I plugged the list of the sockets used around the world into Excel to see which plugs were the most and least common. As I can't tell the number of sockets installed, I used the number of countries instead.

Excel returned the following:

Socket outlets without earth
Two round pins, 124 countries
American 15A, 58 countries

Socket outlets with earth
British 13A, 55 countries
German "Schuko", 53 countries
American 15A, 47 countries
French, pin earth 41 countries
Old British 5A, 40 countries
Australian 10A, 23 countries
Italian 10A, 9 countries
Danish, 9 countries
Old British 15A, 8 countries
Swiss 10A, 7 countries

I know the data is very, very shaky, but I thought I could share it with you.

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 05-07-2003).]

That certainly makes for an interesting comparison, but as you say, the data doesn't allow for the actual numbers in use.

Many of the 55 countries listed as using the British 13A plug, for example, will be ex-Colonial islands, African countries with little use outside of major cities, etc.

C-H,
There's a lot of countries that use plugs without earthing contacts.
Paul,
Is it true that when you purchase an appliance in the UK, it has a bare end on the flex and you have to fit your own plug?.
If so, why is this?.

Mike,
Re UK appliance cords.
Not true nowadays, since 1993/4 it has been mandatory for appliances to be fitted with a 3 pin 13A plug. In practice most appliances were fitted with plugs for a few years prior to that, but that was when it was required as part of UK consumer safety law.
The argument that used to be quoted for not fitting plugs was that BS 546 sockets were still in common use. In reality I think most sockets were BS 1363 by the late 1970's.
Some appliances are still not fitted with plugs, but only fixed ones intended for permanent connection. Examples would be wall mounted panel heaters, cooker hoods & appliances with loads in excess of 13A.

In most countries where sockets without earth is used, sockets with earth are also used. (Old versus new) The list I compiled should not be read like the countries used this plug exclusively. That would land the number of countries in the world at several hundred. (There are some 200 countries in the world)

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 05-10-2003).]

Mike,
British appliances always came with either a card fitted over the cord or a page in the front of the instruction book which told buyers how to wire their own plug.

It also included instructions on what rating fuse must be fitted.

Unlike much of the rest of Europe our old sockets are completely incompatable with BS1363 so there was some logic to supplying appliences without plugs at one stage. However, by the early 1980s it really didn't make a lot of sense. In the rest of Europe things have remained relatively compatable. Schuko having being around since at least the 1920s.

There are still some BS546 outlets (in UK/Ireland) and the odd schuko outlet (in ireland). [The term "Schuko" was never used here. It was always refered to as "2-Pin side earthed."] So for safety sake they always include an information card attached to the cable.

This card seems to have a semi-standard text and is attached to EVERY applience sold.

This applience has been supplied with a moulded plug conforming to BS1363/A (IS 401/A) which has been fitted with a 13 amp fuse. If this plug is not suitable for the outlets in your home cut it off and dispose of it carefully. Fit a suitable plug making sure that the applience is protected with appropriate fusing at the distribution panel.

There's usually a note about safe disposal of the moulded plug as it could be leathal if inserted into a compatable outlet elsewhere in the house etc.

Where a non-moulded plug is used it's fitted but for some reason it often has card fitted to the front of the plug explaining how to re-wire it!

Plugs are still relatively easily available.. most supermarkets etc. will have them in stock. Although they're most definitely not as common place as they were even 10 years ago.

Rewirable schuko and BS546 (15amp and 5amp) are usually available in most hardware stores.

Strangely enough the Schuko plugs on sale here never seem to have the recepticle for the French earth pin which makes them really useless for fitting to appliences before going on vacation to France. They're are still conforming to a piece of Irish electrical safety legislation which refers directly to the DIN standard for CEE 7/4 "pure" Schuko rather than to CEE 7/7 (the version that bridges the French-German earthing incompatability)

C-H: For your website

You might add the British shaver/toothbrush plug to your list. It's not the same as "Europlug" although it looks extremely similar and is fitted to almost all shavers and electric toothbrushes sold in the UK and Ireland (and Hong Kong)

The pins are shorter and fatter and slightly closer together than Europlug.. I think it may be derived from the 2-pin 2amp version of BS546 and called BS4573.

They appear to be rated 2.5A max

It's impossible to insert one of these plugs into a normal European outlet.


They look VERY similar though!

[This message has been edited by djk (edited 05-11-2003).]

DJK,

Are there replacements still available for these two-pin shaver plugs? If so, I think I have one.

Can't take a picture of it but here is a description:

Circular bakelite disk with two fat round pins. A hemi-spherical cap screws onto the disk. The dead-front is stamped 250 volts 5 amps. Is this still the proper and commonly available replacement?

I bought this thing last year at a hardware store in New York. It was in a bin with a bunch of standard two-pin American plugs. Don't know how it ended up there but a dollar later it was mine!

I hope these things are available...what do you do if the cordset on your shaver gets damaged and it's not a detachable one?

(P.S.: I don't own an electric shaver, so I don't know first hand what is available)

Sven,
Does your British plug look something like this?



This is a typical 1940s/1950s era 2-pin 5-amp plug. The barrier strip between the terminals has a notch at either end around which the wires are wrapped to act as a strain relief. This type of plug is certainly not manufactured anymore. New electrical regulations in the 1970s banned the use of plugs where the cover can be removed without the use of a tool. ("Too easy for someone to unscrew the cap and touch live terminals" they said.)

Here are a couple more 5A plugs of different styles:

The one on the right is a side entry type, with a single screw to hold the top in place. The one on the left is the flat-type, with a single fixing nut and bolt which holds the two halves of the plug together. These are probably of late 1950s/1960s vintage.

