On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 20:43:10 +0100, Tim
wrote:

"ARWadsworth" wrote:
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022


We saw these in a Nepalese hotel two years ago.

https://picasaweb.google.com/tim.dow...60215506322738


A bit limited! Where could I stick my three pin Wylex?

HN

A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

--
Adam

"ARWadsworth" wrote:
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022


We saw these in a Nepalese hotel two years ago.

https://picasaweb.google.com/tim.dow...60215506322738

ARWadsworth wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

*New*-fangled screw-in lights? The *Edison* screw thread is, well,
as old as Edison.

JGH

On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 20:37:40 +0100, ARWadsworth wrote:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

Yeah, saw that. Is it clever though? If you shove in a 2 prong US you
get 110v, shove a UK 13A in you get 240v. Current up to the maximum
for the plug inserted, so it's not just a glorfied shaver socket.
Frequency is not quite so critcal.

--
Cheers
Dave.

H. Neary wrote:
On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 20:43:10 +0100, Tim
wrote:

"ARWadsworth" wrote:
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022


We saw these in a Nepalese hotel two years ago.

https://picasaweb.google.com/tim.dow...60215506322738


A bit limited! Where could I stick my three pin Wylex?

Up dennis?

--
Adam

On 01/06/2012 20:49, jgharston wrote:
*New*-fangled screw-in lights? The*Edison* screw thread is, well,
as old as Edison.

Do you mean ES or SES? BC or SBC? Or is it GU10?

If he only needs two kinds of bulb he's lucky. Our old house was
entirely BC, I kept it that way, and annoyed the missus by telling her
sometimes she couldn't have lights because they weren't BC. I think
this one has at least one of everything.

Andy

En el artículo
oups.com, jgharston escribió:

*New*-fangled screw-in lights? The *Edison* screw thread is, well,
as old as Edison.

Accuracy in reporting, they've heard of it.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 20:37:40 +0100, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:

A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

I've seen that before - years ago. Our own correspondent is a bit
behind the times.

Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022
I've seen that before - years ago. Our own correspondent is a bit
behind the times.

It's on The World Service right now. My first thought in
response to his: "why are plugs different" is "'cos the
electricity is different".

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v. He's
lucky that he was in Mongolia that just happens to use
230v, and his UK appliance consumes 230v.

In a similar manner, my then-wife once killed my mobile
phone charger by plugging it into her walkman equivalent.
"But the plug fits!" Yeh, but it draws 4.5v @ 2A, and the
charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

JGH

On Jun 1, 8:37*pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

--
Adam

The sockets have been around for years.
A stupid article from an stupid ignorant journalist re the sockets.

On Jun 1, 9:41*pm, Andy Champ wrote:
On 01/06/2012 20:49, jgharston wrote:

*New*-fangled screw-in lights? The*Edison* *screw thread is, well,
as old as Edison.

Do you mean ES or SES? *BC or SBC? *Or is it GU10?

If he only needs two kinds of bulb he's lucky. *Our old house was
entirely BC, I kept it that way, and annoyed the missus by telling her
sometimes she couldn't have lights because they weren't BC. *I think
this one has at least one of everything.

Andy

The Edison screw bulbs cover LES, MES, SES, ES and GES.
You did the right thing at home.
The biggest light bulb I ever saw was 1000W, GES. (Giant Edison Screw)

On Jun 2, 2:02*am, jgharston wrote:
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022
I've seen that before - years ago. Our own correspondent is a bit
behind the times.

It's on The World Service right now. My first thought in
response to his: "why are plugs different" is "'cos the
electricity is different".

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v. He's
lucky that he was in Mongolia that just happens to use
230v, and his UK appliance consumes 230v.

In a similar manner, my then-wife once killed my mobile
phone charger by plugging it into her walkman equivalent.
"But the plug fits!" Yeh, but it draws 4.5v @ 2A, and the
charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

JGH

What makes you think our voltage is that accurate?
It varies between 210 and 250 volts depending on load.
Unofficially even more.
Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

Many small appliances auto range these days between 110 and 230 volts
so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

harry wrote
jgharston wrote
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

I've seen that before - years ago. Our own
correspondent is a bit behind the times.

