In my travels around, I’ve seen many a variety of plugs and sockets and have often mused on which ones are the best on the grounds of safety, neatness and convenience. I’ll stick with the world of 230V phase to ground here as the parallel blade/round ground North American standard seems to be widely used in the 115V world – please correct me if I am wrong. I have personally experienced (held, inserted and often dismantled/wired) the following and have noted their quirks and foibles. UK fused 13A square pin, UK 15A, 5A, 2A round pins, Euro plugs both French and rest-of-Europe types, Australian/New Zealand incline blade 10A, Argentinean modification of the aforementioned and a Chilean in-line three pin. In addition to these are various two round pin plugs of many diameters and spacings as well as the extensive varieties of NEMA types used in North America.

A lot of these have many things in common but there are major differences and contradictions. In general a global standard that I dare suggest at the end would incorporate all of the following features which are not all possessed in any of the systems above.

First of all it has to be as safe as reasonably possible with built in features to prevent accidental contact with the energized connectors or sockets, i.e. some form of shuttering on the socket and shielding on the pins of the plug. A good example of this is the UK 13A square (OK it’s oblong!) pin plug system with ground pin releasing the shutters on the phase and neutral and plastic sheathing on the energized pins adjacent to the plug body.

The plug must fit snugly and positively into the socket without all that limp flapping around that one can get with NEMA style parallel blade type, especially the ungrounded ones.

Likewise it should be robust. This pins or blades should not readily bend or break like the NEMA ones often do. The Ozi/NZ blades don’t readily bend.

It must be compact. Both the UK (new and old) and the Euro Plugs are bulky. The UK 13A is sized to contain an internal fuse but that is only to provide protection to the appliance cord on a 30A fused ring main. I used, as a Brit, to think this type of system was state-of-the-art until PaulUK showed me the error of my ways. The ring main should be dispensed of and this new unfused plug and socket system would not be allowed on it – radial branch circuits only like the rest of the world.

The system must incorporate a non-bypassable grounding (earthing) system but would not require a ground pin on ungrounded equipment. This has impact on its compactness and further rules out the UK system of using a ground pin (even a plastic one!) to move shutters and ensure polarization. It likewise rules out the French Euro plugs which rely on a grounding pin, contained in the socket, to force polarity. I’ll enter the orientation debate here and state that the system should have the grounding (earthing) conductor at the top. In my mind the weight of argument (which occasionally rages freely on the General Section) favours this orientation. IMHO the common North American and Antipodean sockets are upside down!

The system must be polarized! This rules out the non-French Euro plug and any system that uses symmetrical phase and neutral pins on ungrounded plugs. The North Americans very early got round to making one blade wider than the other to ensure polarity where required on ungrounded plugs and is almost a standard on 115V systems. Of course, their 230V 15A plugs don’t need to be polarized as that comprises an Edison circuit with twin phases. In my mind, the cleverest system is the Australian/New Zealand standard that uses non parallel blades. Polarity must be global and a situation like Argentina which uses Ozi/NZ plugs with reverse polarity must be avoided at all cost.

It should be standard that the phase connector in a socket is switched so that the plug does not have to be removed or inserted under load.

The system must use plugs whose pins are at a right-angles to the cord. This applies likewise to any socket face on an extension cord. Plugs with pins parallel to the cord cause the cable to stick out of the socket which takes up more room on a work surface - they are liable to get snagged, tugged and look just pain ugly. The orientation of the socket and plug should be such that the cord goes straight down the wall – UK influence speaking here! This will have implications for duplex sockets – this useful configuration will require them to be mounted besides each other rather that above each other as in North America so that the cords do not interfere with the other socket. Another reason for having right-angle plugs is that they cannot easily be pulled out of the socket by the cord (either by accident or design) and a right-angled socket on an extension cord makes it less likely to part company with its plug when the lot is dragged along the ground – the resultant extended cable ends up more or less straight.

Finally the plugs must be rated sufficient for my 3kW hot water kettle and those 10A ones found in Oz/NZ are just not rated high enough!

So what does my proposed international system look like? It is based strongly on the self-polarizing Australia/New Zealand standard (non-parallel blades) but with the grounding (earthing) blade up, and with switched duplex sockets mounted side by side. The plugs would be rated to at least 13A and have the out-sides of the energized blades partially sheathed to prevent accidental contact on insertion or removal. A shuttering system would make it difficult for anyone to insert a foreign object into the socket and yet would not require a grounding blade to open them – equal pressure system maybe. Only right angle plugs with the cord emerging opposite the grounding pin side would be allowed on both two and three pin varieties. Unless the fuse was very small, they would not be fused and therefore not fitted on ring-main systems.

Pulls on steel helmet …

Oh, and just before I retire to my fox-hole, this new standard may eventually be used in new North American domestic installations which use 230V phase to ground (putting grunt into the average American home) and introducing the bayonet cap light bulb for the high voltage lighting. A new world standard! We’ll work on that frequency issue next.



Dives for cover …….

Or like the Euro/UK recepticals, have the face recessed so than nothing can come between the plug and the receptical face.

On the American 230V thing, as a good deal
of appliances (including the bi-pin bayonet lamp) are double insulated and apparently polarity agnostic, I don't see really any need to change to an earthed end 230V supply.

AS for the frequency, I don't see a lot
of appliances really caring, as they are either resistive, Universal motor, or SMPS,
and could otherwise be designed to work on either frequency, and either an end or center ground supply.

Hutch,
Your comments make very interesting reading.
However,how do you connect your 3Kw kettle at the moment?.
If we had a 3kW kettle over here,we would connect it via a 15Ampere socket and plug.
Our jugs are only 2000Watts.

I nominate the Swiss plug. It's a compact grounded three round pin plug (only slightly wider than a Europlug), fits in a recessed outlet and the ground pin on the plug is offsett by a few millimeters.

The Swiss grounded sockets also accept two-pin Europlugs.

The Chilean 3-in-line plug that you cite is the standard Italian plug. It comes in 10- and 16-amp versions (distinguishable by the pin diameter and spacing).

My problem with small plugs is that people with arthritic hands will not find it easy to pull such plugs out of a socket. There's one British company that I know of that makes plugs with a pull-ring on the cover (sort of like the handle on a tea-cup).

Also having the flex enter the plug straight on is sometimes good in case of a severe emergency (such as accidental electrocution, mangling, etc.) where you can yank that plug out from across the room (without damaging the more expensive wall socket).

Of course this is potentially damaging to the plug (prongs can break and the cable will develop internal breaks).

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 12-20-2002).]

