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Joined: Dec 2001
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Which plug style is most likely to be encountered at a hotel in Antiparos, Greece?
I'm going to travel there next week and want an adaptor for hairdryers (you know, you want to be a gentleman in case your female classmates need a hairdryer... [Linked Image])
C-H's web site shows round pin ungrounded, BS 546, French and Schuko. Which one of these is most common? Round pin ungrounded and Schuko is no problem at all, French is just a short extension cord with CEE 7/7 plug and Schuko trailing socket, but BS 546?

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One of my friends, who is Greek and travels to Athens a lot, brought back a Schuko power strip from there.

He has a lot of electronic gadgetry he's brought back from there and mot of it is equipped with Schuko and Europlug type connections.

I've never seen a house-hold handheld hair dryer use grounded plugs -- only the heavy duty ones in barbershops.

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OK, then we probably aren't going to have as much fun as in Rome last fall...
I _asked_ the girls whether they had thought of an adaptor before we departed, and they all said "yes, sure, no problem." When we were there I heard them screaming and cursing, trying to force the hairdryer's 16A contour plug with 4,8mm pins into the tight-fitting 4mm-holes of an Italian socket. Hairdryers hardly ever have Euro plugs since these are only rated for 2.5A and every decent hairdryer draws noticeablymore than that.
The 1950ies vintage hairdryer of my father indeed has a Schuko plug, and it's all metal.

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Officially it's Schuko

I've never seen anything other than either Schuko or older unearthed 2 pin Europlug outlets.

Not sure where they're getting the BS546 idea from seems a little unlikely other in perhaps Cyprus.

Btw Cyprus uses BS1363

I found BS1363 installed alongside Schuko in appartments we rented there too. Was simply for UK tourists convienience. I've seen this in France too, apparently the logic is that many hotels etc would like to avoid the use of very dodgy adaptors. Minimises the fire/shock risk associated with UK tourists!

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In theory a Schuko or "contour" plug should be able to fit in an Italian 16-amp socket (thicker pins). Some of them have overlapping holes for 16 and 10 amp plugs.

Ragnar, maybe you should buy one of those cheap-ass travel packs of adapter plugs and when these kiddies need one because they forgot, you offer to rent it for a modest fee. [Linked Image] [Linked Image]

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No, contour plugs won't go into standard Italian receptacles. The pin spacing of the contour plug is the same as the 10A plug but the pin diameter is like the 16A plug and the 16A plug has the pins spaced further apart. Unlike most ungrounded receptacles Italian 10A receptacles don't have much marging concerning pin diameter, so you won't be able to force a contour or Schuko plugs into a 10A receptacle without breaking the plastic around the holes. Only Receptacles that take both Schuko and Italian plugs (usually power strips) have larger inner holes.
Seems to be all fine though, as the Greeks seem to have standard plugs.

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djk Offline
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Schuko seems to be gradually becoming the single standard for most of Europe. I wonder will the other 2-round pin based systems survive?

The Italian plug has to be the neatest design in the world. Takes up very little space on a box/panel. It also makes it idea for fitting into very old buildings. UK and Schuko fittings are very bulky in comparison.

I'd say the Italian plug system is as likely to stay around as the UK system just based on the population of italy being large enough to do its own thing.

The Danish system seems slightly pointless. [OK it's polarised (half the time anyway)] Especially considering that you can easily connect a schuko plug and end up with no earth. I'd say given the size of Denmark and the fact that the rest of Scandinavia uses Schuko that the Danish system will disappear.

As for the Swiss system it doesn't really offer any technical advantages over schuko. The outlets are generally low rated, the plugs are no safer. They're a neat design though. The recessed version also makes it impossible to connect grounded schuko/French plugs. Given the swiss history of keeping things within the codes I'd say it'll survive too.

For solid technical reasons and not so solid europhobia I can't see the UK ever adopting Schuko.

It would make no logical sense to standardise European outlets on anything else though almost the entire area uses them exclusively.

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I've never been to Greece, so I can't comment on that one, but it does indeed seem as though Schuko is gradually becoming the European de facto standard.

The biggest hurdle to it ever being accepted by the U.K. committees is that it's non-polarized.

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I doubt that the Italian plug will survive. I admit that they're a neat design, though the 2 different physical sizes are a bit impractical. There's also a wide variety of 3-way adaptors bypassing the ground.
Italy is flooded with Schuko plugs, most power strips take both Italian and Schuko plugs, adaptors are available in every supermarket. Lots of household appliances just come with Schuko plugs (I've seen washing machines, refrigerators, coffee makers, computers, table lamps with contour plugs, yadda, yadda, yadda.). So I guess Italy will eventually change over to Schuko.
Swiss plugs are cool but a but flimsy and I don'T really like the unsleeved pins. And to someone who's used to Schuko receptacles the completely flat ones lok _really_ weird.
I guess the French are also stubborn enough to be able to keep their system for quite some time.
One apartment we had here in Vienna had ungrounded Italian receptacles for some really weird reason (Even the electrician wasn't able to figure out why the heck they had used Austrian ones mixed with Italian ones in some places). These were really tiny, but modern grounded Italian sockets go in really huge boxes, so i can't see any advantages.
Anyway, the largest single phase household connector I've ever seen for real was a BS 1363 trailing socket. It was about the size and shape of a surface-mount Perilex 3ph receptacle, rather close to a 2way Schuko power strip.
OT some time ago at a flea market in Vienna I was asked 2 Euro for a relatively modern BS 1363 plug with sleeved pins. The strain relief was missing. A bit over the top, isn't it?

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Ragnar wrote:
Quote
One apartment we had here in Vienna had ungrounded Italian receptacles for some really weird reason

Hey....didn't you want to install USA-style receptacles in your room once? [Linked Image]

I know I was once tempted to install UK-style receps but didn't want to deal with having to get the boxes and stuff (expensive).

Plus it would make for a hell of a confusion for the next owner if I ever sold the place and left all of that stuff in place. With my luck the electrician who got stuck with re-doing the place to American standards would be on this very website commenting on the "idiot" who installed those British receptacles!!! And he'd probably post PICTURES!!! [Linked Image]

It's bad enough I have a Colombian-made wall switch in the entryway (although those are made to USA standards). [Linked Image]

P.S.: Yes, two euros (a bit over two dollars) for a used UK plug without a strain relief is highway robbery.

Of course name-brand new plugs in the UK (like MK brand) sell for about a quid 'n change or so I think...the cheap generic ones are a few pence.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 06-18-2003).]

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