Europe > UK plug rewiring

Hi guys,

I've got some equipment (heater, humidifier) from Austria and need to rewire the plugs > UK format.

Is the procedure thus:

Cut Austrian plug off, rewire the Live and Neutral, ignoring the Earth.

Stick a 13amp in, done.

Is that correct?

Also, will the Euro Live and Neutral be the same colour as UK?

Thanks.

Hi guys,

I've got some equipment (heater, humidifier) from Austria and need to rewire the plugs > UK format.

Is the procedure thus:

Cut Austrian plug off, rewire the Live and Neutral, ignoring the Earth.

Stick a 13amp in, done.

Is that correct?

Also, will the Euro Live and Neutral be the same colour as UK?

Thanks.

When you say "ignoring the earth", do you mean that the appliance does not have an earth conductor? If so, then this is fine. If it does have an earth (yellow/green) then this MUST be connected.

Check the required fusing for the appliance. A 13A would probably be appropriate for a dehumidifier. However, a small one might need a 5A and a large European market one might require 16A, which will require a special circuit in a UK house.

Certainly it should, by law.

Christian.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com contains these words:

Why would you ignore the earth? If there's one you must connect it.

Depends on the device. Use a lower rating fuse if possible. The fuse is there to protect the cable, and if the device wouldn't normally draw more than say, 3amps the cable may not be up to 13amp.

Cable colours should by now be standard across the EU.

Hi guys, thanks for the advice.

When I said "ignoring the earth" I meant that as it is a European device, the earth wire will be missing, hence ignore connecting anything to the earth pin. Is that right? (Roundabout language, but v. tired...)

How would I find out what amp the device runs at?

Thanks once again

European sockets have an earth and it is used by many devices.

Look at the rated power.

If it is between 1000W and 3000W, then use a 13A fuse. If it is 1000W or less, use a 5A fuse. If it is more than 3000W, then it is not suitable for portable use in the UK, without special modifications to your house electrical system.

Christian.

Thankyou gentlemen

Much of the rest of Europe, including Austria, uses the Schuko plug/socket

There is a similar two-pin version with no earth.

At any rate, cut off the plug. You should find brown (live) and blue (neutral) conductors and probably an earth (green/yellow). If there is an earth, then it needs to be connected.

There should be a rating plate on the appliance somewhere with the load in amps or possibly watts/kilowatts.

If it's in watts, divide by 220 and that will give you the nominal current in amps. It's likely to exceed 5A, so a 13A fuse in the plug would be appropriate if so. It may be in any case, because compressor motors have a high starting load and a 13A fuse needed anyway.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@btinternet.com contains these words:

Why will the earth wire be missing? Some Euro devices have an earth! It doesn't always look like it because it's a contact on the side of the plug, but it's still there.

Are you sure you haven't swapped the brown and blue?

Alan

Go and hide in a corner!

Christian.

Best he also checks all his electrical plugs, or better still gets someone who knows what they are talking about to do so...

I always liked the 'old' colours; Green was earth (seemed logical in this green and pleasant land), Red was self-evidently 'Danger!" = Line/Live whilst Black must be neutral by default. The new (seventies) colours translated into Green/yellow (not to far off green); Blue =neutral, United Nations colour (they're supposed to be neutral) and by default Brown must be Line/live. The EEC harmonised colours may be homogenous across trading partners and a multi-national compromise ... but they are not intuitive!

On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 14:59:56 GMT someone who may be "Brian Sharrock" wrote this:-

Is it the EU, the EEC died long ago, that is harmonising the colours? I thought it went further than that, form my vague recollection of the IEE documents of the time.

Do you think that yellow and blue, which also indicated energised conductors under the old system, are more intuitive than black and grey?

IIRC ... 'harmonised colours' were mandatory for portable equipment in the 'seventies' (EEC) and The single Market Act.

IIRC .... . The Electrical Appliances (Colour Code) Regulations 1969 S.I. 1969/310

The treaty setting out the 'European Union' was signed in Maastricht 12 Feb

] Perhaps you should refesh your recollection of the IEE document, paying particular attention to the date of promulgation.

As very few people work on multi-phase wiring within the domestic market your argument is, at best, a strawman.

Schuko plugs: the plug can be inserted into the socket in two ways,

It might be CENELEC, which includes all EU countries, and some others which want to remain compatible for the exchange of goods. This is the case with voltage unification, but I don't know for sure about colour coding.

Also the french/begium plug, which although not reversible, has no defined live and neutral connector. Indeed, in pretty well all two-way adaptors and dual socket outlets, the two sockets are hard-wired the opposite way round.

Also note that in several parts of Europe, neither main conductor is at or near earth potential, so they are both live/hot, and neither is a neutral.