Hutch, is your helmet in place?

What you ask for is (with my comments):

1.) Shutters for child-safety.

2.) Firm fit in socket. Recessed sockets offer this.

3.) Pins should not bend. This means thick blades/pins, like the UK, South African or Schuko.

4.) Compact. A double sockets should fit in one box.

5.) Non bypassable earth. This means placing the earth pin in line or nearly in line with the other pins to make it hard to saw off.

6.) Earthing up or down doesn't matter if you cannot touch the hot pins/blades.

7.) Polarized: Not for the equipment (try to polarize the US 240V ), but for safety with present UK plugs. (Small .5 mm2 wires used. Thus you need the fuse.) Then only the grounded plugs need to be polarized.

8.) 3 kW kettle: 3000/230V = 13A. As 15/16A plugs are standard in many countries, 16A would seem to be the right choice.

Now you are in for a shock: Such a plug exist! It has been the world standard since 1986! Yet, no country has adopted it.

There is also a official 115V standard plug since 1997: The US 15A plug.

I have bought the standard for the 230V plug (IEC 60906-1) (something like $70, 36 pages long) and have reproduced some drawings below. (Without permission, so I have to remove them if IEC complains.)




Ignore the protective surface: It's only an option to a recessed socket.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 12-20-2002).]

C-H: I found some color pictures for you:

This is the Swiss plug:


This is a Swiss panel-mount socket (like for mounting on machinery or appliances) but I bet the Swiss wall socket is probably similar:

Sven: The Swiss plug is almost identical to the IEC 60906: The Swiss has the earth pin offset 5 mm instead of 3 mm and the pins are only 4 mm dia. instead of 4.5 mm. More importantly, it lacks insulating sleeves.

I have one, and agree with you that it is in a suitable size. You cannot make a plug much smaller than this, since it would be difficult to attach a cord.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 12-20-2002).]

Sven: I pull plugs from the wall by the cord all the time: it doesn't seem to harm them.

Classicsat: You are right, UL won't allow appliance to consider polarity. They insist on it being maintained, but never use it. As the voltage tolerances of the US 240V (220-254V) fall within the international 230V tolerances (207-253V) all 230V appliances should run in North America too. (If it accepts 60Hz, but everything but clocks and motors should do so.)

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 12-20-2002).]

It would also make good sense to have double pole switched socket. Recent case in Ireland where boiler connected to a single pole switched socket. Plumber decides to have a go at electrical fault on burner. does not withdraw plug but switches boiler "off" using switch on socket. Fatal!

The legislation in UK re: plug tops is the Plugs and Sockets Regulations 1994. These Regulations require that all domestic 230 volt equipment for sale in the UK must come fitted with a plug top fitted by the manufacturer.If the appliance is from outside UK it must be supplied with euro-plug.

I thought this subject would elicit some good discussion and highlight some common practices and habits across the globe.

Addressing classicsat first, the UK receptacles/outlets/sockets are flush fitting unlike the Euro types that are recessed. I can see why they are recessed – keeping fingers away from the pins and for support – but coming as I do from countries where outlets are flush with the wall (UK, South Africa, USA) the recessed types look – how can I say it? – ugly. The French Euro sockets with their pin sticking out are even more so – I suppose it’s what you’re used to. When I discussed 230V for domestic America, my tongue was stuck firmly in my cheek and I was referring to a system with 230V potential between a single phase and ground (à la Europe), hence my references to polarization. I know that present NEC/CEC 230V systems are Edison Circuits and are thus inherently non-polarized.

This brings me to SvenNYC’s and C-H’s comments regarding polarization. The non-French Euro plug is totally un-polarized even with a grounded plug. Even the French type appears to accept the common thin two pin un-grounded Euro plug. It seems common across the Continent that polarization is a non-issue - yet most switching on equipment will be single pole. I would much prefer to switch the phase/live/active conductor, than the neutral/grounded one. I refer to lyledunn’s tragic observation above – though mis-wiring appears to be a contributory factor in that fatality (I must say that not removing the plug was the main one). Is this lack of Continental sensitivity to polarization due to electric history? – were your early 220V circuits all Edison Circuits like North America or taps from 3-phase 127V and therefore non polar by their very nature.

PaulUK has made the observation in the past that the French, whilst having a semi-polarized system are not too fazed which way round they wire their sockets! I know that there is a lot of equipment out there that really doesn’t care which way round it is wired but there are some things (bedside/coffee table lamps) where - for safety’s sake - the live wire should be switched, especially those Edison Screw type bulbs that are common on the Continent. Childrens’ deaths have been reported from here in the US due to touching the live shell of an old un-polarized lamp on 115V. These lamps are often not grounded – so it’s not a grounding issue; which brings me to C-H’s point (7) – could you clarify this for me please.

If the IEC 60906-1 system includes two pin plugs there is still no polarization, hence my liking for the Australia/New Zealand approach. C-H the blades of these are solid brass and quite sturdy. I have not managed to casually bend one, unlike the common NEMA 5-15! Interesting C-H that you say this is the world standard for 115V systems.

Trumpy - a dedicated 240V 20A circuit and receptacle. The plug is a 240V 15A one which, in case you are unaware, has its phase/active pins horizontal rather than vertical (its 115V counterpart). Could you describe please your 15A socket and plug. I have only seen 10A ones in my wanderings round your neighbour’s part of the world. I noted at the time of my visit the lower maximum wattage on the kettles.

Coming back to the question of the cord exit direction, I see the Swiss plug has it coming straight out the back. I am not keen on this even though this is the rule rather than the exception here in the States. The IEC 60906-1 one, I see, is similar but can have it coming out sideways (but not down apparently). I must confess to not being in favour of pulling a plug out by its cord and most equipment instructions one reads discourage it. As I have said in these forums before, as a child in the UK these “no-pull” instructions always confused me, because with UK plugs this was nearly, physically impossible!

The recessed receptacles such as the Schuko and French types certainly offer protection against contact with partially inserted pins, but I have to agree with Hutch that to most of us who grew up in the Anglo-Saxon world they do lack a certain aesthetic quality.

