ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Denmark to go French ?

Yes, indeed they are - I have a couple of examples of these adaptors without fuses. Plug straight into the 13Amp socket, no fuse then plug in your schuko/euro plug. I also have one from the US that does the same - probably about time we really did ditch the ring circuit!! In fact I very rarely ever install them now, radials are much better.

These adaptors, including the ones bought for use in France, are dangerous because they not only don't have a fuse, they are rated [ by who one asks?] at only 7.5A which is not much more than 1.7kw. Plug a British 3kw heater in to it and the adaptor melts, as a friend of mine found out a few months ago. Mind you, he is a lovable old twerp, but that's not the point.
I have one here in front of me now, out of a box of junk for the Dogs' Home Fundraiser. No maker name, no CE mark, no kite mark, but it has "DO NOT USE IN UK" "CONTINENTAL ADAPTOR" and "7.5AMP. 110-250V" molded on the front. On the back it reads: "Ref 14***[unreadable]. "Registered Design", and a large letter "A"

I think they need to crack down on adaptors - there are some really dodgy ones out there.

I've seen some dire BS1363 > CEE 7/7 too - grossly underrated, or that do not properly complete the earth connection.

Why can't they be rated 13A and fused if CEE 7/7 > BS1363
and 16A to CEE 7/7

It seems to me the manufacturers are basing designs on ancient assessments of Euro and other sockets.

i.e. rather than safety, they're trying for something that fits any ancient 2-pin European socket, so they put in tiny pins.

You said it -- Ill-fitting contacts, incomplete earth paths, adapters to go into BS1363 outlets which have no integral fuse.....

There are others that are genuinely well made though. Picked one up in Dublin Airport on the way out to France a few weeks ago.
Double BS1363, to spec and a proper CEE 7/7 plug with full size pins.
Device rated 16A

It's one area where CENELEC could step in and provide a framework for standardising adaptors and perhaps getting a EN that's enforced Europe wide.

Cenelec could work with their counterparts in the US too to get some kind of NEMA-CEE 7/7, BS1363 etc standardised safely.

I've seen them all, and I still think the British (and Irish) plugs and sockets are the best around. Neat and good fitting Wonder why they have not been adopted more widely?
Michael.

1: They are too big for domestic appliances.

2: They have that pesky fuse.

3: The existing standard is too entrenched to change out.

More likely:

1) The existing standard is too entrenched to change out.

2) The existing standard is too entrenched to change out.

3) The existing standard is too entrenched to change out.

Maybe three more on the order of, somebody's profit goes away if the standard changes.

1. That pesky fuse is there for a reason- the widespread use of the ring main in the UK. Changing a fuse with a knife out of the cutlery drawer is a pleasurable man's thing, IMO. Not quite so macho with the factory molded plugs of course. Those have a stupid little plastic fuse retainer that you have to winkle out with a dessert fork!
Even a wife can change those!

2. Too big? A Brit 1363 plug, crafted from solid bakelite [or truly unbreakable, rubber] and with its massive pins, will last forever. I can tell you that they ain't too big inside, very often you have to lever the wires into place with a meat-skewer to get the lid on! I have quite a few in my boxes of bits that must be 40 or 50 years old and still serviceable. Every time a piece of electrical equipment went to that rubbish tip in the sky we used to cut the plug and as much cable as possible off beforehand, ["that'll come in handy one day"]. The parts are not interchangeable though, each maker's backplate, cable clamps, pins and fuseholders are all slightly different. But there's the challenge! A British Standard Junkbox also contains many plug parts in various states of disassembly. Can I make one up from these bits?

3: The existing standard is too entrenched to change out.
There was a time when we Brits didn't give a flying monkeys about Johnny Foreigner and his shoddy, flimsy products, made out of recycled yogurt pots and designed to fall apart the day after the guarantee ran out.

BS1363 and CEE 7/4 (Schuko) and CEE 7/5 (French) are not exactly that different in terms of size and the good quality versions will easily last 100+ years without any issue. They're all enormous and built like industrial equipment in comparison to their flimsy North American and Australian cousins

The moulded versions of BS1363 are also now getting much neater, and we're starting to see versions that are very similarly sized to a moulded Schuko. Materials have improved since the 1940s and there's no need to make everything out of bakelite in 2007 !