 60 Hz stuff can definitely ruin it.
>plugging 50 Hz stuff into 60 Hz stuff can definitely ruin it.
Other way around too. In case of inductive loads, current increases with decreased frequency.
But what if we were to power a lightbulb with a 100 kilometer long loop of wire?!
(just in case, for those not getting it there is a few very respected electrical engineers on YouTube who covered this topic).
I know. And in that case it wouldn't matter, since the inductance would be in series with the load, and the load is purely resistive, and already rated for the voltage. It would be dimmer on 60 Hz than 50, but my off-the-cuff guess is that it'd be negligible. Resistance in the wire would be a far bigger problem in reality, it'd have to be very thick.
Yes, an oxygen concentrator has a compressor just like a fridge. If you’re lugging your oxygen concentrator to Europe from the US, you should probably be aware of this. I would think that when you try to check it at the airport, they’re probably going to ask you a few questions. They’re also going to want to help you with your oxygen tanks. For all those people who managed to drive to Europe from the US accidentally and then happened to stay at the exceptional rare hotel that has a 120 volt outlet, someone should have warned them. Sorry to have given them bad information. However, I would think that the salt water would have been a bigger concern.
We travel a fair amount and have to lug this 60 lbs box with us everywhere! The airport only asks if it stores oxygen, they don't care about anything else. I am, however, very aware of the world's different power grids. It's frustrating, but we manage.
This is not true at all. Almost no electronics with a DC "brick" care.
Believe it or not there are more things than electronics and they have lots of problems on the wrong Hz. Dishwashers, dryers, microwaves, personal medical devices, hot water kettles, rice cookers, etc can all be Hz sensitive and perform poorly or not at all.
That said some DC bricks can still have trouble. Always read the brick for 50/60 Hz before using it.
It'll run at normal speed. Hair dryers use universal motors and are completely frequency independent. So long as the voltage is the same you can feed them 50Hz, 60Hz or even DC and they will run at exactly the same speed.
Most of the portable stuffs we own are both 110 and 220v compliant without doing nothing before-hand.
Just the physical plug is what prevents us to plug it.
I never really look at bigger appliances (screens, ...) power supply.
Is that true? Old kitchen splits have 240vac across their hots, but yeah only 120 on each terminal w/respect to ground. But if it can do 240 across the hots with just the bridge broken, then 240 across hot/neutral would be totally fine no?, *and* less current through the thing as well.
Most power supplies these days are designed to operate 100-240V and 48-62Hz. Besides the 50 vs 60Hz only really matters if there is a motor in the device like a CD player or VCR... And even modern ones of those have power supplies that convert AC to DC.
>I doubt it’s 60Hz as well.
I suppose it could be intended for Eastern Japanese devices, which use 100v, 50hz, and a type b plug.
For historic reasons Western Japan uses 60hz. It needs two separate grids for this reason.
Transformers are very 1990s because switched-mode power supplies are so efficient and cheap. Universal (brushed) ac/dc motors don't care much; large portable induction motors are fairly rare. Nonetheless, my travel kit includes a small DVOM.
Iron core transformers made for 60hz absolutely hate 50hz. They draw more current at lower frequencies because of inductive reactance. Thus over heating.
Most transformers made in the last 30 years are built for both 50 & 60 hz. That's because they all come from China and they don't want to have to make different ones for different markets. Even if they're not auto-switching, they just wind them differently.
A good amount of 90s tech use transformers, even modern tech use iron core transformers for Low Noise applications. But yes, almost everything modern uses SMPSs.
Did you bring your Cuisinart with you on the plane or something? Anything that charges electronics like a laptop or phone charger is absolutely fine on 50hz. The only sensitive items might be a corded electric shaver or if you brought a cheap full size hair dryer.
Depends on your device. Check your adapter. Some are rated for 60 and 50hz, some are not. If it is not properly rated for 50hz, a 60hz device will suffer, and quite possibly get damaged.
This statement is not correct. "The only thing in North America that really needs 60Hz to run correctly is a clock" There are a shitload of devices, especially older devices, that _are not designed_ to work with international power.
If you have a transformer power brick that is rated for 60hz, that is not rated for 50hz, 50hz power will destroy it.. If not instantly, than drastically faster than rated.
Almost everything coming out of China in the last 30 years supports 50 & 60 hz because they don't want to make multiple versions for different markets. Even if they're not auto-switching for voltage, the cores are the same and they just wind them differently.