On the polarity question, I think this is an area where general national outlooks seems to be at odds. For most portable domestic appliances, I don't see polarity as a big issue. If the switch on an electric drill or a food blender ends up in the grounded side of the circuit instead of the hot, so what? O.K., so the motor inside will still be live when the device is switched off, but anyone with enough knowledge to be poking around inside the appliance should be aware of this possibility. Although the polarity onto an ES-based table lamp is of more concern, it depends very much upon proper shrouding of the holder and lamp base. As has been discussed here before, the ES holders generally used in Europe are designed in such a way that the screw shell is normally out of reach of fingers by the time it's screwed far enough down to make contact. All that aside however, it's nice to be able to have polarized connections for some equipment, which would rule out the Schuko plug in its present form (Sorry about that Germany, Austria, Sweden, Holland, Norway....... )

The main argument in favor of the British 13A (BS1363) plug is the protection offered by the fuse for appliance cords. True in theory and in an ideal world, but just ask anyone who's lived in the U.K. how often they find a table lamp or a radio with a 13A fuse in the plug. So many people just fit a 13A fuse "because it's a 13A plug" or because they don't have a 3A fuse so they'll "change it later" -- yeah, right!

As others have pointed out though, the 13A plug and its BS546 round-pin 15A predecessor are horribly cumbersome and bulky plugs. The old 5A type was much better, and I still have a large number of these in use for test equipment for that very reason. The main drawback to the old British 5A plugs is that the 2-pin and 3-pin types aren't interchangeable -- i.e. you can't fit a 2-pin plug into a 3-pin receptacle. It's not just the shutters that get in the way, but also that the pin spacing of line and neutral is slightly different. The 5A rating is no good for 2kW+ kettles either, although I've always felt that 5A was a very conservative rating for these connectors. They'd probably carry 10A or even 15A without any problems.

I remember seeing an item back in about 1975/76 about a proposed new design for a European standard plug. It looked something like the Swiss plug pictured above, with an offset central earth connection, but the pins were flat (U.S.-style but shorter) rather than round. The receptacles were slightly recessed, and arranged vertically so that two would fit into a square box. The rating was listed as 16A. I never heard anything more about that. I think at the time the national comittees just couldn't agree on a common standard, so the idea was dropped. We haven't really progressed at all in the last 25 years, although the Schuko plug has become more widely accepted in countries that formerly had their own variations, e.g. Spain (National Electrical Motto: "We don't need no stinking ground connection anyway!").

If you look at a list of countries in which 110-120V power is still used for small appliances, then the NEMA 1-15 and 5-15 plugs are undoubtedly the most common. That includes not only heavily U.S. influenced places as you might expect, but also ex-British colonies such as Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Jamaica, etc. (No doubt that proximity to the U.S. market played a major part in influencing the continued use of 120V.)

U.K. manufacturers MK and Crabtree even make NEMA 5-15 configuration outlets on British-sized faceplates for export to some Arab countries which still have 127V power. They have added British touches though, such as including shutters and arranging them ground upward.




[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 12-20-2002).]

Hutch,
The 15A plug has the same pin configuration as the 10A plug we have here as standard.
The difference is that the Phase and
Neutral pins are slightly larger, but the real change, is the Huge Earth pin on the 15A type, this means that you can plug a 10A plug into a 15A socket-outlet, but not
vice-versa.

Maybe it sounds impolite, but I'M NEVER GONNA GIVE UP MY SCHUKO PLUGS!!!!!!!!!!!!
Looks: Just a case of tradition. I think most flat types look awful.
BTW: The swiss receptacles I remember are flat or only something like 5 mm recessed. (Don't get me down on this, when I was in switzerland the last time I was 5 years old).
I fEurope indeed would change to a flat pin arrangement like the US I'd decalre them to be completely nuts. My personal opinion is we HAVE the better system, so why should we adopt the worse one? All plug systems have their advantages (I like NEMA plugs, but I can't stand to use them every day, it'd also be giving up something of our identity, I still muffle about giving up our yellow road markings due to EU rules in 1995), but I think Schuko finds a good compromise. Furthermore it's an idiotic idea to attempt changing plugs by now, as there are zillions of appliances out there, this would only promote cheap adaptors and botched plug replacements.

[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 12-21-2002).]

Do the non-Europeans see why we have such a hard time getting our act toghether here in Europe?

Personally, I would much prefer the Swiss plug.

Hutch:

Yes, I think you are right about the reasons for the lack of polarization in Europe. We should keep in mind that the design isn't an 230V design but rather a 110V, 130V or 220V design. It was introduced back when there were both AC/DC and a variety of nominal voltages and the electrical system was still intended for ligthing.

Good luck in trying to change the North American voltages! I think it would be hard enough to make Americans install 240V sockets.

The ES holders and polarization has been adressed. The need for polarization arises from a serious design flaw of North American ES holders, not from the Edison socket in itself. I'm not impressed by bayonet cap lamps. You need them for cars, but I really can't see any point with them in other cases. Edison bulbs are just as good. (Not always though: Swedish porcelain lampholders usually come apart when you unscrew the bulb and expose the live parts. They have always had this design flaw. It doesn't make them cheaper, just dangerous. Another of life's mysteries...)

Swiss plugs are nice (And if I ever come to Switzerland I'll definitely buy some plugs, receptacles etc as a souvenir), but Schuko is what I've known since I know what electricity is, and I'm really tough about giving up old habits.
There have been people saying they're proud to be EUROPEANS, they want to give up their nationality for a european citizenship. Personally I'm happy to live in a united europe, but most of all I'm Austrian! I love my country, with all it's downsides (I also have a german passport, but I never felt like a German). I say: Unite Europe in all important points, but leave the countries their own peculiarities as far as possible.

Jeepers Tex! - I never thought of electric sockets representing some symbol of national pride or in the case of the Schuko – super-national pride. Sorry if I caused offense I guess I better appologise in advance in case I’ve wounded Gallic pride by commenting on their earthing pins!

Trumpy, When was the current plug system introduced into New Zealand and Australia and what preceded it?

Any major change of standards is bound to cause problems. Ranger raises a valid point about adapters and plug changes.

When the U.K. introduced the fused 13A plug, it didn't become an instant replacement. Some houses were still wired with the older round-pin outlets for some years, and of course existing wiring often stayed in use for decades. Adapters proliferated -- I still have a big box full of the critters, which change from/to almost every allowable permutation. Many people would take an appliance with a 3-wire cord and if they needed to connect to an existing ungrounded outlet they'd just chop off the green wire and fit a 2-prong plug.

Trying to obtain a common standard right across Europe is a huge undertaking. Trying to get the national committees to agree to such a common standard is probably even harder. I don't pretend to have a solution.

Curious that Austria gave up yellow markings on the roads. I seem to recall seeing some other country in Europe which also used (or still uses?) yellow -- Is it Liechtenstein, or maybe Switzerland? Drive on the new highways in Ireland, and you see a white center line with a yellow line marking each edge/shoulder -- The exact opposite to American roads!

