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#168161 08/28/07 12:12 PM
Joined: Dec 2002
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djk Offline OP
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I've been reading a few articles around the internet that are suggesting that Denmark will be changing over to CEE 7/5 socket outlets i.e. French-style 16A sockets with an earthing pin from 2008/2009.

At present the Danish socket is a bit problematic from a safety point of view. It's got exactly the same pin configuration as a common earthed 16A European CEE 7/7 plug, but has no means of making contact with the ground terminals.

i.e. you can plug a French, German, Swedish, Finnish or Norwegian earthed (grounded) plug into a Danish socket, get power but no earth connection.

The Danish plug has a 3rd pin to achieve the earth connection.

It seems that CEE 7/5 will be adopted as it gives the Danes a polarised setup that accepts CEE 7/7 plugs (the harmonised Schuko-style plug found on almost all European appliances thesedays)

It's not a huge change, but it does mean they gain full compatibility with their near neighbours in Scandinavia and Germany without loosing polarised connectors!

Although, you can be sure any CEE 7/5 socket in Denmark will be designed to Danish standards i.e. boxes, screws, requirements for shuttering etc.

Just to irritate the British members on the board.. Do you think perhaps a BS version of CEE 7/5 could be used in the UK ? All that would be required for compatibility with ring circuits would be a fused socket.

Last edited by djk; 08/28/07 12:14 PM.
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djk Offline OP
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[Linked Image from upload.wikimedia.org]
Danish Wall socket + light switch

[Linked Image from img.asiannet.com]
Danish Plug

[Linked Image from bis-electric.com]
French CEE 7/5 socket outlet.

[Linked Image from cubus-adsl.dk]
CEE 7/7 Plug - de facto European standard - fits CEE 7/4 (Schuko) and CEE 7/5 (French) grounded outlets without any complications.
When used with CEE 7/5 it's (in theory) polarised.

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C-H Offline
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Note that while the Schuko plug is unsafe in Denmark, it is the standard and also carries a D-mark (Demko)...

Maybe, just maybe, this has something to do with LK's monopoly on sockets and light switches on the Danish market. :-) The boxes are different too, in another move to keep foreign suppliers out. If Denmark changes to French style, the customers may go all the way and change boxes, killing the market for LK in the process...

This question was actually up with one of the ministers a couple of years ago. In his response he agrees it is a strange situation and that in a modern installation with and RCD it is no disaster no having the grounding. Consequently, from 1. July 2008 the French outlets will be permitted and all buildings will be required to have RCD's.

Response from minister (in Danish)

Last edited by C-H; 08/28/07 03:50 PM. Reason: Expanded post
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C-H Offline
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Oh, I forgot: Some Danish two pin plugs can jam in Schuko socket, halfway in. This was considered a fire hazard. Therefore the French outlet with a pin. Polarity is a non-issue, I think.

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djk Offline OP
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That's pretty amazing that the minister knows anything about a technical issue. Over here you'd be referred to the ETCI :P
The minister would be wondering if an RCD was some new political party he/she hadn't heard of yet !

If you read some of the debates on electrical standards here from the 1950s/60s you realise just how clueless they were!
All of the real work happens at technical bodies ministers are generally quite clueless.

The reason we adopted BS1363 as an exclusive standard was for pretty much the same reason though.
We'd a situation where Schuko existed along side various BS546 sockets and there were quite a lot of shocks caused by appliances being connected to sockets that were not making earth contact i.e. schuko jammed into BS546 or BS1363.

So, BS1363 was transposed into Irish standards as IS 401 and enforced strictly. The other standards have effectively completely vanished.

It's no longer legal to sell an appliance for domestic use without an IS401 or BS1363 approved plug fitted and it's been that way for quite a long time.

Last edited by djk; 08/28/07 04:39 PM.
Joined: Mar 2005
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I use both types, due to dragging a lot of stuff here when we moved, [ my preconceptions were dragged along too! ]. I have to say I'm on the verge of dumping all my Brit plugs and sockets, mainly in the workshop, in favor of the French ones, as not much Brit stuff is left that works after 7 years.
The French stuff works ok, now we have opted for LeGrande Mosaic. I have a lot of suspended french receptacles mounted 2 metres off the deck in the shop for portable tools, which is great for working around jobs with the router &c.. My only gripe is the Frog extension reels. Of all the receptacles, these reels are an absolute pita getting a plug inserted when using tools away from the fixed outlets. The shutter mechanisms seem to rapidly wear out. Must be all that dried blanc-mange* Dave!

*blanc-mange, the white-eat of technology!


Wood work but can't!
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C-H Offline
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Quote
That's pretty amazing that the minister knows anything about a technical issue. Over here you'd be referred to the ETCI :P
The minister would be wondering if an RCD was some new political party he/she hadn't heard of yet !


Your ministers don't do the "You write, I sign"-trick? smile




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djk Offline OP
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Oh they're masters of it!!


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Originally Posted by djk
Just to irritate the British members on the board.. Do you think perhaps a BS version of CEE 7/5 could be used in the UK ? All that would be required for compatibility with ring circuits would be a fused socket.


There's been talk about this sort of thing on and off, but I think the IEE would put up huge resistance to moving away from BS1363.

If there were both fused and unfused versions available here (the latter for radials), then you can bet it wouldn't be long before people started using the unfused versions on ring circuits.

Joined: Mar 2005
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Paul, they are doing it now, coming back from France and Spain with hairdriers, kettles etc. and a nice little adaptor from the shop on the ferry....


Wood work but can't!
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