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I don't see many advantages over the Schuko plug, used in most of Europe: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko The outlet
by bsimpson 11y ago
I don't see many advantages over the Schuko plug, used in most of Europe:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko
The outlets are recessed, so you physically cannot touch any of the pins while they are engaged. For the same reason, ground is on the periphery of the plug and engages before the pins make contact. The Schuko plug and outlet are designed to prevent you from shocking yourself while still being a reasonable size and aesthetically pleasant. The safety shutters mentioned in the video are standard in Schuko outlets in some countries.
It's great that they thought about safety when standardizing the design, and interesting to see precisely which decisions were made and why. However, "Best On Earth" is a bit hyperbolic for a video that makes no mention of a more popular design that embodies all the same safety features (save for the in-plug fuse) in a more convenient form factor.
- Tenzer 11y agoOn the topic of the Schuko plug, I never really understood why there had to be that many variations of it. Being from Denmark, I have more often than not had problems with the ground pin obstructing me from using a Danish plug in other countries. It has often times lead me to either saw off the ground pin, or replace the plug with a two-pin connector without the ground pin - in both cases decreasing the security of the plug for accessibility.
- fanf2 11y agoThere is no degenerate 2-pin variant of the UK plug to compromise the safety of unearthed devices.