As C-H has said, perhaps those of you outside Europe see the problem in this region of the world. Most of us in our individual countries have no quarrel with each other, or with anything which helps with free trade and movement. But we don't want to see all our individual national characteristics (and quirks!) eroded in the name of getting a fully "harmonized Europe" where everything is the same everywhere.

Anyone for a common European language???

This is why rest of Europe wants a plug that is compatible with the present ungrounded euro-plug. It would reduce the number of adapters dramtically. Problem is that Britain wants everybody to change to a brand new design.


I think the solution is to create a standard that (ECN #1 perhaps?) they simply have to accept. Don't ask - just do it!



Nor would I, but I fail to see how one can take national pride in something as mundane as a plug. It's not like traditions or languages. (Try changing the traditions of European countries and the capital punishment will rapidly be reintroduced! )

>Anyone for a common European language???

You're using it. English is the world wide standard for communication between people with different mother-tongues. There can never be a common European mother-tongue, only a common administrative language.


The RJ-11 is already world-wide standard. Local plugs have been reduced to adapters.

AFAIK in Switzerland the cebra crossings are yellow, everything else is white.
The old Austrian markings used to be all yellow, except for the outer edge marking, which always was a solid white line (on the old highways it was paved with white stones instead of being painted, so the rattling made everyone inadvertently going near the emergency lane aware of this fact). In 1995 they switched to all white except for construction marking (used to be yellow as well) which now are an awful orange. Real downside of the white markings is that the yellow paint was much sturdier. The yellow markings were visible for sometimes decades, whereas the white ones get grey after 1 day and blend up perfectly with the asphalt after max. 1 year. There are many places where the yellow has been painted over white and now gets yellow again, as the white paint completely disappears. Some roads with the original markings are left, and it still looks like new!

C-H said

Quote
----------------------------------------
I think the solution is to create a standard that (ECN #1 perhaps?) they simply have to accept. Don't ask - just do it!
----------------------------------------
So …

Here it is then – ECN#1 …





Leaps in to bomb shelter and slams door shut! …


[This message has been edited by Hutch (edited 12-24-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Hutch (edited 03-24-2003).]

Hutch,
Your international socket looks like an Australian skirting socket with the earth pin facing up, am I right?
I agree with a lot of what you said in your 1st post, and I would like to add the following requirements for any new system:
1) 16A Rating
2) 3 Pin plug & socket for all applications, with the socket shutters requiring all 3 pins to operate, thus preventing a class 1 appliance with broken earth pin to be inserted. This would also solve the polarity problem if the round pin (IEC 60906) type were adopted.
3) No recesses on sockets, they must be dirt traps which encourage cleaning with damp cloths etc.
4) Any new system must not be dangerously interchangable with existing systems.

I would also add that there is little point in introducing another plug & socket standard unless ALL major industrialised countries agree to adopt it.
As Ranger said, another standard would be an excuse for more adapters & bodged extension leads.

Hutch,
I really can't be sure when these plug configurations were introduced, but one thing, I can tell you is, it must have been a fair while ago, because I've never seen anything else used, apart from a few suspect,old round pin sockets used for clocks.
And the odd BS1363 plug installed for people from the UK, who wanted to use thier own appliances, when they moved here.

I wonder why it only seems to be British-influenced countries that are obsessed (OK, maybe that's a bit strong!) with having a switch for each receptacle? Nowhere else in the world seems to consider it necessary.

That "inverted Australian" picture looks from the markings as though you've arranged the switches down for on. For a worldwide standard, should we adopt down=on or up=on for those switches?

Hutch:
Way to go! I think you can come out of the bomb shelter. Just look out for that Austrian guy...

Your suggestion looks just like a Chinese socket, and considering the fact that China is a quarter of the world it has a good chance of becoming the world's most common plug

David:
I think I can solve the polarity problem with two round pins. Make the plug body and the socket recess assymetric. This would allow ungrounded IEC60906 plugs to work in all present European sockets, although without polarization. In the UK only the new sockets would accept these plugs and the plug would therefore be polarized in the UK.

I have never seen a plug pin break. Perhaps the British plugs with it's long earth pin offset are sensitive to this?

The recess isn't as bad a dirt trap as one would think, but there is a dirt build up on the top of any socket that sticks out of the wall. We should keep any recess as shallow as possible and get the sockets to be entirely flush mounted.


I agree. There is no point in introducing a European only plug. It must be a world-wide standard, otherwise we are better of with the present situation.

Paul:
Switches on sockets are instead of recess or insulating sleeves on live pins.


[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 12-23-2002).]

OK, no one needs to watch out, calmed down my first reaction.
I've seen NEMA plugs with badly bent prongs, I'm sure they'll eventually break. Also seen Euro plugs with bent prongs (the sleeving makes them weak) after they've been squeezed behind a closet or something else, however they probably won't break. They just stick out of the receptacle at a weird angle.
Why switches instead of recess or sleeving? I'd think that every user-operatable part is a weak link. Do you really think that Joe Average will switch off the receptacle each time he uses it?
I have to say, swiss type, recessed and/or with sleeved pins (best recessed with Schuko-like grooves on the sides for stabilization of Euro plugs and the suggested swiss type), rated 16A is my favourite. With decent Edison base lampholders I can't see any need for polarization.

Ranger: The switch, just like the insulated pins are ad hoc solutions. Originally, plugs were simple and "dangerous", like the US 15 plug. Different solutions were worked out in different countries. These include:

1.) Improved plug grip to prevent the hand from slipping.
2.) Switching
3.) Insulated pins
4.) Recessed sockets

The switch offers the additional benefit of eliminating the arcing when you insert or remove a plug under load. For this reason the large (63A and 125A) IEC 309 plugs have a pilot pin that switches the socket off when there plug is removed. A similar result could have been achieved by using insulated tips on live pins.

Here comes my suggestion for ECN #1



Insulated tips and sleeves. 16 mm high. Can be combined with Shucko, French, Italian, Danish and Swiss sockets.

If the ground pin is removed the assymetry of the body makes it possible to insert into French grounded sockets, but only one way


[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 12-01-2005).]

CH:

I don't for the life of me know why the Swiss never sleeved their earthed plugs. I know the Italians do, so why couldn't the Swiss. It's a big hole in their logic. Weird.

While we're on the subject of sleeved plugs, a friend and fellow radio collector from the UK sent me three old British 13-amp plugs with unsleeved pins along with two radios he gave me.

Since I have a couple of brand-new 13-amp plugs at home already, I asked him why he sent them to me.

