Mains plugs safety (yet again)!

[ade]

Yep, it's that time of year.
Amazon's front page offered me a scooter charger:

Dodgy looking plug, there 🤔. Closer inspection:

Yep, illegal.
'Similar items' offered didn't do any better:

All three seen there are illegal to sell in the UK. The main item in view had one UK review:

Don't risk it, folks: pay more for proper UK [ideally, UK made and a with kitemark] mains plugs and devices. If you 'have' to buy a cheapo, high current rated import, ensure that the plug meets UK standards and if not, just cut it off and fit a proper one (with the above devices, a full kettle-type flex can be bought, if you don't already have one hanging around, and just fit a suitably rated fuse; but, many cheapo supplied or attached power cables are also substandard, so always check reputability of brand and look for that kitemark) and never leave high power devices unattended whilst in use (and certainly not battery chargers).

BS 1363 Plugs and Sockets

 

[ade]

Correction to the above:
'power cord' not 'kettle-type flex' (I was tired), such as,

Not linking because I wouldn't normally buy such stuff off ebay; I'd use a known brand supplied cable or buy from an established bricks and mortar shop.

 

[IDKaLittle]

Interesting. This is a common problem in the UK? I’ve never heard of inferior plugs or anything like that happening in the US

 

[parcelboy2]

Interesting. This is a common problem in the UK? I’ve never heard of inferior plugs or anything like that happening in the US

All UK mains plugs must have a fuse in them ,
the one with out it is dangerous and illegal

 

[IDKaLittle]

Ahh that’s where I thought the difference was but I was thrown by the one with the red fuse cover. But as I look closer, that’s not a fuse cover, is it? It’s a molded in piece of plastic.

The US does not have that fuse requirement but local building codes usually require at least GFI protection and in many cases arc fault interrupt at the panel. For cords, I guess it’s assumed they are UL listed. (our electrical standards testing organization). If not, they couldn’t be sold I think.

Anyways, interesting to learn that this is a thing. I’ve long loved Europe and the UK and have often considered moving there. One of the things I’m insanely curious about are the day-to-day living differences that nobody ever gives a second thought about. This is one of them so thanks for that! 😌

 

[parcelboy2]

Ahh that’s where I thought the difference was but I was thrown by the one with the red fuse cover. But as I look closer, that’s not a fuse cover, is it? It’s a molded in piece of plastic.

The US does not have that fuse requirement but local building codes usually require at least GFI protection and in many cases arc fault interrupt at the panel. For cords, I guess it’s assumed they are UL listed. (our electrical standards testing organization). If not, they couldn’t be sold I think.

Anyways, interesting to learn that this is a thing. I’ve long loved Europe and the UK and have often considered moving there. One of the things I’m insanely curious about are the day-to-day living differences that nobody ever gives a second thought about. This is one of them so thanks for that! 😌

Also you don’t want to step on a UK plug 😫😫😫😫

 

[IDKaLittle]

I can see why! Are they always flat like that? Most of ours look like this but they still suck to step on!

 

[Cottontail]

Interesting. This is a common problem in the UK? I’ve never heard of inferior plugs or anything like that happening in the US

That's because our US plugs are just about as bad as plugs can get. The prongs aren't insulated at all, and no fuses--except in Christmas lights, heh.

The US has some good things going for it, but then there are others which are obvious examples of "too many (i.e. some multiple of 50) cooks spoil the broth," like our death-grip on the old imperial systems of measurement, and plugs designed to kill us.

 

[IDKaLittle]

Oh god don’t get me started on imperial measurements! My work world is all metric, it’s so much easier! I just can’t fathom why anyone uses fractional measurements anymore.

The US is the only country to:
Use imperial measurements (except a couple third world countries) the rest of the world is metric
Use CDMA, the rest of the world is GSM
Use NTSC, the rest of the world is PAL
i know there’s more but I can’t think of any ATM

yeah we’re the best

 

[Cottontail]

Use NTSC, the rest of the world is PAL

...although (not to go too far off topic), my eyes can easily see the 50Hz refresh on an old PAL CRT, and I can't imagine having had to look at one of those all day. I'll take fewer pixels and 10 more Hz any time. (Thank you Tesla, Westinghouse.)

Oh god don’t get me started on imperial measurements! My work world is all metric, it’s so much easier!

Yes, same situation for me.

 

[parcelboy2]

That's because our US plugs are just about as bad as plugs can get. The prongs aren't insulated at all, and no fuses--except in Christmas lights, heh.

The US has some good things going for it, but then there are others which are obvious examples of "too many (i.e. some multiple of 50) cooks spoil the broth," like our death-grip on the old imperial systems of measurement, and plugs designed to kill us.

Watch this video and all will become clear about UK plugs, but the insulated pins weren’t law till 1984

 

[IDKaLittle]

Lol I had no idea they could fill eleven minutes and 22 seconds talking about a plug! Very cool, thank you! IMO that’s doing a plug properly! the lack of insulation on our plugs has always bothered me but I guess you learn really early on (sometimes the hard way!) not to touch there! It’s only very recently that our standards started to require shutters on the outlets, and half the time they don’t work right, you have to forcibly jiggle the plug into the outlet.