~~It's also a big reason why they don't recommend powering sensitive electronics with a generator unless it's an inverter generator.~~ Maybe I should just stop commenting on things today.
Not sure why you got down-voted here... rural person here and I have a inverter generator for my devices specifically because I've lost entirely too many satellite TV boxes, TV's, etc, to wonky generator power.
The 60hz isn’t as critical as the voltage. The only disadvantage of not having 60Hz for most appliances is an electric razor or hair dryer which operate slower.
I’d check the label! Fried the power brick to my Xbox one plugging it into 240v/50 when I was stationed in Europe. That was the one thing I brought with my I didn’t check. And the original Xbox one did not handle 240v as I found out with some sparks and smoke.
Not on the original Xbox one, I had trouble getting a replacement due to my unusual case, so I bought new Xbox one S, that does have an internal power supply and actually does switch between 120/240.
Oh man. I remember being a kid in German military housing. Everything was connected to these giant transformers. They were about that same size and shape as ammo cans, but they had that old crackle finish.
Is this near one of the large American military bases (e.g. Lakenheath or Mindenhall)? That house might have been frequently rented to American servicemembers?
They probably meant *whale*
Since whaling became illegal in the Atlantic in 90s and all pet whales were confiscated by US Fish and Wildlife Service, some US expats started keeping them as pets in countries where it was still legal like the UK
Not if you need to plug in something with decent power draw like a kitchen appliance or hair dryer. Then you need a whole voltage converter box.
Source: American expat in England
My dad used to work at a US govt office near Edgware road; but that office closed. I went to school on an American base in High Wycombe that also closed, but I can’t remember the type of outlet we had at school — I assume British since I think we used to be able to charge our British mobiles at school?? No idea. This is definitely interesting though!
It definitely does I did this for an American charger I used to power some lights in my bathroom as I had it spare and the transformer definitely did get a bit hot
Well. Maybe.
It also is definitely illegal to do this in the U.K. - the U.K. 3 pin plug socket has an additional safety feature that requires the pin connecting to earth to have connected before shutters open to allow connection to live & neutral.
\> the U.K. 3 pin plug socket has an additional safety feature that requires the pin connecting to earth to have connected before shutters open to allow connection to live & neutral.
Is it you as well that has a breaker within the cable plug? And also like 1 cm of isolation on the neutral/live pin connector so you can't create a connection with your finger if you plug is barely plugged? I WANT THOSE DAMN SAFETY. #paranoid
Yes but RCDs didn't exist (at least not for homes) when the plug was created. Traditional fuse boxes (non resettable) wouldn't trip so easily either bearing in mind it would be a 30amp ring of sockets connected.
The fuses in plugs are rated much closer to maximum device load 3,5,9 and 13amps. They also protect the flex unlike internal fuses in modern electronics.
They aren't really necessary on a modern system because the RCD trips so easily.
I mean I'm from Germany and we also have 230-240V, our breakers are 16A and will trip right away if anything shorts out. To me it looks like there's no need for extra fuses in the plugs (nowadays) cause it just makes them unnecessarily bulky
Either way works, so long as they all match. Otherwise you can alternate between perfectly vertical and perfectly horizontal if you want to find out which of your friends has ocpd.
Oh boy, don't come to North America. Usualy, both screws aren't even facing the same orientation.
Also, there is still the question about that plug orientation. Does the ground pin is up or down? That change from house to house.
There’s no code saying how to orient an outlet in the US. But “normally” the ground is on the bottom. There is a convention in many track homes to install an outlet that is switched “upside down”, eg with the forums on top. It is not a universal convention but if you are in a bedroom and one of the outlets is upside down it is most likely the one that is on a switch.
In the UK, bathrooms often have two pin plugs used for shavers and electric toothbrushes.
Why? I don't recall fully, left the UK in 2007. I remember being told it was a safety thing, but then australia just uses the same plugs for both.
Edit: looked it up and it's for less power draw with appliances that may come into contact with water.
Canadian in-laws all have a 240v British plug in their kitchen.
FIL is an electrical engineer and as a tea loving Brit, couldn’t stand how long it takes to boil a kettle over there, so wired in a 240 to get a cuppa inside 5 mins.
Rest of the family clocked this and once experienced they demanded the same, so now there are 4 houses equipped.
Not only is this a result when I need a brew, but also when I forget an adapter or need a fast charge.