"Oh we're not supposed to use them since they're unsleeved."

"Right, so you give them to me so I can go electrocute myself. Gee, thanks Paul!"



------------------
P.S.: Japan uses NEMA plugs. One company making cordsets for the Japanese market is making a sleeved NEMA 1-15 (two pin plug) cordset!!

Here is the picture of the two-pin plug:



They call it anti-tracking. I wonder if it's because of the potential of carbon tracks forming on the rubber/plastic housing between the pins and shortcircuiting? I've never heard of that phenomenon.


[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 12-23-2002).]

I don't see arcing at a receptacle (a regular domestic type, that is) to be that much of a problem. High-power equipment such as heaters generally has its own built-in switch which can be used before removing the plug. For low-power equipment it doesn't really matter.

By the way, IEE Regs. here don't require switched receptacles, although they are by far the most usual type in domestic installations.

Sven,
Re the sleeved BS1363 pins, what happened is that the Trading Standards Dept. mandated that the new sleeved plugs must be fitted to all electrical equipment sold in a commercial environment, even second-hand equipment sold in a junk shop.

C-H,
Excellently doctored picture! What is the purpose of sleeving the tips of the prongs.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 12-23-2002).]

Sleeved NEMA plugs???????? The prongs must sure be made of some stronger material than the usual ones! Even the unsleeved ones bent when you just look at them (I have a plug with an s-shaped prong), and the sleeved prongs are even thinner. How's that supposed to work?
My dad just said that as far as he remembers swiss plugs are a rather loosely fitting thing and don't feel too trustworthy. On the other hand i just nearly broke my hand when trying to plug a laser printer into the computer recep. behind my desk.
I've had some impressing arcs with plug-in power supplies for cell phone chargers and stuff. You get used to them!

Some moulded-on NEMA plugs have thick strong pins (same as the Australian counterparts) made of solid brass (or iron) that you cannot bend at all with your bare fingers without damaging the rubber or plastic housing.

Others are folded brass pieces that can bend into odd shapes. It all depends on the (usually Chinese) manufacturer of the cordset. It seems like the folded brass blades are more common though.

Also, some replacement plugs have thick, non bendable brass solid blades and others have what are called "spring-action" folded brass blades which because they're flexible, are supposed to make better contact with the receptacle contacts.

Paul:

The insulated tips are a result of me looking (too) deep into the drawings and dimensions of present European plugs (all of them) and the suggested IEC plug. You see, I wanted to push the metal as far back towards the plug face as possible to maximise the area where it makes contact with the metal parts of the socket. The problem is that with a conventional design, the pins make contact very soon after the plug is inserted. Therefore, the insulating sleeves need to be long. However, much of the length at which the plug is live is not used when it is fully inserted. This is a result of the rounding of both pins and recieving metal parts inside sockets. The rounds aren't used once the plug is fully inserted. Roughly 3-4 mm of the insertion way is lost this way. By making the rounded tips insulated, it is possible to extend the useful metal length of the pins.

Yes, I understand that you couldn't follow that, but it's hard to describe something in a foreign language But take a Shucko/French/Italian whatever socket apart and insert the plug and watch when it makes contact. I think you will find that only a few millimetres of the pins are in contact with the socket when the plug is fully inserted.

No problem -- I understand your point exactly. In fact if you open up many brands of British receptacles you'd find a similar situation where once fully seated the tips of the pins and not actually contacting anything.

As for explaining in a foreign language, rest assured that your English is excellent! Hands up how many of us in here can speak any Swedish? No, me neither...

I understood it perfectly also, C-H.

Your English is much much better than my Swedish....

Hell...the only things I can say in Swedish is IKEA.

And I wish one of my friends would stop calling me SVENSKA!!

I just read that the Australians have proposed making the common appliance connector the world standard plug/socket system. If implemented, it would pretty much become the only system used. It sounds simple, but there are some technical hurdles to be overcome. (Things like child safety, suitability for outdoor use, current carrying capacity and probably more.)

C-H

Are you talking about the one that's commonly used for connecting computer power cords?

Male inlet:


Female outlet:


There's gotta be a way to also provide for shuttering for these guys...but at least they're shrouded and the female's contacts are deeply recessed - and the holes are small enough.

Shuttering is a must in my opinion: Imagine a child putting a trailing socket the mouth... Shutters would reduce this risk dramatically.

Outdoor use would require an outer "cover" for the trailing socket, to have somewhere to put the lid and to protect it from water. Using such a cover would also make it difficult for a child or pet to put a socket in the mouth.

The 16A version is more suitable than the common 10A version.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 02-24-2003).]

A shuttered version of these IEC sockets is available, I have seen them here in the UK.
They are sold in the form of an adaptor that plugs into a 13A socket with 2 or 4 shuttered IEC sockets, intended for hifi & tv equipment.

C-H said ...

"I just read that the Australians have proposed making the common appliance connector the world standard plug/socket system."

That's a turn-up for the books as Tommy Cooper used to say ... as I proposed a modification of the Australian standard!

BTW C-H, what does the 16A version look like? Have you got a picture?

Thanks

The IEC connector is used on heavy appliences here in Ireland (and in the UK) for things like 2.5 KW electric kettles, sandwich toasters etc. Even seen it on vacuum cleaners. It's not actually all that safe and I certainly wouldn't like to see it as a wall plate.

You can very easily insert a small metal object into one of the "slits" on the socket. It's not shuttered it allows you to pull the plug out by the cord etc.

As for the breaking / bending pins problem. A british plug would physically break before the pins would bend they're very solid brass no way you'd bend/break them even if you hit it with a hammer or put them into a vice.

The only signifigant problem I find with BS1363 plugs is that if you leave them on the floor they tend to fall with all 3 pins sticking up. They tend to sit on their backs (which are flat) by default (cable exits thru the bottom)

The problem: you unplug something, plug is sitting on the floor and you get up in the dark and walk on it! While the pins arn't sharp, if you come down on them hard enough with your foot you'll do yourself quite a painful injury.

I've never seen any other plug system that does this!

Other than that one problem they're actually a very good system and probabally the most recent design of connector in use (and were revised in the 70s and 80s to include sheething on the phase and neutral). Schuko (and its derivitives) & the US standard have been around for much longer and haven't really adapted to cope with modern safety demands. The UK system was designed primarly as a safety device and was even refered to in Ireland as a "safety plug" when Schuko and BS 546 were being phased out of use.