It's on The World Service right now. My first thought in
response to his: "why are plugs different" is "'cos the
electricity is different".

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v. He's
lucky that he was in Mongolia that just happens to use
230v, and his UK appliance consumes 230v.

In a similar manner, my then-wife once killed my mobile
phone charger by plugging it into her walkman equivalent.
"But the plug fits!" Yeh, but it draws 4.5v @ 2A, and the
charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

What makes you think our voltage is that accurate?

He never said it was.

It varies between 210 and 250 volts depending on load.
Unofficially even more.

Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

Many small appliances auto range these days between 110 and 230 volts

Yes

so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Wrong when it cant supply 2A

In article ,
Rod Speed wrote:
so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Wrong when it cant supply 2A

A half decent PS would include overload protection.

--
*Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article , Rod Speed
wrote:
harry wrote
jgharston wrote
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

I've seen that before - years ago. Our own correspondent is a bit
behind the times.

It's on The World Service right now. My first thought in response to
his: "why are plugs different" is "'cos the electricity is different".

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically convert it
between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v. He's lucky that he was in
Mongolia that just happens to use 230v, and his UK appliance consumes
230v.

In a similar manner, my then-wife once killed my mobile phone charger
by plugging it into her walkman equivalent. "But the plug fits!" Yeh,
but it draws 4.5v @ 2A, and the charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

What makes you think our voltage is that accurate?

He never said it was.

It varies between 210 and 250 volts depending on load. Unofficially
even more.

Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

Many small appliances auto range these days between 110 and 230 volts

Yes

so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Wrong when it cant supply 2A

It should have shut down if asked to supply more than its designed current.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

On Jun 1, 8:37*pm, "ARWadsworth"
wrote:
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

Another piece of dumb bbc journalism. The biggest issue with such
sockets is their inability to provide enough contact area, making them
a noncompliant major fire risk. Hence theyre seen primarily in 3rd
world hotels.


NT

In article ,
harry writes:
On Jun 1, 9:41*pm, Andy Champ wrote:
On 01/06/2012 20:49, jgharston wrote:

*New*-fangled screw-in lights? The*Edison* *screw thread is, well,
as old as Edison.

Do you mean ES or SES? *BC or SBC? *Or is it GU10?

If he only needs two kinds of bulb he's lucky. *Our old house was
entirely BC, I kept it that way, and annoyed the missus by telling her
sometimes she couldn't have lights because they weren't BC. *I think
this one has at least one of everything.

Andy
The Edison screw bulbs cover LES, MES, SES, ES and GES.

Also note that "ES" is a slightly different size in US and EU,
such that it will sometimes work, and sometimes jam in the holder.

You did the right thing at home.
The biggest light bulb I ever saw was 1000W, GES. (Giant Edison Screw)

I have a couple of 500W ones, never used.
I have used them as props in presentations.

Also have several 400W Mercury Vapour GES lamps, which are bigger.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

"Rod Speed"

so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Wrong when it cant supply 2A

what about the 9 volts bit then wodney ya plonker??? the phone wanted 4.5v@
upto 2 amps, not 9v@ upto 1 amp.

Dave Plowman (News) wrote
Rod Speed wrote:
harry wrote
jgharston wrote

my then-wife once killed my mobile phone charger
by plugging it into her walkman equivalent.
"But the plug fits!" Yeh, but it draws 4.5v @ 2A,
and the charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Wrong when it cant supply 2A

A half decent PS would include overload protection.

But with chargers so cheap, it can make sense to just make them cheap to
replace.

charles wrote
Rod Speed wrote
harry wrote
jgharston wrote
Grimly Curmudgeon wrote

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

I've seen that before - years ago. Our own
correspondent is a bit behind the times.

It's on The World Service right now. My first thought in response
to his: "why are plugs different" is "'cos the electricity is
different".

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically convert it
between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v. He's lucky that he was in
Mongolia that just happens to use 230v, and his UK appliance consumes
230v.