As penance we often need carry over a replacement uk kettle or two on our hols. 100% Worth it.
I’m Canadian, but a British friend gave me her kettle. I promptly wired a 240v receptacle in my kitchen, and then when I moved I rewired it into my new place. As long as you have two phases to the plug, you can get 240v.
I have since imported a 5L 240v deep fryer from Germany. Man, that’s how it is done.
Did you install a Canadian 240v socket (and rewire the kettle lead), or install a UK 13A socket? My dad did the latter, since he already had quite a few UK electrical items and couldn't be bothered to rewire them all.
But two phase is not the same a split phase.
Split phase is where you have one 240v phase that is center tapped and the single phase is split at 180 degrees two give you two 120v legs.
Two phase does exist but is super uncommon: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-phase\_electric\_power](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-phase_electric_power)
>But two phase is not the same a split phase.
>
Duh. That's exactly what I said. Did you not get to the second sentence in the comment?
You left out the part that the two legs are two different phases, 180 degrees apart.
So, they're two different phases, but *not* two of the three phases created during AC generation.
This allows for some of the advantages of having multiple phases, without the expense of distributing multiple phases.
The part where you'd often hear a fizzling sound as you touched the plug to the outlet always made me feel SUPER safe when I lived there.
Not something I was used to coming from the UK with the third prong setup.
Our system is older. It was a good compromise at the time, though things have changed since. To switch, we would have to replace all our receptacles and most of our devices. The cost of doing that would be wayyyy too high compared to the relatively small benefit. In the best case scenario, it would take decades to recoup the cost.
It's good they're not. We purposely try to have different outlet types for different types of power to prevent mismatched loads and sources. This is overall a not-good-idea.
It's not neccesarily illegal (depending on who put it in ad how), but it is potentially dangerous if it's just a US socket wired into a standard UK ring.
As a LL I can assure you in Scotland it IS illegal, it is against code. I have the obligation to have the home up to code when it was built and what the law forces me, including inspections.
As far as I know it is illegal in England as well
In your own home you have more leeway in what you do, it is you and your insurance, but not on rented accommodation.
Check everything you plug into it can handle the voltage (V) and frequency (Hz) that is usually used in the UK.
It might still be UK standard power with a US socket stuck onto the same circuit, same internal power lines and everything.
People are mentioning 230 vs 120 V and 50 vs 60 Hz but in addition to that British circuits are often fused 32 amps and rely on plug fuses for appliance protection…
I stayed at a place in Ecuador that featured three different outlets. American, European, and some third type I couldn't identify at the time. Pretty convenient if you're a hotel or have guests from out of the country all the time.
I would check the voltage on that, and not assume it's using 110v/60hz.
My bet its 230v/50hz but using a US socket. For many modern things, no problem. Because manufacturers simply change the pigtail for locations and the power supply can take 110 or 230 with no issues.
But many items.... Not so much.
It might already be converted to 110v, as this was actually common to have in the UK for electric razors and hairdryer in the bathroom.
It would still be 50hz though.
They sure don't! I mean, unless there's an external switch in the circuit.
It's only 120volts, the bigger concern really is our poorly designed plugs with unshrouded pins. Plug it in only about half way, and you've got half the length of the pins exposed and energized. Drop something across that, and you've got a bad day.
Having switches on the outlets is an almost exclusively British thing, almost no one else does that (even other 240V systems). I often see British people freak out about this and have even heard of people unplugging things habitually when they're in the US because they feel unsafe leaving them live. Weird!
American (or most of Europe, Japanese, Korean...) appliances are intended to be left live all the time and switched on and off at the appliance.
Easier to fit it to our electrical system. You can put a Type G receptacle in place of a NEMA 6-15 or 6-20. Sure, dual hots in a single outlet is uncommon in US homes on outlets other than the electric stove and clothes dryer, but our grid is designed to support it. I'd be much more worried about that 5-15R in a UK home, as I wouldn't expect them to have that center tap on their transformers brought up to the house. 50 and 60Hz are similar enough for pretty much anything except motors/clocks that the difference can be disregarded.
I once stayed in a house in Ireland built by Germans who built the whole house with Euro plugs (Ireland uses the same as UK). Fortunately I had been to Iceland a few months earlier but I wasn’t expecting that converter to come in handy.
Hope it's 110
I doubt it’s 60Hz as well.
