Video: UK Folding Plug concept could flatten that bulky British adapter

[3NZ0]

LOL

And the prize for Biggest Nationalist Bias goes to..

How dare I post my opinion on a plug. Better round up the firing squad.

I'm simply stating what I found over the years of staying in a variety of European hotels.

[Kai Robinson]

Whats wrong with Separate taps? I hate mixer taps.

Also, not all bathrooms have carpet. And i've never discovered any house with water pipes on the outside...

[soundood]

Say for whatever reason the device starts drawing 25 amps, like someone stuck a piece of metal in the fuse holder because it blew a fuse and they didn't have one to replace it with(stuff like this is not all that uncommon, unfortunately). Not enough current to trip the ring circuit breaker, but enough to potentially cause a fire hazard? Yes unlikely, impossible? No.

ok your clutching at straws now, heres one for your american system, what if a guy fals over and hits a tree, and in that tree there is a paperclip, and that then falls from the tree and cuts the main power, causing a short, that then catches fire,.........

we can all deal with hypotheticals, the reality excists, but for the most chance has very little chance of happening

[[XC] Lead Head]

The point is, your system has the capability of both potentially overloading the wire going to each socket(if a connection one end fails), and if you use wire thick enough to support the maximum current the breaker can deliver, then any advantage of ring system is null, then ontop of that, you have the potential ability to overload each individual socket. It would just take some unfused device to draw more then 13 amps and you have a fire hazard. The only advantage the ring system has is costs savings - and the safety trade off is not worth it IMO.

[3NZ0]

The point is, your system has the capability of both potentially overloading the wire going to each socket(if a connection one end fails), and if you use wire thick enough to support the maximum current the breaker can deliver, then any advantage of ring system is null, then ontop of that, you have the potential ability to overload each individual socket. It would just take some unfused device to draw more then 13 amps and you have a fire hazard. The only advantage the ring system has is costs savings - and the safety trade off is not worth it IMO.

If you don't fuse the plug then anything you do is your own damm fault. The system is there and it works. If anyone is too cheap to spend 10p on a pack of fuses and burn their house down for whatever reason then good luck to them trying to claim that on insurance. If they have any though, is another matter.

It's seems you can't give the ring main system any credit for what it's worth, if it's set up properly then it works and saves your whole ring main from tripping if there is a problem with one device. Even if that were to fail there is the main circuit breaker and the ring breakers so almost every situation is covered. The few that aren't will only arise out of user stupidity.

[Pudi]

Whats wrong with Separate taps? I hate mixer taps.

Kai please I'm begging you explain this to me, why separate taps (in your opinion) are better than mixer ones?

[[XC] MarioMaster]

If you don't fuse the plug then anything you do is your own damm fault. The system is there and it works. If anyone is too cheap to spend 10p on a pack of fuses and burn their house down for whatever reason then good luck to them trying to claim that on insurance. If they have any though, is another matter.

It's seems you can't give the ring main system any credit for what it's worth, if it's set up properly then it works and saves your whole ring main from tripping if there is a problem with one device. Even if that were to fail there is the main circuit breaker and the ring breakers so almost every situation is covered. The few that aren't will only arise out of user stupidity.

You underestimate human stupidity. Give the ring system credit? Why does it deserve any - the only thing it has going for it is lower cost. People DO replace fuses with any conductive item they can get their hands on - it happens. No, it's not covered by their insurance.

And now you're telling me that the main circuit breaker is going to come into play? Unless you seriously short something bigtime, you're not gonna trip a 100A/200A breaker from a crappy appliance that malfunctioned. Even the ring breakers at 32/50A are not likely to trip from shorts on small appliances.

The breakers don't trip from small shorts due to their requirement of supplying power to many outlets and devices. Branch circuits in the US require the breaker to be the same size or smaller than the amp rating of the outlets it is connected to. This way no matter what goes wrong, no matter what is connected how, no matter how stupid people are, the outlets cannot be overloaded.


And I'm not saying the ring system doesn't work, it obviously does. But the branch system by design is safer with less areas for problems to develop.

[Kai Robinson]

Kai please I'm begging you explain this to me, why separate taps (in your opinion) are better than mixer ones?

Simpler design, plus, a mixer tap would look ugly on any of my sinks.

This is what i just bought for my bathroom sink:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/72572/...asin-Taps-Pair

[STEvil]

Also for the record the pictured plug that you quoted as being steel is not steel, it is zinc plated. The AC plugs on all modern devices are also different sizes so they cannot be plugged in "backwards"... easily.

Both systems have flaws.

[berk]

You can have a single mixer tap in the UK,what's the beef?
Outside taps that freeze? Well there are outside taps at some homes,especially farmhouses, but it's not a 'standard',and its not as if its freezing ALL the time?
Carpets in the bathroom getting mouldy? Never came across it,never.

[largon]

How about the UK changed to the same standard that the rest of europe is adopting

Imagine if all the world was 240V, 50Hz, same plugs as the majority uses. How much time and resources it would save. Simplicity and standards ftw.

+1

And, add to that, UK should move to right sided traffic & cars with left side driver.

European plugs are terrible, they come out of the sockets if you breathe on them.

Sorry, you clearly don't know what you're talking about.
I haven't had such problems with standard Schuko or Europlugs for a quarter of a century now. Haven't had literally any problems with our power plugs. Seems like UK plugs do have problems, though.

