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

Yep, who doesn't have a pile of these "classic" 1950s/60s MK plugs laying around? I still have a lot of them in service at 40+ years old, and they're far better than a lot of the modern types.








And MMK, welcome to the forum!

Still, the pin size and spacing is quite some example of overengineering. The widespread use of angle plugs (well, that should rather read "exclusive") makes for nice foot traps walking barefoot in dark rooms... lightly stepped on a BS 1363 plug once, no thanks. Unsleeved pin plugs are about as scary to plug in and unplug as the long-illegal predecessor of the Euro plug (flat, unsleeved pins) but the plugs are still far more common,...
Breaking a cheap Schuko plug is about as easy as breaking the Made in China BS1363 plugs I have at home... quality plugs are fairly solid either way.

By the relation of exterior size and wiring space I'd say quality Schuko plugs are quite ok too.

Rewireable NEMA plugs are generally a lot bigger than their molded cousins and don't fit any more in tight spaces.

Dave, I still feel a tinge of regret when I cut a molded BS1363 plug off to put on a CEE for domestic appliances bought in Blighty and have to put the molded one in the garbage. Just the way I was dragged up I suppose- I get the same downer when I see folks wasting good food. Nothing left on my plate except the pattern- I woff the lot!

The latest French stuff, sockets and plugs etc, is actually very servicable. Molded CEEs are really nice quality.
In the shop, a real advantage of the inline French plug is that I've arranged pendant sockets, suspended from the A frames. These, [ I have 5 so far, one of which runs along a taut stainless steel cable on a bronze slider-cum-cable-clamp], are a real boon when using portable power tools; router, sanders, biscuit jointer etc. No cables on the floor and a direct pull to disconnect.

The question is why not adopt BS1363 elsewhere.

Most other places are wired with radial circuits fused at 16A, on average (up to 20A in 120V land), although a fused plug, if treated with the respect it deserves (like that will happen), could curb accidents caused by the misuse and miscare of non-fused cords.

For maybe a 2.5KW kettle or a clothes washer, they aren't so bad. For my camera charger, it would seem a bit "big"

I do get you on the flimsy plugs made from recycled yogurt tubs though.

It is indeed, but then the old BS546 round-pin plugs were similar. The 5 and 15-amp ratings are very conservative. I'd bet that BS546 connectors would probably carry at least double those currents safely.

Actually, I find it kind of ironic that a large proportion of electrical equipment in homes now doesn't need the hefty 13A plugs. BS546 5A would have provided adequate capacity for all smaller appliances in a neater package.



I've stepped on them quite heavily more than once. It hurts!

The only problem with BS546 was the fact that it had at least 3 commonly used 3 pin plugs which were completely incompatible with each other depending on how they were rated!

Personally, I do think you need a non-rewirable 2-pin option like Europlug, but alas, given the ring circuit layout in use in the UK that's highly unlikely to ever come into existence !

Another major kicker in my book was that a 2-pin plug of whatever rating had different pin spacing from the 3-pin version, e.g. 2-pin 5A plug doesn't fit a 3-pin 5A socket. Of course, with BS1363 we have to have an earth pin even if not needed (and even if it's just plastic as on many of the modern molded plugs on 2-conductor cords).

It is actually rather annoying when you end up with a laptop case full of various devices with BS1363 plugs though. It's then you start going, why don't we have Europlugs!!

My personal guess would be that a 2A plug with sturdy interior design would have been more than happy to carry 15A, after all the pins aren't much thinner than those of a Schuko plug. And unlike Swiss plugs (where I heard of that quite frequently) Schuko plugs are pretty unlikely to overheat and melt down unless the terminals inside are loose. Swiss and Italian 10A plugs as well as AS/NZ plugs seem to have the issue that the sheathing on the already rather thin pins (remember, Swiss and Italian pins are the same size as Euro plug pins but rated 10A instead of 2.5) reduces the cross section even further. In Italy this is even aggravated as the sockets are usually dual rated 10/16A, so the 10A plugs rely on the appliance limiting the current.

Each member state of the EC guards its own vested interests and it's not just in what sort of plugs we use. We Brits know from experience [ inch, foot, mile, pound, Fahrenheit, bent bananas, sausages, etc.], that if we did have a Standard European Plug That Integrates Countries, [SEPTIC], it bloody well wouldn't be ours! Now that we have a 'Constitution' that dare not speak its name, ie with no British veto, guess who's plug gets it in the shorts when some bureaucrat decides we must unify?