View Single Post
Old 19th Aug 2015, 12:41 am   #223
winston_1
Hexode
 
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 497
Default Re: Another unusual plug and some other questions

Quote:
Originally Posted by broadgage View Post
Must be a limited market for these Crabtree outlets since they are not allowed in the USA nor likely to be used in the UK. Possibly used in the Middle East ?
Not allowed in the USA? Maybe so, but on a recent trip there I was surprised to see these installed in a coach (Megabus) for the purpose of passengers charging their phones and tablets.

Quote:
Originally Posted by emeritus View Post
A hotel I stayed in near Gatwick Airport last year had UK, Schuko and US mains sockets in the room.
Charging points at Heathrow and Gatwick have UK and Schuko next to each other nowadays.

Quote:
Originally Posted by broadgage View Post
The convention seems to be
12 volt DC=USA type mains plugs
24 volts DC= old type UK round pin plugs, 5 amp or 15 amp according to load.
240 volts AC but of restricted capacity= MK non standard 13 amp plugs
Rather dangerous thing to do. There are still homes with 5 amp round pin sockets often for portable lightning all controlled by a single switch. Nothing to stop someone plugging in one of their 24v DC appliances.

There was a similar problem in Australia where portable generators were being sold with a 12 volt 2 pin socket with the same outline as the 2 business pins of their standard 240 volt socket (I've seen them here as well). The authorities soon put a stop to that with a recall and generators there now have the standard Australian low voltage (ELV here) 2 pin socket which has the 2 pins at right angles to each other.
winston_1 is offline