Its definitely a system that is very well able to cope with modern demands. If the ring circuit is used correctly it's also very useful. Modern homes have a lot low wattage appliences thesedays and with the ring circuit design it's much easier to have sufficient sockets installed. E.g. in Ireland the regulations require 10 outlets in a kitchen as a recomended minimum! Generally people don't add sockets or break the rings. You can insert a europlug into older style BS 1363 sockets if you bypass the shuttering but you physically can't fit full 16 amp schuko pins into the "holes" they're too wide. I've noticed that newer sockets now have 3-way shuttering, i.e. you have to insert an earth pin and then push both L & N in simultaniously (europlugs won't open the shutters only correctly sized pins will open it)

A typical modern home here would have at least 4 outlets per room and it's rare to see a single wall plate in a modern installation. Older installations tended to have one per room, seems common to have 1 or 2 in France. I would rather have properly installed and functioning british style ring circuits than endless adaptors as I've seen in France.

The other comment about the ring circuit is that there is no high incidence of electrical fires here caused by ring circuits. They've been in use for years and they have never caused any problems. However, DIY electrical work on any circuit architecture (radial or ring) is likely to cause problems! I've seen sockets added to lighting circuits, into cooker circuits etc by DIYers!

Ouch! Just reading that makes me think of the times it's happened to me, particularly as I tend to go around the house without shoes on.

I can't say that I'm over-impressed with the 16A IEC-type sockets. When used in high-current applications (e.g. kettle), many types seem to end up with burned and overheated contacts in a comparatively short time.

Hutch:





[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 12-01-2005).]

Remember the old british standard kettle connector?

Huge round black thing with 1 flat earth pin and 2 round for live and neutral ? Is that still used?

Ah yes... Now that was a hefty connector that would probably have quite safely carried much more than its 15A rating. Some of them were almost a two-man operation to remove!

Wonder if a picture of it exsists anywhere?

All the old BS stuff was very conservatively rated.

The 5amp BS 546 plugs seem like they could have easily carried 15/16 amps they're very like schuko type pins.

As for the 15Amp totally over specified!

I've often noticed the similar sizing of BS546 5A pins and Schuko 16A pins.

I don't recall seeing any images of the old BS kettle connector online. I may well still have one in one of my many "junk" boxes. If I come across one, I'll take a snap.

I don't think the stated ratings on those plugs has anything to do with their load carring capacity. They were designed to be physically incompatable with eachother to differenciate low power and high power circuits. They seem to be all identical in all aspects just miniturised in the case of the 2 amp and over sized in the case of the 15 amp.

My guess is that they just picked nominal ampages and assigned a particular size of plug to each with a good margin of safety rather than actually designing the the neatest possible plug to carry a X amps.

I'd say if they were actually rated for real load carring capability the 5amp BS 546 could safely carry 16 amps and the 2amp would be more like the modern europlug while the 15 amp would probabally safely carry a lot more than 15/16 amps given the enormous size and contact area on its pins. They're bigger than a lot of modern industrial connectors and it makes a pretty good connection considering that you can hardly get the damn things out again !

The Schuko wasn't always 16A. Old ones have a 10A rating and really old ungrounded plugs could carry a meagre 6A. I suppose the rating was increased as demand increased. Brazil has a 20A plug with the same pins...

What do modern-day British-market electric kettles use?

American coffee percolators, rice cookers and kettles use this funky "iron plug" which is two round pins for the inlet (and two round sleeves for the outlet at the end of the cordset) - probably a little closer together than a standard Europlug.

There's also one that's twice as wide. It all depends on the device - there are like three or four different varieties of these here. There's even one with a thermostat...for electric frying pans, I think.

Also, the appliance and cordset manufacturers here are wiseguys. They rivet the two halves of the bakelite shell together instead of using a screw and nut.

That way, if you have to replace the flex, you can't just reattach the plug to a new hank of bulk flex cut off a spool at the hardware store.

You have to buy a whole new cordset at many times the price!!! F&%$ing crooks!!!!

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 03-04-2003).]

They use a high temp IEC connector (like a PC but with a groove making it impossible to connect a non-temp resistant PC type one) that handles up to 15/16amps @ 250 V

You could however plug a kettle lead into a PC the cable would be a bit over rated and the plug is a bit bulkier.

Old appliances here (irons, kettles, cookers, vacuum cleaners,...) used a special connector. It had round pins, probably the size of a British 15A plug, spaced like Schuko but at least 6mm in diameter and optional side grounding with heavy flat springs at the female connector. I really liked these things, and even though they've been completely replaced by IEC connectors they're still sold in many places. They're really solid and always rewireable, with the modern hardware store cord sets it seems as though the female connector is by far the most solid part, compared with the weak plastik Schuko plug. The entire part that inserted into the recess of the male connector was made of porcelaine.

[This message has been edited by Texas_Ranger (edited 03-04-2003).]

Ragnar: Are these still in production in Austria? There is still demand for them here, but apparently the production has ceased.

I have no idea. At the electrician's they were already hard to get 10 years ago, but about half a year ago I saw complete cord sets stocked at Baumax (big hardware store). Cheap Schuko plug, 2m 3x 1mm2 (maybe 1.5 mm2) cord and grounded appliance connector. IIRC they were quite cheap.

The type of connector described by Ranger sounds very similar to a type found on some British appliances of the 1930s/1940s/early 1950s.

These things were huge. The prongs were certainly the size of those on a 15A BS546 plug, if not larger, and the side earth contacts would come into direct contact with the metal appliance casing, which was formed around the prongs of the connector.

Some types came with a built in switch, often the type where a cylindrical bar extends through the body of the socket with a red button for "on" on one side and a black or white button for "off" on the other.

Just like the BS546 range, these things were rather conservatively rated at 15A.



[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 03-05-2003).]

Yep, exactly. The switched type was commonly used for vacuum cleaners and these nice heaters with a heating coil in the center of a parabolic metal reflector. Sometimes the bar was square instead of round, and I even saw one with a small key switch. Made the connector even bigger. I think this type of connector was used well into the 1970ies until the IEC connector came up. I remember some rather new electric kettles with that connector.
A nice point is that the side grounding was indeed connected directly to the metal casing of the appliance. So there's no problem grounding an older appliance. You just use a grounded cord.
User decides whether it is a class 0 or class 1 device.

Ooohhh...I have a BIG problem with that!!!

Metal-cased appliances are inherently dangerous if used un-grounded. Too many things can go wrong and cause a live conductor to come in contact with the metal chassis.

If you're a manufacturer selling to litigation-happy Europe (where the manufacturer is still liable even if user idiocy causes death or dismemberment), you want to make things as "safe" and idiot-proof as possible.

