ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion German plugs & receptacles

I know most of Southern California had 50Hz until the late '30s, and some parts until after WWII. No doubt there were many isolated mining camps with 25Hz. And of course DC mains were still common in urban centers as late as the '50s.

What other areas of the US, after 1920, would have had frequencies other than 60Hz?


Really? That's quite surprising. Which ones? How do they manage to keep any tenants, with special power requirements for everything from computers to air conditioning?

Presumably having DC wasn't a big deal back in the day-- resistive lighting, transformerless radios, gas fridges, toasters and percolators still being touted as "modern".

AS said elsewhere, DC would be only for eElevators anf maybe some ventillation. normal AC would be distributed to tenants.

The conversion of the Los Angeles area from 50 to 60Hz in the 1930s was discussed here some time ago. I can't locate the thread at the moment, but a few months ago we also had a fairly long discussion about localized variations. It was after I acquired a 1950s book on model railroading which suggested that some parts of the west coast were still on 50Hz and that parts of upstate New York used 25Hz.


As was the case in Britain. DC supplies were common in the older parts of the larger cities, i.e. those districts which were the first to have reticulated power.

There was a steel factory across the road from where I work which had a DC service in use up until they moved and the building was demolished 12 months ago. They also had a 200V 3 phase service. The DC was used for the overhead craines and some machines. Aparently the DC cable was of epic proportions and much fun was had weighing it in!

A little off-topic from power distributed to homes and businesses, but many British cities in the past also had extensive networks of 500V DC to power the trams (streetcars) and trolleybuses that once plied along their streets.

The big Schuko plug looks like a merten brand heavy duty to me. Thats about the biggest Schuko plugs, there are smaller user-wireable plugs too.

BRAINonGROUND, are these JUNG outlets?

I've noticed that the 3 wire SchuKo plugs I have can be plugged in in two ways, unlike American 3 prong power plugs. Which means that the hot and neutral on the SchuKo power cord can often get swapped. This would mean that all SchuKo power cord powered loads have to be designed to expect its neutral to be sometimes hot. Or have I missed something?

In Germany and The Netherlands the Phases and Neutrals are switched within the distribution board at the Main Switch, the section switches / MCB's and the appliances.

Here a NON M.E.N. system is in use hence the polarity is not an issue here.

The Earth wire is separated from the neutral at the switchboard and relies on a good earth bank by the consumer.

After 1977, Earth leakage group MCB's became mandatory in new installations to add extra safety.

Many European countries are much less worried about polarity than we are. Italian plugs are also reversible, and although French (grounding-type) plugs are polarized, nobody seems to worry about which way L and N are connected.

There is only one single polarity requirement in Austria, and that applies to permanently connected Edison base light sockets. Ok and yes, you're supposed to switch the phase, but that's all.

After all... if you poke around in a portable appliance then by all means unplug it!