It's a good plan that could be easily improved by the rest of the world changing to the UK's (clearly superior) standard.

How is more complicated somehow "superior"?

[inCore]

Let's all use the Swiss one:



Image from here.

Let's refrain from saying "European plugs". And also, if the only argument for two taps is aesthetic value, have a look at this:

http://www.bornrich.org/entry/10-bes...ng-out-luxury/

[Bootup05]

I don't get it where the concern is.

In my house (Just checked) (I have an old fuse box from Milex)

All 13A sockets are on a 15A fused ring main. All supplying current via 24A 2.5mm Twin & Earth.

5A (Lighting)
15A (Ring mains)
30A (1 Ring) Cooker & Hob

If a fuse blows in a plug anywhere that appliance will automatically turn off.
If a fuse blows in a (fused) socket anywhere any appliance on that socket will turn off, the rest of the ring main will continue working.
If for any reason a or any number of sockets try to pull more than 13A, it'll reach 15A and blow that ring's circuit breaker in the main fuse , which is nowhere near dangerous when our 2.5mm T&E cable can carry 24A.

Where is the problem?

[largon]

inCore,
I don't get the concept on that 3-prong swiss plug - having the safety gnd to be parallel to the actual ground is not optimal. Safety ground should always have contact first before the two others. Like on 3-contact Schuko which is a standard over here.

[Jamesrt2004]

Whats wrong with Separate taps? I hate mixer taps.

Also, not all bathrooms have carpet. And i've never discovered any house with water pipes on the outside...

yeah separate taps ftw!

and I think he meant the waste pipes!

[Mats]

Simpler design, plus, a mixer tap would look ugly on any of my sinks.

You prefer design, I prefer function. And I talk about USING it and nothing else like installing, repairing or looking at it.
I wash the hands directly under the tap, you have to take a hand bath every time you use it.
I just open the tap to use it, you have to set the temp every time.

[3NZ0]

*anti UK post*

Sorry, your whole post is anti UK and pro your own, mixed with the fact you tell me my own experiences are wrong. There clearly is no point replying to a troll post.

[Tony]

Branch systems suffer from increased voltage drop and need larger conductors, 32A ring mains allow for more outlets per ring, lower voltage drop and more even load carrying. The ONLY thing i would change is remove centre tapping of the Neutral to earth on the substation star transformers and run RCD protection on all circuits with the consumer having their own dedicated earthing system installed purely to look after the RCD monitoring.
This would remove the earth fault loop and the issues associated with it.

Double insulated appliances take away the need for the earth conductor in power cords, and double insulated light fittings take away the need for earthing systems on light fittings.

Fusing the plug looks after the power cord, and stops fires....hence it is a good idea, it also allows for smaller power cords to be fitted to larger supply circuits without worry.

The UK did consider a move to EU socket outlets, it was decided to be to large an undertaking.

UK, HK and Australia all use the same socket outlets, as far as i can remember...

Im 10 yrs behind now, so some of what i talked about here may have already happened in the UK, my career path was altered thru illness hence my sparking days are over.

[largon]

Sorry, your whole post is anti UK and pro your own, mixed with the fact you tell me my own experiences are lacking/non-representative. There clearly is no point replying to a troll post.

Haha! "Anti UK?" WHAT are rambling about? We're talking about wall power outlets.

But whatever. Anyways, your experiences are clearly non-representative of the reality when people who use these plugs that "come out of the sockets if you breathe on them" 7 days a week for 365 days a year and most of their life don't see a problem.

[[XC] MarioMaster]

I don't get it where the concern is.

In my house (Just checked) (I have an old fuse box from Milex)

All 13A sockets are on a 15A fused ring main. All supplying current via 24A 2.5mm Twin & Earth.

5A (Lighting)
15A (Ring mains)
30A (1 Ring) Cooker & Hob

If a fuse blows in a plug anywhere that appliance will automatically turn off.
If a fuse blows in a (fused) socket anywhere any appliance on that socket will turn off, the rest of the ring main will continue working.
If for any reason a or any number of sockets try to pull more than 13A, it'll reach 15A and blow that ring's circuit breaker in the main fuse , which is nowhere near dangerous when our 2.5mm T&E cable can carry 24A.

Where is the problem?

Your house seems to have a setup more like the US than typical UK installations. With the smaller breaker sizes yours is much safer.

[Jowy Atreides]

Be very surprised if this took off in a big way. Our plug may be bulky but its one solid piece of kit (as anyone who has stood on one will know)

My poor feet got owned by many a plug!

[Hornet331]

brilliant... lets just make a new socket instead of using a proven and reliable system that most of the european countries use....

even the italiens and greek adapting the Type E/F... oh and the dansih need to get rid of the Type K and the swiss of there damn J...

wonder why the EU didn't do anything about that... well i quess they are to busy to standardize cucumbers and bananas.

[Jowy Atreides]

Oh yeah

unnecessarily obtrusive plugs...... I'm always swimming in them, god knows how I make it to the front door because of this 'problem'


sarc mode off, not country limited


...still can't change a fuse in it :p

[Kai Robinson]

Your house seems to have a setup more like the US than typical UK installations. With the smaller breaker sizes yours is much safer.

Actually that *is* standard for a house setup in the UK - thats how my house in London worked.

And dont forget, cookers use 3.5mm T&E.