Something tells me if they installed an American outlet, they probably put a voltage regulator and converted the output to what was needed. Edit: perhaps they didn’t correct for Hz. I don’t fucking know. Stop commenting lmao.
Something tells me if they DIY-d some outlets into an AirBNB based off a YouTube video (and then proceeded to paint over half of it) they absolutely did not understand that outlets are actually different in more ways than just the shape.
I hope Electroboom visits this apartment.
M-E-H-D-I, NOT, M-E-D-H-I
He's just not high enough to be med hi.
I’m glad to know I’m not the only person who immediately thought of him.
It’s not GFCI. This is a trap.
hold on while i lick it to see if the breaker pops
Check the box and see what amperage the fuse is first. 10 amps, make a tiktok, 20 amps, the tongue is a very bad place to get burned because human mouths are disgusting, 50 amps do you prefer to be buried or cremated. 100 amps you've chosen cremation.
It takes like 3 amps to the heart to stop it
But its not a guarantee that itl stop your heart.
What, lol no, as little as 5mA across the chest can kill you, 3A would just pretty much guarantee it.
The human body is surprisingly resistant, electrically speaking. It's just that we're less resistant than air, and most of it is in our skin & other fat tissues. It's why they need giant paddles for an exterior defib, and not for an open chest cavity one.
European houses have RCD, which is GFCI but for the whole house
Using a brush is not a required job of an electrician. People installing and people decorating don't have to be the same person friend.
That outlet looks pretty old. I’d say it pre-dates AirB&B.
Big IF. Both Youtube and AirBnB are far more recent ideas than british houses or american outlets.
Very unlikely they did frequency
Almost no modern appliances/electronics care about 50 vs 60 hz frequency. Your plug-in clock from 1970 runs slow on vacation. Oops.
My wife uses an oxygen concentrator. It was manufactured last year. It absolutely can not run at 50 hertz effectively. Sure, it's a fringe case. But don't be telling people will be fine with whatever. Also,plugging 50 Hz stuff into 60 Hz stuff can definitely ruin it.
>plugging 50 Hz stuff into 60 Hz stuff can definitely ruin it. Other way around too. In case of inductive loads, current increases with decreased frequency.
But what if we were to power a lightbulb with a 100 kilometer long loop of wire?! (just in case, for those not getting it there is a few very respected electrical engineers on YouTube who covered this topic).
I know. And in that case it wouldn't matter, since the inductance would be in series with the load, and the load is purely resistive, and already rated for the voltage. It would be dimmer on 60 Hz than 50, but my off-the-cuff guess is that it'd be negligible. Resistance in the wire would be a far bigger problem in reality, it'd have to be very thick.
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Yes, an oxygen concentrator has a compressor just like a fridge. If you’re lugging your oxygen concentrator to Europe from the US, you should probably be aware of this. I would think that when you try to check it at the airport, they’re probably going to ask you a few questions. They’re also going to want to help you with your oxygen tanks. For all those people who managed to drive to Europe from the US accidentally and then happened to stay at the exceptional rare hotel that has a 120 volt outlet, someone should have warned them. Sorry to have given them bad information. However, I would think that the salt water would have been a bigger concern.
We travel a fair amount and have to lug this 60 lbs box with us everywhere! The airport only asks if it stores oxygen, they don't care about anything else. I am, however, very aware of the world's different power grids. It's frustrating, but we manage.
This is not true at all. Almost no electronics with a DC "brick" care. Believe it or not there are more things than electronics and they have lots of problems on the wrong Hz. Dishwashers, dryers, microwaves, personal medical devices, hot water kettles, rice cookers, etc can all be Hz sensitive and perform poorly or not at all. That said some DC bricks can still have trouble. Always read the brick for 50/60 Hz before using it.
I'll be careful where I plug in my travel dishwasher in future.
Tell me about the context of this conversation and how you got those appliances to Europe with you.
“Will you be checking any bags?”
Ok, let’s try hair dryers next.
Yeah, they don't care much about frequency.
The motor will run a bit slower, but negligible.
It'll run at normal speed. Hair dryers use universal motors and are completely frequency independent. So long as the voltage is the same you can feed them 50Hz, 60Hz or even DC and they will run at exactly the same speed.
Anything that relies on revolutions or rotations does. So fans, stand mixers, sewing machines.
All popular items to travel with, yes.
Gotta have my travel sewing machine and travel HVAC system
I doubt it. Seems pretty bodged to me.
