2-pin plug supplied

May 24, 2014 69 Replies

In message , Andrew Gabriel writes

I find that in hotels, razor plugs are often a sloppy fit in shaver 240V sockets (possibly as a result of frequent use by heavy-handed customers), and tend to fall out. The fit in the 120V pair of holes is usually firmer (presumably because one has had much less wear and tear).

The only UK 13A 3-pin male to 2-hole female adapter that I've ever found to provide a really good fit for the plug of any razor I've had was supplied with a cheap Chinese amateur radio hand-held two-way radio (for its wide voltage range, wall wart charger, which has USA blades as pins).

I never saw one which wasn't switched by the socket shutters.

Ones on lights may or may not have an isolating transformer. Only those with isolating transformers can be installed in rooms with a bath or shower.

I was obviously referring to the type with a transformer in the part of my post you snipped. ;-)

For a while a about 30 years ago I did the odd stint as crew on a reasonably old ship. It had undergone a small refit in the early seventies and crew accommodation slightly modernised. The crew wash room had been fitted with a couple of lights with sockets above mirrors at the back of the washbasins ,these lights were supplied with 220 Volt DC . Don't know what possessed the shipyard to put them in with sockets. As far as I remember no one ever used them, I remember getting a painful belt of the main light switch when a salty wet hand dripped a little too much on it and another crew member fried his radio by plugging it into a cabin socket. The cabin sockets were 5 amp round pin type. They were labeled 220 DC but this crew member wasn't that bright unlike the innards of his radio.

G.Harman

I got this with my UV-5R

formatting link

The supplied charger has euro pins

formatting link

But beware, the adapter has no fuse

formatting link
So plug it directly in to a 32A fused final circuit at your peril!

I bet your adapter is likewise unused. It would be illegal to sell in the UK.

PS I don't trust the S.M PSU either, it's plugged into an adapter fused at 3A just in case.

Excellent value radio though.

And even if it was a molded plug on a lead he would have been ill advised to change it. For starters it would invalidate the warrantee.

Because it also buzzed when it was on :( I could of course have switched it elsewhere, outside the safe zones - but it was too much trouble.

Andy

This

formatting link
is a UK two pin adapter.

It is not the same size as european two pin sockets/plugs.

This

formatting link
is a converter for european two pin psus.

They are fused.

I have \oral-B also has only 2 pin, to be honest this is what you would expect them to fit as that is the only type of AC outlet in a bathroom.

So they are being helpful.

The fact you don't have a transformer isolated supply means you have to charge elsewhere, and supply your own adapter.

In message , Graham. writes

Mine's the UV-3R. The adapter's the same as yours, and as I said, the charger PSU has the USA blades (which the adapter will also take). I use it for both the radio charger and for my razor. As you say, there's no fuse, but in normal use, it usually gets plugged into a fused 4-way extension strip - so a 13A fuse is better than none.

All the oral b brushes I've seen have had a mains lead wth a plug on.

NT

I;ve never encountered anyone try to dodge a warranty claim by saying fitting a mains plug invalidates the warranty. If they did I'd be sending them an LBA.

NT

Me neither, but it's tempting.

Yeah, I realised the bad expression as soon as I had posted that, but reckoned that any attempt to explain it would only just dig me deeper and deeper, so I just let it go.

Esp given that that is where yo are most likely to use said razor and toothbrush.

But it's not like they need charging every day. If they do, and it's convenient to use the shaver socket to charge them because that's where you use them, why not just get the mains version and save a load of money?

Do mains electric toothbrushes exist? Even mains shavers are pretty rare now, and only the bottom-end models.

-- Richard

Might be a problem for some really dodgy US razor kit that is made down to a minimum price and will only be safe at under 150v and 60Hz.

Although for many of them that have the charger built into a thickened plug and designed primarily for the continental market not to keep the damn thing from falling out again when you remove your hand.

You can buy continental socket adaptors to work with them or adaptors that take a two pin plug and turn it into a three pin.

You have an automatic and manual wife sounds likie two much trouble ;-)

When my electric toothbrush runs out of power I continue to use it, but it just takes a little longer, I've found a 10-15min charge time is just enough for a 2min clean which is the 2nd option if I have the time.

Join the Discussion

Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.

Didn't find your answer?

Ask the community — no account required