Here's one I've never heard mentioned here before.

A French 230V 20A plug... I've seen these in use in France before. (looks a bit like BS546 15A)



Adaptor for hooking up a normal 16A french plug or europlug:


or even 2:



3P+Ground (20A)
I've seen these on heating appliences.


Full 3-phase with neutral and ground (32A)


[This message has been edited by djk (edited 01-02-2004).]

Single phase 20A French socket with ground: (230V)



3-phase with ground (no neutral) Rated 20A



3-phase with neutral: (and ground) rated 32A



Finally this single phase socket's rated 32A!!! physically bigger than the 20A version




I don't like the idea of unprotected receptacles on a wall-socket that size..


[This message has been edited by djk (edited 01-02-2004).]

Are you sure the shutters aren't made out of black plastic and that's why they don't come out clearly? Somewhere I think I have an adapter or something that has black shutters....

I remember seeing the basic single-phase 20A plugs, sockets, and adapters in Carrefour and the other big supermarket chains.

I can't remember whether the receptacles had shutters or not.

The newer ones definitely do though.

Does any other country regularly use 20A fittings?

I remember we had one of those on the washing machine for some reason.

What is the single phase 32A version used for? Surely you don't normally plug in a cooker?

It looks a bit like a very over-sized danish plug


[This message has been edited by djk (edited 01-03-2004).]

I can't answer for France, but all cookers here come with a plug. The single phase version is a mere 25A.

IMO, it is a good thing the 3P+N+E recepticle
is comaptible with the 3P+E plug. At least is appears to be.

That setup seems totally alien to me from an Irish perspective.

Over here cookers are most definitely considered a fixed applience so don't ship with a plug or even a cable in most cases just a notice saying that you must call an electrician to connect it.

They're conencted with 6 - 10 mm2 3-core cable. (Brown, Blue, Green & Yellow striped) and generally not UK style twin + earth in modern installations.

In general in Ireland anything that requires more than 13 A (or 16A in some instances e.g. workshops where CEE 17 is used) is hardwired for single phase anyway.

Any physically fixed appliences are normally connected via a fused and switched connection unit rather than a plug and socket. This would include things like wall-mounted convector heaters, fan heaters, hand dryers, etc etc. We often use these connectors for things that should not be plugged out like PABX systems, and IT equipment like file servers etc... can be quite useful on a UPS system.

3-phase is extremely rare in domestic installations other than where it is used to supply several heavy single-phase heating circuits, in which case it would be hardwired anyway.

In commercial / industrial setups red CEE-17 plug and socket system is used for 3-phase there is no alternative national connector system available.

Do most EU countries have these kind of "supersized" domestic electrical fittings?

I was just looking at our hob:

Strange wiring arrangement:

There is a flexible cable hardwired into the bottom of the hob with 5 cores

L1
L2
N1
N2
E

It is then up to the insaller / consumer to decide on 1 of 3 ways of hooking it up

Either:
16A - 400V
L1 - L1
L2 - L2
N1+N2 - N
E - E

2 X 16A 230V (2 seperate 16A MCBs or fuses)
Circuit 1:
L1, N1
Circuit 2:
L2, N2
E - protective earth.

Or 32A 230V (which is how it is wired)

L1+L2 connected to L
N1+N2 connected to N
E - protective earth.

feeding back to 1 X 32A breaker for the hob.
(the oven has its own 32A circuit seperately connected)

It's a French branded cooker (De Detrich)

I presume in France it would just be plugged in with a 3 phase plug?

I've seen the same setup on a Bosch cooktop. Who uses two 16A circuits? It seems like a weird setup!

People might be tempted to just fit 2x16A plugs and pop it into a socket

It's pretty much the same in Britain as for Ireland. Any fixed appliance which draws over 13A is hardwired via a flex outlet plate, either with or without switch as appropriate.

Even low-power fixed devices such as alarm panels, TV preamps, etc. are quite likely to be hardwired to a fused-spur unit rather than plug-&-socket connected.

We have a lot of 12V halogen recessed lighting in this house. The lights are wired radially to 500W transformers all of which are connected to the lighting circuits via swiched fused connectors fused at 3A neatly mounted on the attic joists. All of the LV cabling is yellow to avoid confusion.

don't know if this is standard practice..

I see a lot of the LV lighting wired in a very haphazard manner. Quite a few DIY types don't realize that for the same amount of power a 12V light draws much more current than a 240V version, and think they can use any old thin wire for the secondary side.

Classicsat and Djk gave me an idea:

How about a European 50A cooker connector using the American range plug as basis? Take the NEMA 14-50 plug and omit the neutral pin and the corresponding slot on the outlet. Add a flange or recess to the outlet. Voila! Now you have a connector that

a) can provide more than enough power
b) prevents accidental contact
c) works with the American outlet

Intended for 30-50A circuits.