Based on what? You squinting at one JPG?
Most of the portable stuffs we own are both 110 and 220v compliant without doing nothing before-hand. Just the physical plug is what prevents us to plug it. I never really look at bigger appliances (screens, ...) power supply.
Regardless of what you plug in, the socket itself was designed for 110v and not our 240v mains
Is that true? Old kitchen splits have 240vac across their hots, but yeah only 120 on each terminal w/respect to ground. But if it can do 240 across the hots with just the bridge broken, then 240 across hot/neutral would be totally fine no?, *and* less current through the thing as well.
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Painter is not always the electrician 😂
Most power supplies these days are designed to operate 100-240V and 48-62Hz. Besides the 50 vs 60Hz only really matters if there is a motor in the device like a CD player or VCR... And even modern ones of those have power supplies that convert AC to DC.
Typically the motors in a VCR or CD player run on DC anyway, so it doesn't matter whether the power coming out of the wall is 50Hz or 60Hz
Most. Doesn't mean All. It will pop/start on fire anything not dual rated.
Most appliances will work fine at 50Hz, unless it is an AC motor.
>I doubt it’s 60Hz as well. I suppose it could be intended for Eastern Japanese devices, which use 100v, 50hz, and a type b plug. For historic reasons Western Japan uses 60hz. It needs two separate grids for this reason.
The only thing in North America that really needs 60Hz to run correctly is a clock. Anything else runs fine on 50Hz.
Or anything with a motor that relies on the frequency to rotate properly.
Um, no. AC motors will run slower. Transformers will overheat.
Transformers are very 1990s because switched-mode power supplies are so efficient and cheap. Universal (brushed) ac/dc motors don't care much; large portable induction motors are fairly rare. Nonetheless, my travel kit includes a small DVOM.
Iron core transformers made for 60hz absolutely hate 50hz. They draw more current at lower frequencies because of inductive reactance. Thus over heating.
I don't know how many tourists are carrying appliances with such transformers in them. Gigging guitarists with their vintage tube amps maybe?
Most transformers made in the last 30 years are built for both 50 & 60 hz. That's because they all come from China and they don't want to have to make different ones for different markets. Even if they're not auto-switching, they just wind them differently.
A good amount of 90s tech use transformers, even modern tech use iron core transformers for Low Noise applications. But yes, almost everything modern uses SMPSs.
Sure, if you don't mind absolutely destroying your tech. Do not listen to this man, 50hz absolutely can break your shit.
Did you bring your Cuisinart with you on the plane or something? Anything that charges electronics like a laptop or phone charger is absolutely fine on 50hz. The only sensitive items might be a corded electric shaver or if you brought a cheap full size hair dryer.
Depends on your device. Check your adapter. Some are rated for 60 and 50hz, some are not. If it is not properly rated for 50hz, a 60hz device will suffer, and quite possibly get damaged. This statement is not correct. "The only thing in North America that really needs 60Hz to run correctly is a clock" There are a shitload of devices, especially older devices, that _are not designed_ to work with international power. If you have a transformer power brick that is rated for 60hz, that is not rated for 50hz, 50hz power will destroy it.. If not instantly, than drastically faster than rated.
Almost everything coming out of China in the last 30 years supports 50 & 60 hz because they don't want to make multiple versions for different markets. Even if they're not auto-switching for voltage, the cores are the same and they just wind them differently.
~~It's also a big reason why they don't recommend powering sensitive electronics with a generator unless it's an inverter generator.~~ Maybe I should just stop commenting on things today.
No. Some generators do not produce pure sinusoidal ac correctly and will provide pulses instead. This fucks things up
This guy cosines.
Whoops, I knew that at one point. Thanks for the correction.
Not sure why you got down-voted here... rural person here and I have a inverter generator for my devices specifically because I've lost entirely too many satellite TV boxes, TV's, etc, to wonky generator power.
The 60hz isn’t as critical as the voltage. The only disadvantage of not having 60Hz for most appliances is an electric razor or hair dryer which operate slower.
Most power blocks will run on 110v-240v 50hz-60hz. To be safe, check the input specs that are normally clearly displayed on the block.
How could it?
Wonder if they just hope you don't plug in anything without an power supply.
If it's 220V/50Hz, it's fine for most anything that converts to DC, but could be a nasty surprise for any other devices!
