British electrical appliances - Page 3

Thanks Mr Lucky.. Of all the posts I have done that is the best reply I have ever had.

I always try to offer suggestions on things I actually know about from personal experience then I know that I will be right.  Unlike so many others who post on here.

You can rely on Classic Man.

If I can jump on the back of a lot of excellent advice already provided?...

UK plugs (BS1363) have a fuse in the plug top, Spanish plugs (Schuko) do not. This does NOT mean though that Spanish plugs are unsafe, obviously.

Personally I would not use travel adaptors and what I am about to say may sound contradictory, but please hear me out!

In most cases, there are a number of 'plugs' used in locations for Computers, Televisions and Kitchen equipment. For the IT and TV, DVD etc, I would buy an English extension lead and simply change the English plug which supplies the extension for a Schuko plug. This then means that all your appliances are still fused. Even better if you get a surge protected extension lead for your IT and TV equipment as we frequently have electrical spikes in Spain.

This sounds like I am suggesting you overload an extension, I am not. TV and IT equipment use little power really so I class it as being perfectly safe. Even this method is not ideal, but where you are not able to change over a load of plug tops, I would suggest this method rather than using travel adaptors.

NOTE. Anything that heats up as part of its operation - Kettle, Toaster, Heater, Iron etc use more power and I would not suggest you put too many on one extension lead or you do run the risk of problems.

I appreciate my response may still seem vague to some people and I am happy to answer direct questions by PM if it helps anyone.

In simple terms, for me, changing one plug top on a UK extension lead, keeping fuses in all the appliances it supplies, is better than using multiple travel adaptors, however, the recommendation would always be that you change over all plug tops when you can.

To put the cost into the equation - at worst an electrically competent person should be able to replace about 6 plug tops per hour. Each Schuko plug will cost between 1 - 3€ (choice dependant) and at 20-30€ per hour, you should be able to work out the cost to have someone competent to change them over for you.

Hope it helps

Thanks handyman.  Of all the plugs I have changed in my life, some up to 600amps and over, the shuko is by far the most horrible, difficult, cramped plug I have ever had to deal with.  I hate the damned things.

I agree that a UK extension block is one way to go and would reiterate your advice to watch the loadings.  The benefit of the UK 13A plug is that each item plugged in is (or should be) fused at the proper value. With the dreaded shuko the only protection is back at the distribution board and is probably rated at 16 amp. Not ideal with thin wires on small table lamps.

A surge protector is a good idea on Spanish supplies for your delicate electronic items.

Please just remember that the two pin plug can be put in either way round and if there is a separate switch on the appliance there is a 50-50 chance that the appliance may still be live even with the switch in the OFF position.  Just another reason why I hate them.

Stay safe, respect electricity.  If you are not certain please ask a man who can.

I agree classic man. I have bought cheap and expensive versions of the Schuko and they are just horrible in every way!

Just when you think you have got all the rewire sorted you find the cores are in the way of a fixing screw!!!

Ah well, not like there is a global zombie apocalypse looming or owt. 

Keep smiling!

Great to hear you had the same problem!!      I have yet to find an easy way to do it.

Keep safe, avoid live wires.  We will overcome.

Mike

Usual remedy really... Red to Red, Black to Black, and Blue to bits!

Correct, but not a patch on the strangely varied accepted wiring connection colour alternatives in Spain, often producing said similar Results.🙂

LeckyLes 

When we bought our new flat some years ago my wife got a belt off the sewing machine soon after we moved in.  To cut a long story short, we had 95 volts on the earth wire.  In Spain they do not do a PME system where the earth is bonded to the neutral at the meter and the neutral is bonded to ground at the transformer.  Here they rely on a spike in the ground which is what we did in the UK donkeys' years ago.  This is precious little use when the soil is dry in summer.

In my investigations I found that the earth was not even connected to anything and the neutral floated anywhere between 0  and 175 volts. 

Like you say there was a variety of colours used in the installation depending on what he had to hand at the time.  There was no logic whatsoever. The two way switching on the outside stairs never worked properly, but it was not my job to fix that.

You can understand why I have no faith in Spanish electrics.

I could go on about the benefits of a split consumer unit. I have lost two freezers when the RCD has tripped while we were in the UK.  Spain does not use these (as far as I know), although my house now has one and the freezers are safe.

In agreeance, and in the UK I have installed many consumer units containing individual circuit protection via rcbo's. A much more expensive alternative to the dual RCD board but worth it if cost not prohibitive.

Earthing systems in Spain are lamentably very hit and miss !

LeckyLes 

My goodness the D&S link brought back memories.

We used to use Reyrolle metalclad plugs and sockets in the factory.  They were virtually indestructible unless you hit them with a forklift!!

The plugs were round with three pins and came in different sizes but looked the same. One of the pins was a screw in fuse but it could not come out as there was a little latch to prevent that.  The sockets were all switched and this was done by turning the outside of the hole into which the plug went making it impossible to draw the plug when switched on, neither could you turn it on without a plug in place.  Very secure.
They were all eventually phased out in favour of the blue and yellow ones we know today.  But there is no fuse in these.

I will take issue with this statement in the link   "Since the fuse is the line pin, great care has to be taken when removing the fuse, to avoid an electrical shock".

This cannot happen since the fuse is in the plug, so it cannot possibly be live. 

Re London Transport, they also had a weird and wonderful. It looked like a normal 13A plug but the live pin was rotated 90 deg.

Did you come across the Wylex plug which had a round earth pin in the centre and a flat pin on either side?  You could also piggyback a 5A plug into the back of the 15A one.  It was the only plug from which you could draw the full load without it overheating.