France mains sockets

If you are talking about a shaver plug then there is a difference in both pin diameter and pin spacing to a European two pin plug. I think a shaver plug has slightly smaller diameter pins which would explain the reason it fell out of a normal socket.

Not sure, but in Italy some years ago (medium sized town) my shaver plug wouldn't fit the hotel socket. I don't think Europe is quite as uniform as we expect.

I think the diameter of the pins on the 2-plug is smaller than the diameter of the power pins on the 3-pin, and they're slightly further apart, so although a 2-pin plug will connect to a 3-pin socket it might not grip so well. Is that possible?

nib

Le 31/07/2024 à 14:54, Joe a écrit :

Speculating: maybe because the UK was part of the EU until a couple of minutes ago and you would have never (God forbid!) let the vile Euros dictate what kind of plugs we should have in our glorious country?

Le 31/07/2024 à 15:23, Joe a écrit :

Full sockets for just about everything are totally normal in the EU, at least Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.

My understanding is that a Europlug (as used on non-UK shavers) is designed to fit Schuko and other plug types across Europe (except UK). The pins are angled inwards to compensate for the smaller diameter.

See above. The pins are angled inwards to overcome this problem.

Full sockets? You mean ones with spaghetti stuffed in them?

I see Types E and F (Schuko) can be used in France. Which is dominant and is one standard used for new installations?

Why is Type D 6 amps if it is based on a British 5 amp plug?

As I recall, and I haven't seen one for a while, the pins of a '5A' plug would take considerably more than 5 Amps. The design of the socket and the wire terminations would be a limiting factor, and I would expect better designs to handle a lot more than 5 Amps.

A very simple socket design might only make contact in three or four small areas, almost points. I recall years ago seeing a socket design using many thin rods in a cage arrangement with the ends of the cage twisted slightly, giving many sprung points of contact with a round pin.

I think the name "MK" came from "Multi-Kontact"

France isn't even uniform with itself. Having fitted sockets in a house in France, I have seen 2-gang sockets that are mirror images of each other, but connected by 3 stright bars - so live and neutral are reversed between the two sockets.

You certainly wouldn't want the UK 13A plug and socket, with its multiple safety features, replaced by some of the crappy stuff used in Europe. Not that long ago, when staying in my parents' house in France, we had to take covers that my father had made, as all the sockets were unshuttered and we had three children aged 9 months to 4-1/2 years.

When I worked in Joburg, My German boss had equipped his house and the factory will all German style sockets. S Africa normally uses 15A round pin type.

I had a bunch of kit on UK 13A so I used a UK extension with a German plug on the end.

Can't you buy covers in the shops or online just as you can buy similar covers in the UK? I'm sure Mothercare had them. There used to be a guy on this group who argued that the covers (in the UK context) were less safe than the sockets themselves.

Could we re-rate our 13 amp plugs to 16 amps for consistency with continental equipment designed for Schuko sockets? Could a compatible

Some 13 amp plug/socket combinations get worryingly warm even on 10 amps for a long time. Experience from using a 13A-plug-in EV charger before I got the proper wall box.

nib

Me mums Hoover Keymatic washing machine eventually destroyed its plug and the 13A socket it was plugged into. some part melted. some parts charred.

Oh, the 1970s....