Text 9971, 87 rader
Skriven 2010-08-15 14:58:36 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
     Kommentar till en text av Scott Little (3:712/848)
Ärende: Just Curious
====================
Hello Scott,

On Sunday August 15 2010 09:49, you wrote to me:

 MV>> They connect with a standard 16A plug http://tinyurl.com/23d9ozl

 SL> Are all your wall sockets 16A, or just your laundry ones?

The one above, also called "shuko socket" is the standard socket for domestic
installations. There is also an ungrounded socket, but that being phased out.
It is no longer allowed in new installations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C_plug.jpg

The ungrounded socket will accept grounded and ungrounded plugs. A situation
that is no longer considered safe. One of the reasons, the ungrounded sockets
are phased out. In Germany they were never in use after the mid fifties.

All the sockets are rated for 16 A. The Schuko socket will also accept the two
prong Euro plug rated for 6A.

Sockets are not individually fused, they are wired into a group of up to 8
sockets and the fuse or circuit breaker for that group is 16A. So although the
sockets are reted for 16A, one can not run them all at full load when theye are
in the same group.

 SL> Australian wall sockets are all 10A.

I know, I have one in my collection. ;-)

 SL> While there are higher power variants of the design they're not
 SL> standard for domestic properties. Common high power applicances are
 SL> usually professionally installed and hardwired back to their own
 SL> breakers on the power board.  For the most part that's just the stove
 SL> and split/ducted AC systems; dryers, fridges and small window ACs run
 SL> off standard 10A.

Here everything in the household runs on the standard 16A socket, except for
electric coocking installation. In Belgium and France they are usually
hardwired, here the standard plug is the Periliex plug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilex

 SL> My last house did have a three phase socket in the backyard, but
 SL> that's just because one of the previous owners was clearly a handyman
 SL> type.

Although 3 phase is usually available at the junction box, one will rarely find
a 3 phase outlet in domestic installations. The exception being the above
mentioned cooking installations. Electric cooking is the exception rather than
the rule here BTW. Most people cook on gas. Gas is distributed as a utility, it
is available everywhere, except rural places.

I have a friend who has a lathe, he has a 3 phase outlet in his workshop. For
those, the standard is the industrial IEC 60609 series. Also called "CEEform"
They are also used outdoors. The three prong 16A plug, also called the "blue
plug" is the European standard for campings and Marinas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60309

 MV>> Connecting it with a higher rated plug would be illegal here
 MV>> unless the cable and internal wring was also changed. It must
 MV>> withstand the current during a short long enough for the fuse in
 MV>> the meter cabinet to blow.

 SL> I'd be surprised if it's physically possible to attach a higher rated
 SL> plug.

Why not?  I see no problem in connecting a 63A CEEform plug to my electric
razor.

The reason it is considered unsafe, is that one can expect a 63A socket to be
fused with 63A. So if there is short in the razor, there is a strong
possibility that the 63A fuse will not go before something drastic happens with
the wire from te razor to the plug.

 SL> Attaching a 20A dryer plug to a 50A laundry socket would be just fine
 SL> though.

Not here. A 16A plug will only fit in a 16A socket. A 32A plug will only fit in
a 32A socket....


Cheers, Michiel

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