Anyone searching for a replacement plug for his shaver in the normal shops these days is going to have a hard time finding one. I haven't seen 2-pin 5-amp plugs in the likes of Woolworth for years.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 05-12-2003).]

I don't know about the UK but I've personally never seen a re-wirable 2 pin British plug on sale in Ireland. Maybe they were during the 1950s.

The only 2-pin plugs I've seen sold here as rewirable units are Schuko.

Paul,

It looks exactly like the one in the first picture but the little barrier strip on mine doesn't have the notches - just a plain plastic "wall".

I can understand the first one being "outlawed", but the two white ones with the screw and nut holding them together do meet the updated regs that you mention(requiring a plug that can only be taken apart with a tool).

I guess if I'm living in the UK and the molded-on shaver plug gets damaged, I'd have to go to Maplins and pick up one of these:



and plug it into one of these:





Are the white plugs available from real electrical suppliers or not at all anymore?

Pretty difficult to damage one of those moulded on versions! Unless you really try using tools!

Pins are unbendable, it would survive being run over with a car..

Much more likely that you'd break the shaver/toothbrush attached so i guess the replacements are not exactly hot sellers.

A rewirable Europlug would work fine though

Well, if you fitted that U.S.-style plug from Maplin, you might not even need the adapter. Quite a lot of the xfmr-isolated shaver outlets here will accept American, British, and Continental (Euro) plugs. Some take Australian as well, and some provide 110V as well as 240V.

There might be someone still making or importing the old 2-pin plugs, but they're not in any of the major manufacturers' catalogs anymore (3-pin BS546 plugs and outlets are still available, however).

Options for tracking them down:

(a) A second-hand/junk/thrift shop, where there might be a drawer full of old electrical plugs and switches. Just make sure the one you pick up has all its fixing screws etc.

(b) Garage sale - Ditto.

(c) Some electronics nut who has boxes of all sorts of things lying around! (Did I have someone in mind? Maybe... )

(d) An old back-street electrical dealer who has been there for decades and probably still has a box full out the back.

Going off topic a little, but sadly, these "old-time" shops are few and far between these days, and those that are left are often in what are now rather run-down parts of town that you might not think of visiting.

There's one in Great Yarmouth, about 20 miles from here, and he still has all sorts of new-old-stock items in the back. Funnily enough, a couple of hundred yards further up the road is another old-style shop for domestic appliance parts. Want a spare bag for a 35-year-old vacuum cleaner, or a replacement water pump for that 1965 washing machine? He probably has one, or knows someone who can get one.

It's not a nice part of town to visit these days, though I imagine that being in the very low-rent district is the only way that these shops have survived into this modern age.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 05-13-2003).]

Here's a typical U.K. molded-on shaver plug. This is a later type - Note the partially shielded pins:

It's not quite legible in the image, but this plug is actually stamped "Remington."

"I liked it so much, I took a photo of the plug!"

(With apologies to our Continental friends who might not understand that last bit!)

Isn't there a weird BS cable coupling unit too?

3 short stubby round pins with the earth slightly off centre..

Seen it used here anyway.

Yup...these things:

5-amp 3-pin version:


There's also a two-pin version - this is for 10 amps:



What's the point of these anyway? Why not use conventional BS-1363 connetors if you want to make an extension cord? Or is this for internal connections for appliances, machinery, etc.?


[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 05-15-2003).]

They're used to couple equipment a lot.

Lawn mowers and garden equipment for example. A short cable dangles off the mower with a plug and you have lead with a socket.

BS1363 isn't very suitable for that kinda thing because it can't easily be pulled apart.

Often irish garden equipement comes with Schuko plugs and a BS1363 (with RCD) plug to a tough rubber schuko socket.

If for some reason you need to quickly disconnect BS1363 it just doesn't happen.. they won't pull out of a socket unless you grip the plug and pull.

They also limit what can be plugged into a "coupling" to the applience only.

Those couplers have been common in the U.K. for many years on appliances such as lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, and so on.

Another reason for using them in preference to BS1363 extensions is the rating of the cord. Far too many people will try to use any BS1363-equipped cord to run anything they can plug into it, including a 3kW fan heater! Although smaller gauge BS1363 extensions will come equipped with a 3 or 5A fuse in its plug, we all know how often that gets replaced with a 13A type.

At least the use of these "dedicated" extension discourages such abuse with high-power appliances.

I've noticed that quite a lot of the latest garden equipment sold in Britain comes with latching IEC-style connectors these days. In some cases, there is no cord attached to the appliance at all -- Just a molded IEC plug in the casing for the attachment of the cord.

Yeah the IEC connectors seem to be very popular with manufacturers. Most Bosch gear here still comes with one of those "contour" schuko plugs on a short lead though. You get a rewirable very very tough black rubber schuko trailing socket wired to a bright orange cable with a moulded on BS1363 plug though.

Highly unlikely someone will plug anything else into it over here in Ireland but it could easily happen in the rest of Europe.

Those IEC connectors are prob. a better sollution as they're totally incompatable with anything else unless someone decides to use a Flymo lead to boil a kettle on the lawn! (Which wouldn't at all supprise me)

A lot of garden equipment also ships with RCD plugs fitted as standard too.

Heck, you remind me I've got to fix my Flymo! My aunt tries to get something like a lawn after we had a bulldozer going around in our back yard last year (they dug a trench around the foundation to seal it) and my cousin keeps bugging me to mow the lawn. Until now I could get her off by telling her mowing would rip the grass out, but I guess now it's really time.
My Flymo is a weird thing with a makeshift motor casing made of an old aluminum cooking pot and the mounting strips of the pot (thin sheet metal) tore out where they were fastened to the pot. Now I've got to screw them back together with huge washers. At least the Flymo was for free