In a similar manner, my then-wife once killed my mobile phone charger
by plugging it into her walkman equivalent. "But the plug fits!" Yeh,
but it draws 4.5v @ 2A, and the charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

What makes you think our voltage is that accurate?

He never said it was.

It varies between 210 and 250 volts depending on load. Unofficially
even more.

Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

Many small appliances auto range these days between 110 and 230 volts

Yes

so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Wrong when it cant supply 2A

It should have shut down if asked to supply more than its designed
current.

Irrelevant to Harry's mangling of the story.

En el artículo
oups.com, harry escribió:

The biggest light bulb I ever saw was 1000W, GES. (Giant Edison Screw)

I've seen those - they are/were used to illuminate the inside of the
cupola at the Voortrekker Monument in South Africa. They were switched
off at the time but I didn't like being near them. Not sure why.

--
(\_/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

In article 1362418092360272556.819055timdownie2003-
,
says...

"ARWadsworth" wrote:
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022


We saw these in a Nepalese hotel two years ago.

https://picasaweb.google.com/tim.dow...60215506322738

No provision for earthing Schuko plugs or the French/Belgian equivalent,
though ...

Something similar (bonded to a 13A plug) sold in pound shops as 'UK
Visitor' adaptors ...

--

Terry

On Fri, 1 Jun 2012 22:41:20 -0700 (PDT), harry wrote:

What makes you think our voltage is that accurate?
It varies between 210 and 250 volts depending on load.

It should be between 216 to 253. I find if you measure it outside
that range and report it to the DNO they appear within hours.

Unofficially even more.

Only under fault conditions.

Many small appliances auto range these days between 110 and 230 volts
so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.

Autorange on the input. The walkthing was rated at 4.5v 2A, the
charger 9v @ 1A. She was lucky it didn't fry the walkthing.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 2 Jun 2012 09:18:01 +0000 (UTC), Andrew Gabriel wrote:

The biggest light bulb I ever saw was 1000W, GES. (Giant Edison
Screw)

I have a couple of 500W ones, never used.

Also have several 400W Mercury Vapour GES lamps, which are bigger.

Meh, tiddly
things:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...ylight_12KW_18
KW_HMI_Fresnel.html

Right ******* lamps to work with they don't half chuck out the heat
and the amount of light is phenominal. Need that sort of thing when
shooting in a glass fronted atrium to compete against the sun.

I've not had the pleasure of the 24kW tungsten
jobbies:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...chardson_4251_
Big_Mo_24KW_Tungsten_Fresnel.html

--
Cheers
Dave.

"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
...
A BBC link below

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18266022

and how long will it take the rest of the work to fit them?

In Britain it is common for hotels to have shaver sockets that accept all
forms of two pin socket.

Do hotels in the rest of Europe provide shaver sockets that accepts anything
except "German" plugs - nope!

If they can't be bothered to change something this simple why would they
bother with the rest of the house

tim

Owain wrote:
On Jun 2, 6:41 am, harry wrote:
Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v.
Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

in telephone exchanges.


48VDC is common enough on aircraft.

I remember working on a piece of kit that was able to handle anything
between 48V DC and 250VAC on the same plug - no switches to select.
Pretty neat SMPSU in that.


I'd love to see that capability extended down to 12VDC but it may be
optimistic to expect it.


Mind you the RC model world has converters able to handle something
like 7-50V inputs So it must be possible..



You wouldn't want to plug your 50V soldering iron into 240V

Owain



--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.

On Jun 2, 11:33*am, Owain wrote:
On Jun 2, 6:41*am, harry wrote:

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v.
Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

in telephone exchanges.

You wouldn't want to plug your 50V soldering iron into 240V

Owain

Where uses 150v?


NT

On Sat, 2 Jun 2012 06:55:16 -0700 (PDT), NT wrote:

Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it
between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v.

Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

in telephone exchanges.

Where uses 150v?

Don't think anywhere does.

http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

Has this entry for "Equatorial Guinea 220 V* 50 Hz C &
E *Voltage varies between 150 & 175V with frequent outage"

Seems that 100/110/115/120/127 and 220/230/240 are the various
nominal voltages in use.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Jun 2, 5:00*pm, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Sat, 2 Jun 2012 06:55:16 -0700 (PDT), NT wrote:
Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it
between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v.

Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

in telephone exchanges.

Where uses 150v?

Don't think anywhere does.

http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

Has this entry for "Equatorial Guinea 220 V* 50 Hz C &
E * * * *Voltage varies between 150 & 175V with frequent outage"

Seems that 100/110/115/120/127 and 220/230/240 are the various
nominal voltages in use.

I thought as much.

I have vague recollections of seeing a 170v setting on old equipment
occasionally, last seen on a 1970s projector in the early 90s. Am I
dreaming, or was it once in use somewhere.


NT

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I remember working on a piece of kit that was able to handle anything
between 48V DC and 250VAC on the same plug - no switches to select.
Pretty neat SMPSU in that.


I'd love to see that capability extended down to 12VDC but it may be
optimistic to expect it.

It might not be a continuous range, but I've got a universal laptop
supply that will work on either 11 - 14 VDC, or 90 - 275 VAC, 40 - 70
Hz, without switching, although the DC is polarity sensitive and uses
the same input cable. The output is also switchable from about 12 - 24V
in steps. It also has a USB output that'll do an amp or so. I've never
had the courage to plug it into a 24V DC supply.


--
Tciao for Now!

John.

tim.... wrote:
In Britain it is common for hotels to have shaver sockets that accept all
forms of two pin socket.

Do hotels in the rest of Europe provide shaver sockets that accepts
anything except "German" plugs - nope!

Random thought... has anyone ever seen hotels (eg in 'British tourist'
areas) where they fit British sockets instead of/in addition to local ones?
I wonder if there's a particular reason for not doing this (maybe they're
against code?) other than cost/can't be bothered/not thinking of it.

Theo

In article b03b21d5-6790-4762-9d3f-0a257db54713
@eh4g2000vbb.googlegroups.com, says...


In a similar manner, my then-wife once killed my mobile
phone charger by plugging it into her walkman equivalent.
"But the plug fits!" Yeh, but it draws 4.5v @ 2A, and the
charger supplies 9v @ 1A.

JGH

snip


Many small appliances auto range these days between 110 and 230 volts
so she wasn't unreasonable, just unlucky.


The charger might accept a wide range of input AC Volts, but its output
is fixed, 9V DC @ (up to) 1 Amp.

The phone wanted 4.5 V DC & got 9 V DC instead.

100% over volts kills the phone & if you're dead unlucky the charger is
knackered by the excess current drain.


--
Sam

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Owain wrote:
On Jun 2, 6:41 am, harry wrote:
Having a socket that will accept any plug won't magically
convert it between 50/110/120/150/220/230/240v.
Where do they have 50 volt electricity?

in telephone exchanges.


48VDC is common enough on aircraft.

I remember working on a piece of kit that was able to handle anything
between 48V DC and 250VAC on the same plug - no switches to select. Pretty
neat SMPSU in that.


I'd love to see that capability extended down to 12VDC but it may be
optimistic to expect it.

Nope, some of the universal chargers for laptops can do that.

Mind you the RC model world has converters able to handle something like
7-50V inputs So it must be possible..

You wouldn't want to plug your 50V soldering iron into 240V

On 02 Jun 2012 20:38:25 +0100 (BST), Theo Markettos
wrote:

Do hotels in the rest of Europe provide shaver sockets that accepts
anything except "German" plugs - nope!

Random thought... has anyone ever seen hotels (eg in 'British tourist'
areas) where they fit British sockets instead of/in addition to local ones?
I wonder if there's a particular reason for not doing this (maybe they're
against code?) other than cost/can't be bothered/not thinking of it.