This should include non-defeatable earthing and polarizing.

The parabolic electric heaters are still imported into the United States....they're usually sold under the brand "Heat Dish"

[img]http://store3.yimg.com/I/the-nutrionist_1727_33993269[/img]



[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 03-06-2003).]

Differs from country to country. Some countries doesn't really care: It's the user's problem and responsibility. In other countries it's the manufacturers problem. One case to illustrate this: A washing powder manufacturer tested its new washing powder on the Dutch market. Tens of thousand consumers used it with no problems. When it was introduced in Britain and Spain they ran into problem instantly: The consumers complained of destroyed clothes. The reason turned out to be that the Dutch read the instruction (cold wash only) but the Brits and Spaniards didn't. The washing powder was withdrawn from the market.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 03-06-2003).]

Help! Here the heat dishes disappeared in the late 60ies since fan type heaters are much more effective when trying to heat a room. Heat dishes are only good for heating up frozen fingers or toes. (I once compared the 2 heaters, same wattage, trying to heat up a room). Heat dishes only give infrared heat, whereas fan heaters give off warm air.
Well, it isn't that bad. Old class 0 devices always had a metal case and weren't grounded. Worst case were ungrounded metal hairdryers. Today only grounded cords are available, so the user decides whether to continue using the ungrounded cord or get a grounded one, converting the aplliance to class 1.
Litigation-happy Europe? The best-known USA cliché is that everybody sues companies for the most ridiculous reasons! (No label on the microwave stating that you can't dry poodles in there, no warnings printed on hot coffee cups, etc). At least in Austria lawsuits only have a chance if the appliance is inherently dangerous.

Perhaps I should have said "litigation-happy world"....

Has anyone ever run across those heaters that used special tubular light bulbs instead of nichrome wire? They're like from the turn of the century or someting....(1900s).

Ragnar,

Next time you are in New York City in the winter and REALLY want a Heat Dish, I can take you to the stores where they sell them. Although the prices I've seen are pretty excessive (especially on the internet). You can get a good fan-forced heater for half the price if you know where to shop.

I really don't think the Heat Dish is all that great for exactly the reason you said (infrared only)....I only started seeing them again in the last 8 years or so.

Before that the "electric fire" that I saw the most consisted of this rectangular tin box with a coil of nichrome wire zigzagging horizontally across a refletive tin surface and a fan in the back to blow the heat around the room. It always looked to melike a monster with glowing teeth in a dark room when I was a little kid...

Quartz heaters with fans in little plastic boxes seem to be the in-vogue thing the past few winters. I guess they're safer because there's no exposed metal to get hot.

My personal favorite is the oil-filled electric "radiator." I have one but thank God don't need to use it at all because I finally live in an apartment with PLENTY of steam heat! And since I liver right over the boiler room in the basement, with steampipes running right underneath the floor, I have nice warm floors also!!

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 03-06-2003).]

I don't think the dish-type heaters have been sold in stores here for many, many years. I still occasionally see one in a junk shop, mostly 1930s/1940s vintage.

Fan heaters are certainly good for warming up a room quickly, thanks to the circulation of air. Great for thawing out cold feet on winter days as well!

Why can't the UK & Ireland (and possibily malta and cyprus) change to Schuko?

I can't see why a special schuko outlet couldn't be produced for ring mains systems. All you'd have to do is to include 13 amp fusing on the sockets. BSI could insist that those were the only type of sockets usable in retrofits in the uk and thus preserve the ring circuit.

All appliences sold in the UK have harmonised european cabling on them for a LONG time and are quite safe to use on standard 16 amp schuko plug/socket systems.

A sollution like that would mean that fused plugs would be eliminated completely and the systems would be just as safe as they always have been.

I can't see a fusing problem as the fuse would be fixed in the socket on the live/hot side so if it overloads the live cuts out, just as it does in a 13 amp plug, regardless of which way the schuko plug is inserted.

Fusing schuko plugs would be pretty tricky as you'd have a 50:50 chance of the fuse being on the neutral and it would be impossible to prevent non-fused european schuko/europlug appliences from getting in to the UK/Ireland.

British wall plates are big enough to encorporate switches and lights along side the sockets so i don't see why a fuse, just like in a fused spur plate, couldn't be included on a new BS schuko outlet.

They could also insist on shuttering being used in the British / Irish outlets.

As it is at the moment most appliences arn't properly fused anyway. I can't see the point of the 5amp/3amp fuses as usually when one blows people replace them with 13amp as they're much easier to find. Europlugs are regularlly jammed into UK sockets and are sitting on 32/35amp rings with no fuse protection at all. I wonder what fire risk they pose?

BS 1362 fuses could continue to be used in these sockets too so you'd have lots of spares available from day one.

Companies like MK etc would still have the same share of the market too as the UK/Ireland socket outlets would still have to be manufactured with fuses and to fit UK wall plate standards. They would no doubt continue to make money from rewirable plugs too as their distribution channels are so well established. I'm sure that market is deminishing anyway since all appliences now ship with moulded-on plugs.

As for looks, if you look at MKs website they already make a schuko recessed fitting in various colours (including brass etc) designed to fit a normal double UK style wall plate and they look quite good from an asthetic point of view.

As for adaptors, you simply ship the appliences with european plugs and use those "fixed on" adaptors, which seems to be the case with an increasing number of appliences anyway.

Europlug:


Schuko: Grounded


Schuko: Non Grounded


After XX years the BS1363 would go the same way that the older systems went, it would actually be a much smoother change-over thanks to those adaptors.

Here are the MK Schuko double plates to UK box standards by the look of them:



(c) MK Electric



(c) MK Electric
http://www.mkelectric.co.uk/

If fuses were added they should work perfectly within a UK ring mains system.

Cool idea. I'm a fan of Schuko receptacles as the plugs are basically as solid as BS 1363 ones but not that bulky (you'll hardly ever have a real Schuko plug fall out of the wall), they're recessed and don't need sleeved pins, and last but not least they're already in use in a majority of European countries as well as some overseas countries.
And I grew up with them.
I think that for example Italy will eventually change to Schuko plugs considering the amount of Schuko plugs that are already in use (Tons of adaptors, DIN rail panel mount sockets are only Schuko type, most power strips take Schuko plugs as well as Italian ones and there are Schuko and combo receptacles available that fit Italian boxes.
When I stayed with an Italian family for some time I found the following items powered with Schuko plugs and adaptors: coffee maker, washing machine, computer, refrigerator, desk lamp, maybe more stuff I didn't see).

