I have known for a long time that I dislike plumbing. It's always struck me as one of the most inexact of DIY skills, one which requires far more finesse drawn from experience than something like wiring, carpentry or even painting. Also, of course, there is a fair chance of getting wet. So it was with a degree of dread that I approached the task of fixing the outflow pipe on the washing machine.
I now also know that I am hugely uncomfortable with ducting.
Terry Gilliam chose well his metaphor of ducts in the film Brazil - amongst other things he uses them as a symbol of something nightmarishly complex which no one but the most talented can understand. I've always assumed that they were relatively easy things to deal with in real life, but then I had to set up the tumble drier air outflow... I now know that ducts are splendidly shiny, but are also riddled by stupidly ineffective connectors and oddly constructed parts that probably make sense in an organic and evolved way but which look potty from the outside looking in.
Adding to the sense of surreality was that the wiring for the tumble drier was wrong, and I had to figure out the maze of competing plug standards here.
I've mentioned US electrical systems before, but to summarise: US plugs can be grounded but only relatively recently rewired houses ever are, and the plugs themselves never have fuses in them and tend to be a bit on the weedy side. The base voltage is 110V.
Things like electric cookers and tumble driers need higher voltages to operate effectively, so that one of the features you look for in a house is 220V wiring. What I didn't know was that there are several different kinds of plugs which can be used for 220V sockets.
Just to take a step back, here, and explain where I'm coming from (British readers can skip this paragraph). In the UK, there is one kind of electrical plug. The same plug with three sturdy rectangular pins is used on everything which plugs into a wall in a house, whether its a modem or a massager, a toothbrush or a tumble drier. There used to be round pin plugs but they were phased out forty years ago (although you can still buy one, presumably for someone who needs to deal with very old house wiring).
I was slightly surprised to find that there are multiple 220V plugs in the US. Perusing the shelves of the DIY store I found that the socket currently in our house is usually assigned to cookers, so I needed to replace it with one of the sockets set aside for driers - yes, there is more than one. Why? I don't know. I suspect it's to do with different expected current loads, and multiple phases, and so on, but knowing that there are at least three different plug layouts used for tumble driers, and that there is a similar number for cookers, is somewhat alarming to me.
I returned from my brief trip to Brazil somewhat chastened, and also not at all surprised that huge blackouts happen here.
Posted by Dunx at September 2, 2003 12:46 PM
<pedant>There is at least one other not-uncommon domestic socket type in the UK -- though I'd have forgotten it too if you hadn't explicitly mentioned toothbrushes -- the 2-pin socket used in bathrooms for shavers, toothbrushes and, er, very little else.</pedant> Not that that in any way undermines your point.
I was slightly shocked when I first saw the size of UK electric plugs. They're huge!! We have the 'owwww!' or 'singing' pattern plug(see http://kropla.com/!i.htm); not all have the lower pin. It actually comes in two varieties, one for the normal 10amp outlets, which are the vast majority, and a rarely-seen 15amp one, in which the bottom pin is larger (longer 'mouth'). I only found out about that one when I tried to get an automatic timer for the air conditioner (a vital appliance but a giant beast of a thing, which didn't seem to be turning itself off properly)... and they don't make them for that size :-( I suspect that's what's behind the stove, but am not going to try to move it to check.
I am going to Brazil - Bahia - for a couple of weeks vacation. My wife must be able to run her hair drier and curling iron. Do I need to take an adaptor to transfer from our standard two pin plug to something to fit their receptacles?
Mny thanks for your help.....?
Woody
I don't know, I'm afraid, since my journey to Brazil was metaphorical rather than actual. flerdle posted a link elsewhere which might help: http://kropla.com/electric.htm
Also, when you say "our", where do you mean?
You plug the oven into sockets in most countries? Here they are placed on their own circuits, ranging from 15-45 amps depending on which oven you have.
As for 2, 5 and 15 amp sockets, they are still used in many circumstances, but are not very common in domestic use. They are still common in South Africa, however. I'd say current loads is a good explanation, btw. 15 amps would probably be for a drier, and then I'd assum you have some sorta 45 amp socket for the oven.