British mains plugs

Hello Graeme,

I think the answer has to be in the way the shutter is operated.  On the UK type, inserting the earth pin moves the shutter linearly.  On the boards here (I don't know about other European countries) it's the insertion of the two main connecting pins that causes the shutter to rotate.  I think it must be this rotation mechanism that's the weak point of the design, since it doesn't take a lot of crud to make it jam.

You'll find that type of shutter design in the UK too, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

Regards,

Dave.

I think it must be this rotation mechanism that's the weak point of the design, since it doesn't take a lot of crud to make it jam.

You'll find that type of shutter design in the UK too, as I mentioned in an earlier post.

Not commonly you won't - the vast majority stick to the spring-loaded vertical shutter mechanism, although there are occasionally variations on the theme.

It's also interesting to note (according to Wikipedia) where these particular connectors are used throughout the world - they aren't unique to the UK at all, despite being invented here.

The British Standards 1363 plug:
United Kingdom
Ireland
Sri Lanka
Bahrain
UAE
Qatar
Yemen
Oman
Cyprus
Malta
Gibraltar
Botswana
Ghana
Hong Kong
Macau
Brunei
Malaysia
Singapore
Indonesia
Bangladesh
Kenya
Uganda
Malawi
Nigeria
Mauritius
Iraq
Kuwait
Tanzania
Zambia
Zimbabwe

And it's also used in several of the former British Caribbean colonies such as Belize, Dominica, St. Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. It is also used in Saudi Arabia in 230 V installations.

If it was that  bad, I can't see why all these countries would have adopted and stayed with it, quite frankly. After all, there are plenty of other options available...

I think that if you took a look at a history book then you will find that most of those countries had that plug "imposed" on them while being part of the british empire. Not because they decided on technical merit... There is a suspicious similarity with the list of countries that drive on the wrong side of the road.

I think that if you took a look at a history book then you will find that most of those countries had that plug "imposed" on them while being part of the british empire. Not because they decided on technical merit... There is a suspicious similarity with the list of countries that drive on the wrong side of the road.

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Even if that was actually true (and I very much doubt that it was that simple) you conveniently ignored the "and stayed with it" bit... there's absolutely no obligation of any sort now. And at least you could have a changeover period if you wanted to change your sockets. Whenever there's a suggestion that we should convert to driving on the right (which is fine by me) and I suggest that we could have a fortnight's transition period where driving on either side would be acceptable, the proposal doesn't seem to meet with much enthusiasm... 

Whenever there's a suggestion that we should convert to driving on the right (which is fine by me) and I suggest that we could have a fortnight's transition period where driving on either side would be acceptable, the proposal doesn't seem to meet with much enthusiasm...

Isn't that the system they adopted for permanent use in Athens?

There isn't any obligaition, but changing isn't as simple as you make it sound. Certainly not in countries that don't have their own industry for such goods. I fear it is as simple as that. And I feel that a lot of countries on that list have other priorities than plugs. Do they even have widespread electricity?

I suggest that we could have a fortnight's transition period where driving on either side would be acceptable, the proposal doesn't seem to meet with much enthusiasm...

Don't see a problem, most roads in the country are narrow enough that it doesn't make a difference and in the cities you are just standing still so it wouldn't be too dangerous. Nigeria is one of the only coutries that changed to right driving after the independence. The rest you can safely put down to inertia.

One day the UK will enter the 19th century!

If it was that  bad, I can't see why all these countries would have adopted and stayed with it, quite frankly. After all, there are plenty of other options available...

The same argument may be used to justify the survival of the imperial system of units.

The same argument may be used to justify the survival of the imperial system of units.

Hmmm.... even the UK hasn't supported that for several decades!

That said, it's been rather hard to get rid of the remnants of it. And there's no consistency either - for instance, we still 'officially' use miles per hour, and miles in general, which is ridiculous considering that we measure pretty much everything else in metric these days.

Except when you go to the DIY store to get 2.4M of 2 X 1

We don't have that problem any more around here; those dimensions are all metric now. Did come across one anomaly recently though - vinyl flooring with the width in metres sold in linear yards (or was it the other way around?), and the store concerned couldn't see anything wrong with that!

There's still quite a bit of mechanical machinery that can be purchased either in metric or imperial as well. On most lathes you have to specify which you want your thread cutting to be based on, although conversions that are 'near enough' are usually possible. Generally though, most things are metric these days unless they're speed related. Even Fahrenheit temperatures are almost completely gone, although they are still referred to by some weather forecasters. Don't get me started on weather forecasts!

We don't have that problem any more around here; those dimensions are all metric now. Did come across one anomaly recently though - vinyl flooring with the width in metres sold in linear yards (or was it the other way around?), and the store concerned couldn't see anything wrong with that!
 

What is very wierd in Norway is that it is still quite common to buy timber in inch dimensions! There are metric alternatives, but a lot of people still ask for 2 tomm 4 tomm where a" tomme" is an inch, there is aslo a Norwegian foot "fot". Theye seem to have the same origin as the imperial measures.

Hmmm.... even the UK hasn't supported that for several decades!

LOL...That's why they lobbied the EU so hard that they can continue to use it. When was that, last year or so?

Seriously, you cannot find a document on UK sites that is in metric. Go to any UK forum you like and you will find everything in foot and inches, pressures are in psi and Fahrenheit is more common than you think. Might even be easier to find something in Kelvin than in Celcius.

Seriously, you cannot find a document on UK sites that is in metric. Go to any UK forum you like and you will find everything in foot and inches, pressures are in psi and Fahrenheit is more common than you think. Might even be easier to find something in Kelvin than in Celcius.

Well that of course is simply untrue. If you look on the government's own websites you'll find that all current documents are metric unless there is a good reason for referring back to a previous standard. Unlike you though, I'll actually direct you to one you can download, just to prove the point.

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADE_2003.pdf

And that  one you might find quite useful... (even though the final version got watered down a bit)

Does the government like metrication? Probably not, because they don't understand a lot of it. But there again, the rest of Europe is no better, quite frankly. Even if only half of what it says here is true, continental Europeans are in no position to try to put the UK Europeans' house in order at all.

I recently bought a sheet of plasterboard which was 1828x900mm (1828mm = 6 feet)!  And my local Coop has recently changed from selling milk in 2 litre bottles to 4 pint bottles.

A select committee recommended a change to metric units to the UK parliament in this 1862 report.

Paul

I think that the plasterboard thing is the same as the vinyl thing - nobody's replaced the machine that makes the stuff the size it is, and until that happens, it's all going to be re-badged imperial, whether we like it or not.

Dunno about the co-op though - apart from customer pressure, why would they do that?