Continental plugs don't have fuses, so why does UK?

[ExPat]

Domestic appliances bought and used in many European countries don't have fuses in their plugs, and in a lot of countries, including safety conscious Germany, they can be inserted into sockets either way round, so that live and neutral are effectively reversed. So why are fused plugs and observation of polarity so important in UK?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Because we are more sensible, and have a stronger engineering tradition than Johnny Foreigner..

 

[AliasOmega]

Many electrical appliances have fuses on the input power supply inside the appliance. A 'TV' for example would have a 3/5amp in the plug, and then a 1.5amp inside.

 

[Panjandrum]

Because we are more sensible, and have a stronger engineering tradition than Johnny Foreigner..

Do more JFs die as a result? Genuine question - I have wondered this myself when plugging into Italian sockets.

 

[plugwash]

we have 32A socket cuircuits as the norm here.

socket cuircuits in most of the world are considerablly lower current.

our way has the advantage of needing less cuircuits and giving more flexibility but it requires the extra safety feature of fused plugs to keep it safe (an alternative would have been to put the fuse in the socket but this would have added the extra complication/expense of a fuse carrier that could safely be withdrawn with the cuircuit live).

as for polarity the reason that is important here is mainly BECAUSE of the fused plugs. unpolarised plugs would leave a 50% chance of the fuse being in the neutral and therefore useless at protecting against faults to earth.[

fusing in both poles is an option (and is used inside equipment quite a bit) but this is more expensive and has issues of its own. (like if the neutral fuse happens to blow first then there will appear to be no power but the equipment will still be live).

 

[HandyJon]

Because we are more sensible, and have a stronger engineering tradition than Johnny Foreigner..

It's because we're (read civil service and other organisations/bodies) more interested in making up rules and regulations.

The old ring main is better than radial argument is not true. The ring main was brought in because of the use in the past of electric heaters. There is nothing wrong with the radial system used throughout Europe so long as the layout is designed properly.

The European system is only different, not safer nor dangerous.

 

[securespark]

this would have added the extra complication/expense of a fuse carrier that could safely be withdrawn with the cuircuit live.

Like an unswitched fused spur, Plug?

 

[plugwash]

since our current wiring scheme was introduced the relative price of materials and labour for electrical installation work has change drastically.

i think at the time a fuse carrier that was withdrawable live (like in a FCU or a triple socket) in every socket would have been prohibitively expensive

whereas with a fuse in the plug you can isolate by unplugging so the fuseholder can be VERY simple.

 

[kendor]

Many electrical appliances have fuses on the input power supply inside the appliance. A 'TV' for example would have a 3/5amp in the plug, and then a 1.5amp inside.

The fuse inside an appliance would not protect the flex/lead supplying it if it was damaged and shorted before this fuse, we have plugtop fuses to be able to downrate the size of cable supplying the appliance, In europe as with here the supply cables to the sockets is normally larger in cross sectional area and has more current capacity than the appliance lead which leads back to the original question, why don't they fuse the plugtops? good question! perhaps there havn't been enough cases of appliance leads catching fire to justify the expense of changing the system? Surprised the insurance companies in these countries hav'nt picked up on this get out clause.

 

[Damocles]

I notice there are quite a few pieces of electrical equipment now sold with a 3 pin adapter surrounding the original 2 pin plug moulded onto the cable. The cables do not look especially sturdy and still have 3 A fuses inside the adapter. I infer from this that the equipment was designed to be used on the continent or maybe even worldwide. But anyway the flex seems no better than a UK one however many amps it might be exposed to abroad.

 

[kai]

I note that no present day mobile phone chargers I've seen, have any fuse in them - just the three pins to fit a 13amp socket....

 

[ban-all-sheds]

They may be fused internally. Wall-warts don't have a flex to protect, which is what a plugtop fuse is for....

 

[Altvamp]

Because we are more sensible, and have a stronger engineering tradition than Johnny Foreigner..

It's because we're (read civil service and other organisations/bodies) more interested in making up rules and regulations.

The old ring main is better than radial argument is not true. The ring main was brought in because of the use in the past of electric heaters. There is nothing wrong with the radial system used throughout Europe so long as the layout is designed properly.

The European system is only different, not safer nor dangerous.

You clearly don't have a clue, your comments are plain stupid, The ring main provides a two wire shared load load system with a maximum of 30A and two earthing points, The radial system has a limit of 15A and only one earth point, current wise this may be fine in poor countries which don't have high powered appliances but not in modern societies. The ring main was designed to provide higher current capability whilst improving safety and load sharing more evenly. Not to mention the increased fire risk of multiple wire junction boxes, it's not the best way of distributing power - sticking multiple wires under one screw, they tend to work loose if the rigid wires are moved about.

 

[RF Lighting]

You clearly don't have a clue, your comments are plain stupid

Never has there been a better example of the pot calling the kettle black

 

[ban-all-sheds]

You clearly don't have a clue, your comments are plain stupid,

Are you good at recognising those because of your intimate familiarity with stupid comments?

The ring main provides a two wire shared load load system with a maximum of 30A

Wrong.

The radial system has a limit of 15A

Wrong.

current wise this may be fine in poor countries which don't have high powered appliances but not in modern societies.

Wrong.

The ring main was designed to provide higher current capability whilst improving safety and load sharing more evenly.

Wrong.

Not to mention the increased fire risk of multiple wire junction boxes, it's not the best way of distributing power - sticking multiple wires under one screw, they tend to work loose if the rigid wires are moved about.

I would ask you what on earth junction boxes have to do with anything, but since you don't even know what decade it is I'm not hopeful of any meaningful reply.