Not quite the same but I was working on a cruise ship which was being
refitted. After the refit the vessel was going to operate cruises
aimed at a British clientele and one of the things that was changed in
the passenger cabins were the power sockets,I think they were Schuko
before and British BS 1363 sockets were installed in place of them.
As it was in a German yard I expect the Schukos were reused elsewhere.
The voltage was 220.Some ships will have a mixture of 220volts often a
Schuko and US type at 110 Volt. Frequency on most reasonably modern
ships will be 60Hz even on the 220 sockets and that includes the
British shaped ones. Not that much of a problem for most items taken
on board by passengers which will mainly be things with universal
chargers like cameras. Some hairdryers will run faster.Doubt anyone
takes a portable cassette player anymore though it was often crew who
were caught out with personal stuff like portable stereos.

G.Harman

On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:28:40 +0100, John Williamson
wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I remember working on a piece of kit that was able to handle anything
between 48V DC and 250VAC on the same plug - no switches to select.
Pretty neat SMPSU in that.


I'd love to see that capability extended down to 12VDC but it may be
optimistic to expect it.

It might not be a continuous range, but I've got a universal laptop
supply that will work on either 11 - 14 VDC, or 90 - 275 VAC, 40 - 70
Hz, without switching, although the DC is polarity sensitive and uses
the same input cable. The output is also switchable from about 12 - 24V
in steps. It also has a USB output that'll do an amp or so. I've never
had the courage to plug it into a 24V DC supply.

If it uses the same input cable for (effectively) battery and mains,
what connector is on the other end?

--
Graham.
%Profound_observation%

Graham. wrote:
On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:28:40 +0100, John Williamson
wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I remember working on a piece of kit that was able to handle anything
between 48V DC and 250VAC on the same plug - no switches to select.
Pretty neat SMPSU in that.


I'd love to see that capability extended down to 12VDC but it may be
optimistic to expect it.

It might not be a continuous range, but I've got a universal laptop
supply that will work on either 11 - 14 VDC, or 90 - 275 VAC, 40 - 70
Hz, without switching, although the DC is polarity sensitive and uses
the same input cable. The output is also switchable from about 12 - 24V
in steps. It also has a USB output that'll do an amp or so. I've never
had the courage to plug it into a 24V DC supply.

If it uses the same input cable for (effectively) battery and mains,
what connector is on the other end?

The various input plugs (Various mains plugs, cigar lighter and aircraft
connection) each have a moulded in female standard figure 8 connector,
with a flat side on the DC versions, so it looks more like a B. The
flying input lead has a matching shrouded male capital B shaped
connector moulded onto the end, so the DC plugs can't be inserted with
the wrong polarity. It's got more official approval marks on it than you
can shake a stick at, and IIRC, came from a shop on Tottenham Court Road
many years ago. Or possibly Maplin.

--
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 02/06/2012 14:50, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

48VDC is common enough on aircraft.

I'm sure I've seen 400Hz on aircraft... don't recall the voltage though.

Andy

Andy Champ wrote:
On 02/06/2012 14:50, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

48VDC is common enough on aircraft.

I'm sure I've seen 400Hz on aircraft... don't recall the voltage though.

115V.

The reason for 400Hz is that it permits higher power in smaller motors and
lighter construction of alternators for the same power output. 400Hz motors
can run close to 8x faster than 50 Hz motors.

"Graham." wrote in message
...
On Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:28:40 +0100, John Williamson
wrote:

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
I remember working on a piece of kit that was able to handle anything
between 48V DC and 250VAC on the same plug - no switches to select.
Pretty neat SMPSU in that.


I'd love to see that capability extended down to 12VDC but it may be
optimistic to expect it.

It might not be a continuous range, but I've got a universal laptop
supply that will work on either 11 - 14 VDC, or 90 - 275 VAC, 40 - 70
Hz, without switching, although the DC is polarity sensitive and uses
the same input cable. The output is also switchable from about 12 - 24V
in steps. It also has a USB output that'll do an amp or so. I've never
had the courage to plug it into a 24V DC supply.

If it uses the same input cable for (effectively) battery and mains,

They don't, they have separate cables for those two power sources.

what connector is on the other end?

Normally the usual car cigarette lighter plug for the 12VDC and
a variety of cables for the various mains plugs in various countrys.

With the better ones like Targus etc you can just ring
them up and get whatever mains cable you need for free.