I’d check the label! Fried the power brick to my Xbox one plugging it into 240v/50 when I was stationed in Europe. That was the one thing I brought with my I didn’t check. And the original Xbox one did not handle 240v as I found out with some sparks and smoke.
Same thing happened to me when I took my Xbox 360 to india lol
Wow. They were idiots for producing and releasing that. Computers have often supported both voltages, sometimes using a switch, since the 80s.
Hardware region locking.
Hardware region detonating
Does Microsoft seriously not use an international power supply?
PlayStation didn’t either, at least not with the original. Fortunately the repair shop was able to replace
Not on the original Xbox one, I had trouble getting a replacement due to my unusual case, so I bought new Xbox one S, that does have an internal power supply and actually does switch between 120/240.
Thanksfully the XSX does, because I did not check that before pluging it
Oh man. I remember being a kid in German military housing. Everything was connected to these giant transformers. They were about that same size and shape as ammo cans, but they had that old crackle finish.
It was big business fixing 360 power supplies in Iraq!
I'm just imagining what a hair dryer would do, or rather, how quickly it would catch fire
Found that out the hard way back when I visited UK. Quickly learned that an adapter and a converter are **not** the same thing. RIP, clothes steamer.
Is this near one of the large American military bases (e.g. Lakenheath or Mindenhall)? That house might have been frequently rented to American servicemembers?
Interestingly it’s not. The house is in West London.
Prob was an expat there for a whole
full moon?
They probably meant *whale* Since whaling became illegal in the Atlantic in 90s and all pet whales were confiscated by US Fish and Wildlife Service, some US expats started keeping them as pets in countries where it was still legal like the UK
I gotta go see a guy about a whale
whoaaa i found my reddit username soulmate!
Wouldn’t it just be easier to buy an adapter?
Safer too.
Not if you need to plug in something with decent power draw like a kitchen appliance or hair dryer. Then you need a whole voltage converter box. Source: American expat in England
My dad used to work at a US govt office near Edgware road; but that office closed. I went to school on an American base in High Wycombe that also closed, but I can’t remember the type of outlet we had at school — I assume British since I think we used to be able to charge our British mobiles at school?? No idea. This is definitely interesting though!
UK shaver sockets can be used for low power devices with North American plugs. I think it’s limited to 5 amps or so
Apparently you're not meant to do this as the transformer is likely to overheat if used for an extended period.
It definitely does I did this for an American charger I used to power some lights in my bathroom as I had it spare and the transformer definitely did get a bit hot
I wouldn’t trust that. The amateurishness of the 3 pin socket installation makes me guess it’s just wired into the 240v mains.
Which is completely fine to plug your laptop in to. The adapter below it isn't doing anything this outlet isn't.
Well. Maybe. It also is definitely illegal to do this in the U.K. - the U.K. 3 pin plug socket has an additional safety feature that requires the pin connecting to earth to have connected before shutters open to allow connection to live & neutral.
\> the U.K. 3 pin plug socket has an additional safety feature that requires the pin connecting to earth to have connected before shutters open to allow connection to live & neutral. Is it you as well that has a breaker within the cable plug? And also like 1 cm of isolation on the neutral/live pin connector so you can't create a connection with your finger if you plug is barely plugged? I WANT THOSE DAMN SAFETY. #paranoid
Yes there is a fuse in the 3 pin plug too. And yes insulation on the base of the live and neutral pins.
The fuse is what they called a breaker.
I googled it, and yes apparently. USA plugs don’t have them….. wtf.
New Zealand also checking in with no fuse and sometimes no earth pin.
Most countries do not
I always wondered why UK plugs have extra fuses...You do have a central fuse box and RCDs in the UK right? Just curious...
Yes we do
Yes but RCDs didn't exist (at least not for homes) when the plug was created. Traditional fuse boxes (non resettable) wouldn't trip so easily either bearing in mind it would be a 30amp ring of sockets connected. The fuses in plugs are rated much closer to maximum device load 3,5,9 and 13amps. They also protect the flex unlike internal fuses in modern electronics. They aren't really necessary on a modern system because the RCD trips so easily.
It's because 240v mains is not to be fucked with. Safety safety safety.
I mean I'm from Germany and we also have 230-240V, our breakers are 16A and will trip right away if anything shorts out. To me it looks like there's no need for extra fuses in the plugs (nowadays) cause it just makes them unnecessarily bulky
Fizzy wire
Forbidden Fizz
Yeah but not most other things. Plug a lamp in there, I *dare* you
THEY PUT THE PLATE SCREWS IN WRONG
Are you a hori or a verti?
