ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Some german electrical info

I'd say that there are actually very few British/European appliances for which this would be any problem.

As Schuko and most other European plugs are reversible, nothing can be designed to rely on the "neutral" being at 0V, and the switched-mode power supplies in modern computers will most certainly run just fine with either pole grounded or with each pole at 120V to ground.

Andy,

how about wiring in East Germany? Did it differ from that of West Germany?

AFAIK it did and as far as old wiring is concerned still does. TN-C systems were legal until 1990, whereas Western Germany prohibited them some time in the 1970ies. On the other hand Eastern Germany started requiring RCDs in bathrooms quite a bit earlier. They had some kind of extra shallow boxes for their concrete buildings and they invented some weird kind of Diazed fuse size. Aluminum wiring was sometimes used in residential work. Other than that GDR electrical components mostly look slightly weird, but work exactly the same (e.g. the switch rockers had a slightly different shape, but for that, they look the same in Greece and the UK, so that wasn't typically GDR). I've seen GDR kWh-meters for sale here and they seem to work fine. In Eastern germany you'll still see much older wiring than anywhere else, for example I remember many real old surface-mount conduit systems, both from personal experience and from old movies.

Wa2ise,

Good to see you on this side of the forum! This could be construed as a thread-jack but your comment about running your computer off 240V intrigues me – is it a NJ thing?

Coming from the other side of the pond I carry quite a bit of 240V baggage with me and have had to make plans to supply some of the imported equipment that is sensitive to these sort of things. Is that an old air-conditioning supply you’re using there? How do you get around NEC 210-6(a) which prohibits voltages exceeding 120V between conductors in dwelling units which supply lighting fixtures and “… cord and plug-connected loads 1440 volt-amperes, nominal, or less, or less than ¼ hp”.

In the main I feel OK as the 240V workshop equipment is not in a ‘dwelling unit’ (for the non-NEC world – broadly defined as a habitable room), the British hot-water kettle is 3kW and the Italian electric oil heaters 2.2kW each. My biggest problem is the Japanese digital piano which at 80W comes somewhat under the wire.

Frequency has not caused me a problem. The induction motors run faster but yet sweeter – and within their safety specs. Certainly nothing has balked at being given 120-0-120V 60Hz rather than 230/240V 50Hz.


[This message has been edited by Hutch (edited 11-05-2003).]

Re 210.6(A), I can see how this can be applied to lighting fixtures, but I don't see any way in practice to force compliance with it for receptacle-and-cord connected appliances.

If anybody ever queried the presence of a 240V outlet, surely the reply is that it's for a 3kW heater or some such? Nobody can control what you actually plug into that receptacle.

Paul, Your comments echo my thoughts exactly. It is a question of how one enforces something that may not exist at any instance. Time for me to pop a question on the NEC Forum to seek an origin and interpretation of this code section.

Sounds like a good question for the NEC area. Go for it!

If you need to distribute 240V around I'd suggest that you get a schuko power strip and put a US 240V plug on the other end. It was designed to handle 127-0-127 supplies.

Most 230V appliences will ship with Schuko plugs and they're easily availble as rewireables.

Also I'd be way happier working with VDE/Schuko fittings than with 240V US plugs. I don't like non-sheathed pin plugs and non recessed sockets.

Schuko's ideal for a non-polarised supply BS1363's fusing might complicate matters unnecessarily.

I was talking to an older electrician here recently and schuko sockets were in relatively widespread use in Ireland until the mid-1970s. As far as he was aware they are still an acceptable alternative to BS1363 but just not the norm.

He also had never heard the term schuko used to refer to them. They were know as "VDE sockets" and only VDE type 2 was ever allowed (i.e. with grounding clips)

BS546-16A serves as the secondary distribution connector. Symetrical, non-fused of course but mainly used because of a plentiful supply - ex-South Africa.

[img]http://www.frontiernet.net/~ianandanita/images/The_bench[/img]

[This message has been edited by Hutch (edited 11-07-2003).]

why is there a Fuse in the UK plug?
I think its a good idea, but does it protect only the cable, or the appliance thats connected?
If its for the cable, why? Isnt the breaker or fuse for the Receptacle enough?