On 11/12/2010 6:36 PM, The Daring Dufas wrote:
On 11/12/2010 4:52 PM, Tony Miklos wrote:
On 11/12/2010 2:42 PM, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 11/12/2010 11:09 AM Jules Richardson spake thus:

On Fri, 12 Nov 2010 09:53:10 -0800, David Nebenzahl wrote:

On 11/12/2010 8:10 AM Jules Richardson spake thus:

The plugs are always fused in the UK, and of course domestic AC is
always 240V, so there's largely no need to mess around with different
outlet styles (there are some different plug and outlet types for
very
high draws, but those aren't generally seen in home situations, and
things like electric stoves are normally hard-wired into a wall
plate).
Plug fuses there are usually 13A maximum, and if I remember right the
maximum current draw on the ring circuit is around 30A.

So how does that work? What form factor are the fuses--glass tubes?
cartridges? Easy to see if they're blown and replace them?

They're ceramic bodies I think - they're not transparent, so you can't
obviously see if they've blown without checking them with a meter.
They're about 1" in length and 1.4" in diameter (maybe exactly, but
I'm going from memory).

So the plugs must be huge. Yuck. Glad I live on this side of the pond
(at least regarding electrical plugs).


Back here in the US, I have an old Variac with a slightly large plug. It
holds two 1/4" glass fuses that pop out and are easy to check and
change. Pretty neat plug actually.


A lot of test equipment I've worked on has a socket, switch and fuse
like this:

http://homanndesigns.com/store/images/iec_power.jpg

The circuit breaker in the electrical panel protects the building
wiring not the equipment. The fuse in the power connector protects
the piece of equipment.

TDD

Well yes, but the Variac I use is about 50+ years old. Someone probably
added the hot and neutral fused plug because it also has a fuse built
into the case, and a switch of course.