American plugs...

[Gav]

What do american plugs look like? As in power plugs.

99.9% of UK plugs are look like this and come in either 3Amp, 5Amp, 10Amp or13Amp Varieties.:

There are some different shaped 15Amp ones, but these are rarely found in domestic homes.


But what do American ones look like, cause I'm rather confused, there seem to be so many??

EDIT: Electrical plugs btw.

 

[iMeowbot]

Most of the domestic outlets in the US are the 15A 120V variety.

The shorter of the two parallel slots (right) is the hot, longer (left) is neutral, the semicircle is the ground/earth. Older outlets often omit the separate ground lead, and didn't have the special wider slot to force polarity. Smaller items, and double-insulated ones, still do leave out the third lead.

 

[rdowns]

These are hair plugs in America What do they look like over there?

 

[Peterkro]

A lot like this:

 

[localoid]

I always though they looked like Mr. Plug but upon checking mine don't seem to have eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

 

[0098386]

That plug looks like he's been working too long.

 

[iMeowbot]

I always though they looked like Mr. Plug but upon checking mine don't seem to have eyes, nose, mouth, etc.

That must be Reddy Kilowatt's secret lover, but the ear thing is kind of weird.


At any rate, Reddy FTW, does this Mr. Plug pretender have his own typeface?

 

[PlaceofDis]

its it bad that whenever i hear 'plugs' i think of this kind?

 

[Killyp]

The OP is obviously talking about a different kind of plug completely...

 

[ham_man]

The OP is obviously talking about a different kind of plug completely...

They have alot of those in your neck of the woods...?

 

[cal6n]

What do american plugs look like? As in power plugs.

99.9% of UK plugs are look like this and come in either 3Amp, 5Amp, 10Amp or13Amp Varieties.:

linked image

There are some different shaped 15Amp ones, but these are rarely found in domestic homes.


But what do American ones look like, cause I'm rather confused, there seem to be so many??

EDIT: Electrical plugs btw.

Er... Actually very few of UK plugs are like that. Most of the one's I've seen have the live and neutral wires connected the right way round. If you look closely, there's even an "N" moulded just above the L in Live in the photo.

 

[mkrishnan]

Er... Actually very few of UK plugs are like that. Most of the one's I've seen have the live and neutral wires connected the right way round. If you look closely, there's even an "N" moulded just above the L in Live in the photo.

One more thing about the US plugs is that they do respect backwards compatibility -- that is, any plug will fit in a three-prong outlet, any two prong plug will fit in a two prong outlet with polarity, etc.

The three prong plug is bulkier, but it can only go in one way (nice), and it's more stable in its attachment. It would be nice if certain devices (cough, vacuum cleaner) used them for the stability reason alone.

 

[iMeowbot]

One more thing about the US plugs is that they do respect backwards compatibility -- that is, any plug will fit in a three-prong outlet, any two prong plug will fit in a two prong outlet with polarity, etc.

Except for one annoying detail: newer two-prong appliances with the polarity bumps won't fit into old outlets (hate hate hate because I live in an ancient house and keep finding more of the old outlets in forgotten corners)

 

[mkrishnan]

Except for one annoying detail: newer two-prong appliances with the polarity bumps won't fit into old outlets (hate hate hate because I live in an ancient house and keep finding more of the old outlets in forgotten corners)

Well, that's what I meant by *backwards* compatibility... they are *not* forward compatible.

I've seen recently that there are some newer supposedly child-safer (?) plugs that are like the polarized three-prong outlets, except that if you put in a two-prong plug, you must sort of jiggle it vertically to get it to fit in. We have these in the hospital... there were a couple of times when it took several people working together to manage to get one of the notebook computers plugged into one of them! Although, not all old plugs seem to fail to cooperate nearly so profoundly.

 

[ErikCLDR]

Yea my grandma's house had old outlets. I was trying to unplug a night light, accidentally touched the prongs because it was like 1/2 way out. Ouch.

 

[rhagen]

 

[SpookTheHamster]

linked image

Interesting. How does one know if the polarity is correct on a one prong plug?

 

[Turkish]

linked image

I was waiting for someone to post one of those...

 

[Jasonbot]

linked image

What exactly is that? It looks pretty dirty...

 

[Turkish]

What exactly is that? It looks pretty dirty...

It's a plug for the back end.

 

[mkrishnan]

It's a plug for the back end.

Some plug designs can be a real pain in the ass.

 

[Flowbee]

Type A and type B from this page: http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm

 

[rhagen]

Some plug designs can be a real pain in the ass.

lmao I see what you did there.

 

[Gav]

Er... Actually very few of UK plugs are like that. Most of the one's I've seen have the live and neutral wires connected the right way round. If you look closely, there's even an "N" moulded just above the L in Live in the photo.

I bow my head in shame. My family have been electricians by trade for many generations...