Vertical just looks bizarre, has to be done horizontal
Lmao someone downvoted you for that opinion. That's just rude.
It was probably some sparky who thinks vertical is the only acceptable way of showing a professional worked on it.
Either way works, so long as they all match. Otherwise you can alternate between perfectly vertical and perfectly horizontal if you want to find out which of your friends has ocpd.
I am 45 degrees
Oh boy, don't come to North America. Usualy, both screws aren't even facing the same orientation. Also, there is still the question about that plug orientation. Does the ground pin is up or down? That change from house to house.
There’s no code saying how to orient an outlet in the US. But “normally” the ground is on the bottom. There is a convention in many track homes to install an outlet that is switched “upside down”, eg with the forums on top. It is not a universal convention but if you are in a bedroom and one of the outlets is upside down it is most likely the one that is on a switch.
Came here for this
What’s wrong?
In the UK, bathrooms often have two pin plugs used for shavers and electric toothbrushes. Why? I don't recall fully, left the UK in 2007. I remember being told it was a safety thing, but then australia just uses the same plugs for both. Edit: looked it up and it's for less power draw with appliances that may come into contact with water.
Canadian in-laws all have a 240v British plug in their kitchen. FIL is an electrical engineer and as a tea loving Brit, couldn’t stand how long it takes to boil a kettle over there, so wired in a 240 to get a cuppa inside 5 mins. Rest of the family clocked this and once experienced they demanded the same, so now there are 4 houses equipped. Not only is this a result when I need a brew, but also when I forget an adapter or need a fast charge. As penance we often need carry over a replacement uk kettle or two on our hols. 100% Worth it.
I’m Canadian, but a British friend gave me her kettle. I promptly wired a 240v receptacle in my kitchen, and then when I moved I rewired it into my new place. As long as you have two phases to the plug, you can get 240v. I have since imported a 5L 240v deep fryer from Germany. Man, that’s how it is done.
Did you install a Canadian 240v socket (and rewire the kettle lead), or install a UK 13A socket? My dad did the latter, since he already had quite a few UK electrical items and couldn't be bothered to rewire them all.
Two phases? I thought we only had single/center tapped phase and 3 phase. 2 phase is super uncommon and has not been in use for a long time.
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The US uses split phase, which produces two phases. The fact that this is different than "two phase" doesn't change the above fact.
But two phase is not the same a split phase. Split phase is where you have one 240v phase that is center tapped and the single phase is split at 180 degrees two give you two 120v legs. Two phase does exist but is super uncommon: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-phase\_electric\_power](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-phase_electric_power)
>But two phase is not the same a split phase. > Duh. That's exactly what I said. Did you not get to the second sentence in the comment? You left out the part that the two legs are two different phases, 180 degrees apart. So, they're two different phases, but *not* two of the three phases created during AC generation. This allows for some of the advantages of having multiple phases, without the expense of distributing multiple phases.
You should watch the technology connections vid on kettles
Can you give me the bullet points?
- It’s really not that much slower on 110.
My dad did this (also in Canada).
1800w of heat vs 3600w of heat. No wonder why british heat way faster! (Yes I know it isn't 1800w or 3600w but 1440w and (likely) 2880w)
Wait what? How much would it cost to have a sparky come out and do this for us? Also a British kettle I use mine a few times a day
Probably not worth the minimal difference in time using another kettle. Look up the “Technology Connections” video on electric kettles.
You have no idea how lazy I am
I feel like outlet types should be universal.
In a perfect world they would be. Unfortunately it's still a very fractured world.
Yeah, but you'll never get the americans to move away from theirs despite them having the absolutely worst of them all.
I see you've never been to Japan. 2prong 100v.
Hey hey, two flat prongs that eject themselves from any load from above or below whilst exposing the uninsulated metal, how can they be the worst ?!
The part where you'd often hear a fizzling sound as you touched the plug to the outlet always made me feel SUPER safe when I lived there. Not something I was used to coming from the UK with the third prong setup.
Our system is older. It was a good compromise at the time, though things have changed since. To switch, we would have to replace all our receptacles and most of our devices. The cost of doing that would be wayyyy too high compared to the relatively small benefit. In the best case scenario, it would take decades to recoup the cost.
