Seriously guys, you've both said it in different ways but stuff doesn't fall out of a safe, secure and polarised BS 1363. It was well designed from scratch and was not a compromise over many (slightly different) standards then in use unlike the Euro systems and their adaptors appear to be right now. If it wasn't for the ring main, even the fuse would not be required and detract from the all-round robustness of the BS system. The necessity for a 3-pin plug - even on class two equipment - is a [light] cross that it must bear. It is in part for this reason that I advocated a universal system based on the antipodean standard thus...

[Linked Image from web.elko-nv.com]
[Linked Image from web.elko-nv.com]

with the rationale at...

https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000167.html

The quest continues ... [Linked Image]


[This message has been edited by Hutch (edited 03-26-2003).]