"Jim Lesurf" wrote in message
...
: In article , Jerry
: wrote:
:
: "David Looser" wrote in message
: ...
: : "Jerry" wrote
: :
: : : Just ask any toddler who has tried to poke a
screwdriver
: into
: : an outlet.
: :
: : A toddler in the UK "Yeah! This game of sticking things
in to these
: : plastic shapes in the wall is fun, lets do it again!"
: :
: : A toddler in the USA (120v) "That tingles, not sure that
I
: like
: : that..."
: :
: : A toddler in the EU (240v) *flash, bang, wallop* "That
hurt daddy,
: : why is my finger throbbing, why has the TV (or what
: ever
: : else is on the circuit) stopped working?"
: :
: : UK mains sockets have shutters, have you not noticed?
:
: Duh, never! In any case, what happens when this shutter
fails, as can
: happen,
:
: Almost anything "can" happen. But in reality how often does it?
I can't

Not very often, just as kids in areas that do not use the UK's
BS1363 plug/socket don't tend to poke things into other types of
sockets, why because they are *taught* not to whilst being
supervised, of course that is to hard for average UK parents to
manage so the state has to hold their hands so to speak!


: recall ever having the shutters on a UK standard mains socket
fail open on
: any I've used. What statistics do you have for how often they
fail?

None, just personal experience of having to change such sockets,
either fixed or trailing (the same safety concerns exist with
both).

:
: : Have you any data to suggest that deaths or injuries are
any
: worse here than
: : in countries that don't use BS1363 outlets?
:
: But then people know that, in the UK appliances could
actually be
: protected at 30A (with old slow-blow fuse wire) but the
person using
: the appliance believes that it is protected at the correct
3A.
:
: How often is that the case? I've not come across anyone using
fuse wire (of
: any rating) to replace the fuse cart in a mains plug for
decades. is that
: what you are referring to?

No, think metal bolt/rod or similar, that is the same diameter as
the BS fuse and you might get the idea. If an unthinking idiot
can do it, they probably will, I have seen many silly things done
to BS1363 plugs that I have rarely seen/heard happening to a
fuse/breaker panel because even such idiots tend to draw the line
if they need to get more than a (pen-)knife from the kitchen
draw.

Again, what is the statistical evidence for this
: being a significant problem?
:

Why do you think the law was changed in the UK so that all (non
wholesale) domestic, free standing, electrical equipment has to
now come pre-fitted with a BS1363 plug and correct fuse? Clue, it
wasn't for the purchasers convenience...
--
Regards, Jerry.