6 ms·

that's mostly because American domestic outlets are the worst in the world.

by moonbug 7y ago

toomuchtodo 7y ago
Do you have an example you'd hold up as the ideal or best case outlet?
- ST2084 7y ago
  UK
  - jjeaff 7y ago
    Some cool features that I have seen. But aren't they huge? Also, more expensive to manufacture?
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
  - Nextgrid 7y ago
    UK is probably the safest but it’s also bulky and presents an unlikely kind of danger: it tends to lay with the pins upward when on the floor which is deadly when stepping on them in the dark. European plugs IMO have the right balance between safety and size, with the bonus that they don’t stab your feet if you step on them.
    - JadeNB 7y ago
      > UK is probably the safest but it’s also bulky and presents an unlikely kind of danger: it tends to lay with the pins upward when on the floor which is deadly when stepping on them in the dark. A feature mentioned even in an article praising them as the best in the world (https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best-wall-sockets-on-earth https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best...), linked elsewhere by dpeck (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21678124 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21678124): > It’s a truly brilliant design. The only caveat is that, as with Lego, the rugged, bottom-heavy design of a U.K. plug makes it an almost scientifically perfect caltrop.
    - technofiend 7y ago
      >UK is probably the safest but it’s also bulky True but I have to say the combination of UK plug adapter mated with a US power strip is extremely convenient. Particularly since modern UK outlets all have individual switches which comes in handy when you don't want a snap and a spark plugging something into the power strip. :-)
    - dzhiurgis 7y ago
      I probably prefer Aussie ones. Lightweight and doesn't take too much force to plug in and out.
- dpeck 7y ago
  The UK plug design is generally regarded as the best of the standard ones https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best-wall-sockets-on-earth https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best... From my experience with some amount of traveling, I would agree that its very nice to use in practice and definitely got a lot of things right.
  - _Microft 7y ago
    Did I understand correctly that outlets contain a switch and are off by default and that the grounding pin switches them on when inserting the plug? That's great.
    - throwaway2048 7y ago
      The grounding pin also makes electrical contact first, and plugs have a built in fuse as well.
    - epanchin 7y ago
      Not an electrical switch. The outlets contain a physical gate over live and neutral that is pushed open by the longer earth pin.
      - dmurray 7y ago
        Which means you can use a European plug in a UK socket, if you first put something in the earth slot (a key works well). European travellers are generally impressed when I show them this trick, and sometimes rightly concerned that I'm sticking metal objects into a power outlet. If there's any chance the outlet is wired incorrectly, don't do this unless you can isolate the outlet or the key.
        rwmj 7y ago
        Yeah I wouldn't rely on things being wired correctly. When I moved into my current UK house the neutral and earth were physically connected (someone had driven a nail through a cable and "got lucky"). Took a while to find the nail and fix that.
- floatboth 7y ago
  Schuko/Europlug is a very good system.
  - 1996 7y ago
    They are big, bulky and the 2 metal blades can't fold unlike in our american plug. The american design is clearly superior.
  - technofiend 7y ago
    >Schuko/Europlug is a very good system. Perhaps it isn't common, but my experience with the sockets in Belgium was scary to me because there were two outlets embedded in a recess quite close to each other. Close enough I was afraid I'd shock myself trying to get a good grip on my plug and pull it out.
    - lorenzhs 7y ago
      The exposed metal part of a Schuko socket is ground. You can touch it. The live contacts aren’t exposed at any stage of plugging/unplugging/... ever.
      - technofiend 7y ago
        Electrically I don't see how that works since there's no interruption of the metal pin inserted into the socket like you see on a tip/ring headphone plug. Unless there's a mechanical process that energizes the live side of the inserted plug after a certain depth?
        krastanov 7y ago
        No mechanical process, the wall socket is depressed in the wall, so that by the time any metal prongs connect, the prongs are hidden.
        n3k5 7y ago
        You have to look at the plug in combination with the socket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko#Safety_features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko#Safety_features
- leguminous 7y ago
  There's the one true plug system, IEC 60906-1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60906-1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60906-1 It's also a fascinating example of standards proliferation (https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/).
mdszy 7y ago
good fucking jokes mate https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/f/ https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/...

that's mostly because American domestic outlets are the worst in the world.

toomuchtodo 7y ago

Do you have an example you'd hold up as the ideal or best case outlet?