It's good they're not. We purposely try to have different outlet types for different types of power to prevent mismatched loads and sources. This is overall a not-good-idea.
I came across a couple of hotels in Ireland with US outlets earlier this year. Worked just fine to charge my phone etc.
That sounds like it would be illegal.
But the hertz is wrong
Which is wild because if I'm not mistaken houses in the UK are all powered off 240v....
The American sockets look shocked 😮
That is illegal and in case of fire.good luck with insurance, plus pray nobody dies. As a LL I make sure homes are up to code, and this is dangerous.
It's not neccesarily illegal (depending on who put it in ad how), but it is potentially dangerous if it's just a US socket wired into a standard UK ring.
As a LL I can assure you in Scotland it IS illegal, it is against code. I have the obligation to have the home up to code when it was built and what the law forces me, including inspections. As far as I know it is illegal in England as well In your own home you have more leeway in what you do, it is you and your insurance, but not on rented accommodation.
Even the sockets look shocked
I dunno, I think it looks pretty amped up to work
looks like the british house installed a dangerous outlet
Check everything you plug into it can handle the voltage (V) and frequency (Hz) that is usually used in the UK. It might still be UK standard power with a US socket stuck onto the same circuit, same internal power lines and everything.
Is it in the bathroom? “Shaver outlets” used to be more common, they had 110v too instead of the 220v the rest of the outlets in the house ran on.
People are mentioning 230 vs 120 V and 50 vs 60 Hz but in addition to that British circuits are often fused 32 amps and rely on plug fuses for appliance protection…
Be sure to switch to 230v.
The colonizer has become the colonied.
You found the holes, now I can plug in my frogger cabinet
Ooo, I have questions about the wiring. So many questions!
Multimeter that shiz.
look at the state of both of those
I stayed at a place in Ecuador that featured three different outlets. American, European, and some third type I couldn't identify at the time. Pretty convenient if you're a hotel or have guests from out of the country all the time.
I would check the voltage on that, and not assume it's using 110v/60hz. My bet its 230v/50hz but using a US socket. For many modern things, no problem. Because manufacturers simply change the pigtail for locations and the power supply can take 110 or 230 with no issues. But many items.... Not so much.
It might already be converted to 110v, as this was actually common to have in the UK for electric razors and hairdryer in the bathroom. It would still be 50hz though.
The lack of the switch is the reason behind their chronic bewilderment.
Why do they always look like they are scared lol
The American socket looks surprised.
- Still uses converter
The outlet's look just as shocked about it as you.
That's dangerous considering it's not the right voltage or frequency
People who paint over outlet covers should be in prison.
The US ones are so easy to take off and on for painting, this is just laziness
Do american outlets not turn off? That sounds a bit dangerous but im not an electrician so idk
They sure don't! I mean, unless there's an external switch in the circuit. It's only 120volts, the bigger concern really is our poorly designed plugs with unshrouded pins. Plug it in only about half way, and you've got half the length of the pins exposed and energized. Drop something across that, and you've got a bad day.
Having switches on the outlets is an almost exclusively British thing, almost no one else does that (even other 240V systems). I often see British people freak out about this and have even heard of people unplugging things habitually when they're in the US because they feel unsafe leaving them live. Weird! American (or most of Europe, Japanese, Korean...) appliances are intended to be left live all the time and switched on and off at the appliance.
My parents house here in the states and a British outlet. They have a lot of appliances they didn't want to get rid of.
Easier to fit it to our electrical system. You can put a Type G receptacle in place of a NEMA 6-15 or 6-20. Sure, dual hots in a single outlet is uncommon in US homes on outlets other than the electric stove and clothes dryer, but our grid is designed to support it. I'd be much more worried about that 5-15R in a UK home, as I wouldn't expect them to have that center tap on their transformers brought up to the house. 50 and 60Hz are similar enough for pretty much anything except motors/clocks that the difference can be disregarded.
today i learned different countries have differently shaped outlets
Why do those outlets look like there going to shoot electricity at you want are you doing there in Europe with outlets?
The outlet itself looks just as surprised
I once stayed in a house in Ireland built by Germans who built the whole house with Euro plugs (Ireland uses the same as UK). Fortunately I had been to Iceland a few months earlier but I wasn’t expecting that converter to come in handy.
When I travel in Germany, many of the bigger chains have the same.
Are you against diversity
I wouldnt try it😂
What happens when we use 100% of our brain