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UK plugs are three pronged, with the earth on top and live/neutral on the bottom. The earth is longer than the other two pins and inside the socket is a switch
by maccard 5y ago
UK plugs are three pronged, with the earth on top and live/neutral on the bottom. The earth is longer than the other two pins and inside the socket is a switch that opens the live and neutral sockets when the earth pin is inserted. The live and neutral pins are insulated up to the point where they are exposed when connected to the mains, and the flex comes out the bottom of the plug meaning its borderline impossible to accidentally unplug by pulling on the cord. It's really quite clever.
- barbazoo 5y agoThat sounds quite a bit safer than the NA and even the other European ones. How practical is that I wonder? Does every appliance have a ground wire? That's certainly not the case in NA, even in the EU.
- maccard 5y ago> How practical is that I wonder? Very, given that every appliance in the UK has had this for 75 years! > Does every appliance have a ground wire? No, but every plug has a "ground" pin. If the appliance isn't grounded (which in practice most aren't), then the pin is normally plastic, e.g. [0] [0] https://www.yunhuanelectric.com/Images/prdoucts/Plastic-pin-uk-power-cord.jpg https://www.yunhuanelectric.com/Images/prdoucts/Plastic-pin-...
- midasuni 5y agoClass two devices don’t need to be “grounded” (we say “earthed” as they are doubly insulated (a fault won’t cause the case to become live) The main problem with British plugs is their size
- barbazoo 5y agoYeah size is what I was thinking of when I said practical. But I'd take the bulky but safe design over the shitty NA plugs any day.