You do see the occasional europlug here, anything with a schuko plug generally gets it cut off and a BS1363 plug fitted. For whatever reason appliences shipped without fitted plugs in the UK for many years until an EU directive was passed so people are very used to fitting plugs and wouldn't think twice about cutting a 2-pin schuko plug off and fitting a "proper one". I noticed that italians are more reluctant to do that and rewirable plugs arn't as easily available.

I wouldn't advocate changing the BS1363 system for any technical reasons. It's a perfectly good standard, works well and causes no problems. It's just it is a little out of sync with the rest of Europe and is just another annoying little difference that doesn't really need to be there.

Also having people by-pass its plug-top fuses by wedging europlugs into outlets is far from safe and happens regularly in Ireland anyway. Thankfully most of the sockets are slightly too tight to accept a 16 amp schuko plug, the pins are too fat to go in so at least we don't have the danish and italian problem of appliences not being earthed but working perfectly.

Also since Ireland used/uses 220V it tended to get european versions of appliences shipped with 220V ratings and European plugs. Also since we've joined the Euro it makes a lot more sense to source electrical equipment from distribution centres within the Eurozone as you avoid sterling-euro conversions so once again many appliences are shipping with european plugs. This usually applies to stuff that is relatively cheap and doesn't have to be localised (i.e. doesn't have to be printed up in English). It would be rare to get a washing machine shipped with a schuko plug for example because of the need to have the front panel in English. TVs, VCRs, small appliences etc often do however. Many stores just throw one of those european converter plugs into the box!

That's an interesting idea about the U.K. adopting Schuko receptacles but including a fuse at each outlet to enable the ring circuit to be retained. It would certainly enable a changeover to be made without the need for complete rewires.

I wonder though, whether after a short time there might not be a call for the U.K. to switch to Schuko outlets on 16A radial circuits, Continental style. If that did happen, then there would be no point in using fused receptacles on those new circuits, so we'd have both fused and unfused Schukos being sold. And when Joe Klutz decides to convert his own home, you can bet which type he would use to replace his existing BS1363 typoes, can't you? The unfused types are bound to be cheaper, after all.

That aside, the biggest hurdle to overcome would be to get the IEE and other British Standards bodies to accept the Schuko receptacle. Even though for most appliances polarity doesn't really matter, they are still totally opposed to non-polarized connectors.

I really can't see why the ring system would be abandoned. If the outlets are fused there is no longer any risk of anyone connecting directly to a circuit protected only by 30-35amp fuse/mcbs. The major problem with BS1363 on ring circuits is that the fusing is in control of the end user. If he/she just pops a europlug in bypassing the shuttering etc there is a serious fire risk.

If there were 16amp unfused outlets made available the simple sollution is to make them with a different wall box that doesn't fit into the normal British wall box that would prevent joe clutz from just swapping the face plates and by-passing the fusing.

I honestly can't see why BSI couldn't just inforce a BS number for fused schuko sockets though. I mean what's to prevent Joe or Jane Clutz from fitting BS546 sockets to a ring main? or buying a few sockets in France of Spain while on holiday and popping them in as it is? Hardware stores won't stock non-approved gear and are subject to prosecution if they do anyway.

What would the feasability of using 16amp fuses in the sockets be? It would bring them into line with EU norms and presumably the ring main itself would be protected by its own 30-35amp fuse so it couldn't overload, 13amp was only decided upon for local cable protection reasons in the 1940s. There are plenty of 10amp outlets around Europe though, so UK 13 amp wouldn't be that weird. They could even come up with a neater cartridge fuse for the job.

The configuration, here at least, for 16amp industrial sockets is to either wire them on a radial 16 amp circuit or to wire them to a ring with local 16amp fusing before each outlet so it's not like it's anyting radically different.

also if they were fused at 16 amps you could just outright ban all but the fused versions, it would not make any difference wheather you wired on 32amp rings or 16amp radials you could use 16amp fused sockets.

On the polarisation issue:

IEE accepts "figure of 8" connectors for countless small appliences that are reversable. Those conversion plugs are also now acceptable and there is no way of ensuring which way the schuko / europlug is connected inside.

Good point about the non-polarized connectors already in use. I imagine the IEE would say that they are used on specific items of equipment, whereas the wall receptacle is a general-purpose outlet which may be used for almost any appliance.

On the possibility of fused Schuko outlets, they couod be designed to take a 15A fuse to BS1361. They're the standard cartridge fuses used in distibution panels in the U.K.

Apologies DJK, but I have to add my 2 cents worth.

What benefit to UK consumers is there in changing to schuko sockets?
Will the system be safer than BS1363?

I don't see any benefit to UK consumers, other than the fact you would not need to pack an adapter when going on holiday to Europe.
I don't believe that schuko is any safer than BS1363, with it's switched, shuttered, polarized sockets & sleeved pin plugs.

Any benefit would be to appliance manufacturers only.
The consumer would be faced with the prospect of replacing all their plugs & sockets once again, when it is only relatively recently that BS 546 was phased out.

The problem you describe with Europlugs in Ireland doesn't exist in mainland UK. Appliances are fitted with 13A plugs, except for shavers & electric toothbrushes which have BS4573 2 pin plugs.
Schuko sockets would probably be far more acceptable to Irish consumers due to your history of using the system & 220V supply, but I am certain that Brits would resist any change to the system, fused or not.

I am not by any means opposed to changing from our BS1363 system, but as I stated earlier in this thread, it would need to be a completely new system adopted by all industrialized countries. Also any new system would need to be safer than existing systems, & not dangerously interchangable.

There wouldn't be a huge benefit to Irish customers either, particularly since the change to 230 V and it is a legal requirement to fit IS 401/A (BS1363/A) plugs to all appliences sold here even if the odd schuko or europlug slips through the net.

It just seems rather ridiculous that Europe has so many versions of something so simple.

On another point:

I never have quite understood the argument that BS1363 is bulky, moulded on BS1363 plugs are pretty much the same size as their schuko equivilants. The only problem excess bulk is the lack of a 2-pin version due to the shuttering system.
Although the UK and Ireland do have some standards that are much more seriously different e.g. Driving on the opposite side of the road to the rest of the EU.

EU standardisation of Phone/Modem plugs isn't such a big deal as generally, since GSM/GPRS and 3G mobiles have arrived no one uses the fixed system while traveling. I can't see why the EU doesn't just adopt a single standard for that though. RJ 11 is perfectly acceptable in most systems although the EU could come up with something a little less fiddly.