ST2084 7y ago
UK
- jjeaff 7y ago
  Some cool features that I have seen. But aren't they huge? Also, more expensive to manufacture?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- Nextgrid 7y ago
  UK is probably the safest but it’s also bulky and presents an unlikely kind of danger: it tends to lay with the pins upward when on the floor which is deadly when stepping on them in the dark. European plugs IMO have the right balance between safety and size, with the bonus that they don’t stab your feet if you step on them.
  - JadeNB 7y ago
    > UK is probably the safest but it’s also bulky and presents an unlikely kind of danger: it tends to lay with the pins upward when on the floor which is deadly when stepping on them in the dark. A feature mentioned even in an article praising them as the best in the world (https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best-wall-sockets-on-earth https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best...), linked elsewhere by dpeck (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21678124 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21678124): > It’s a truly brilliant design. The only caveat is that, as with Lego, the rugged, bottom-heavy design of a U.K. plug makes it an almost scientifically perfect caltrop.
  - technofiend 7y ago
    >UK is probably the safest but it’s also bulky True but I have to say the combination of UK plug adapter mated with a US power strip is extremely convenient. Particularly since modern UK outlets all have individual switches which comes in handy when you don't want a snap and a spark plugging something into the power strip. :-)
  - dzhiurgis 7y ago
    I probably prefer Aussie ones. Lightweight and doesn't take too much force to plug in and out.
dpeck 7y ago
The UK plug design is generally regarded as the best of the standard ones https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best-wall-sockets-on-earth https://www.fastcompany.com/3032807/why-england-has-the-best... From my experience with some amount of traveling, I would agree that its very nice to use in practice and definitely got a lot of things right.
- _Microft 7y ago
  Did I understand correctly that outlets contain a switch and are off by default and that the grounding pin switches them on when inserting the plug? That's great.
  - throwaway2048 7y ago
    The grounding pin also makes electrical contact first, and plugs have a built in fuse as well.
  - epanchin 7y ago
    Not an electrical switch. The outlets contain a physical gate over live and neutral that is pushed open by the longer earth pin.
    - dmurray 7y ago
      Which means you can use a European plug in a UK socket, if you first put something in the earth slot (a key works well). European travellers are generally impressed when I show them this trick, and sometimes rightly concerned that I'm sticking metal objects into a power outlet. If there's any chance the outlet is wired incorrectly, don't do this unless you can isolate the outlet or the key.
      - rwmj 7y ago
        Yeah I wouldn't rely on things being wired correctly. When I moved into my current UK house the neutral and earth were physically connected (someone had driven a nail through a cable and "got lucky"). Took a while to find the nail and fix that.
floatboth 7y ago
Schuko/Europlug is a very good system.
- 1996 7y ago
  They are big, bulky and the 2 metal blades can't fold unlike in our american plug. The american design is clearly superior.
- technofiend 7y ago
  >Schuko/Europlug is a very good system. Perhaps it isn't common, but my experience with the sockets in Belgium was scary to me because there were two outlets embedded in a recess quite close to each other. Close enough I was afraid I'd shock myself trying to get a good grip on my plug and pull it out.
  - lorenzhs 7y ago
    The exposed metal part of a Schuko socket is ground. You can touch it. The live contacts aren’t exposed at any stage of plugging/unplugging/... ever.
    - technofiend 7y ago
      Electrically I don't see how that works since there's no interruption of the metal pin inserted into the socket like you see on a tip/ring headphone plug. Unless there's a mechanical process that energizes the live side of the inserted plug after a certain depth?
      - krastanov 7y ago
        No mechanical process, the wall socket is depressed in the wall, so that by the time any metal prongs connect, the prongs are hidden.
      - n3k5 7y ago
        You have to look at the plug in combination with the socket. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko#Safety_features https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schuko#Safety_features
leguminous 7y ago
There's the one true plug system, IEC 60906-1: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60906-1 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60906-1 It's also a fascinating example of standards proliferation (https://xkcd.com/927/ https://xkcd.com/927/).

mdszy 7y ago

good fucking jokes mate https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/f/ https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plugs-and-sockets/...