In America, our plugs are just one piece. They plug in, they unplug.
But I’ve seen that Brits have to open up the plugs, mess with stuff, screw it back together, and then use it.
Why aren’t British plugs one piece like American ones?
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the design comes from a time when appliances weren’t sold with plugs. These days you’ll very rarely have to open a plug and if you do it’ll be to replace the entire thing or swap out the fuse that some have inside.
The G type plug is actually better in my opinion and safer.
I don’t know about US plugs, but British plugs have an inbuild fuse to protect from power surges. When a surge happens, the fuse burns and protects whatever electronic device it’s attached to. But then the fuse must be replaced for the plug to work again. If you see someone “work on” a plug, 99% of the time that’s all they’re doing. It’s a 10 second job that even a layman can do.
When I was in school (2001-2006), Wiring a plug is also taught to kids in school as part of Design and Technology.
UK plugs also have a large Earth which makes them much much safer than US or European plugs.
This isn’t really a thing anymore, since all products have been required to be sold with plugins installed since 1992.
However, before that, there wasn’t a lot of standardization between the plugs people had in their homes. So you’d buy something and wire up the appropriate plug for your house.
But by the 90s, 95% of people had the modern plug, so no reason to keep selling things without plugs installed.
The British electrical system allows a higher current to flow, up to 30A over two parallel paths. A fault in a device might draw less current and never trip the circuit breaker. The solution was to put a fuse in the plug of each individual device limiting the power available to it, usually 13A. When it is blown the plug can opened and the fuse replaced. This is easier to do compared to opening up an appliance like a TV which might also contain fuses.
The plug can also be rewired to extend or shorten the cable lead. You don’t need to do it, but the option is open. With a one-piece plug in molded plastic, you have to replace the entire cord and open the appliance to attach a new one.
UK appliances will plug in and work straight out of the box like anywhere else. The plugs do contain a fuse wire, so you can open the plug if you need to replace a blown fuse.
Source: British. Have opened plugs maybe once or twice in my life.
A short Tom Scott video on the subject.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfP1OKKz_Q)
UK plugs are possibly the best in the world, the have their own fuse, the ground pin works with the socket to make it safer, the ground wire will fail last so the plug is safer, the plug holds in the socket by design and they’re user repairable; a damaged cable can be cut down and have a new plug added.
We do have moulded plugs, like in America – but our moulded plugs have removable slots for a fuse. Rarely do we see a moulded plug with a fuse and no access. All electronic equipment that plugs into a UK circuit, must be protected by a fuse on the plug. It isolates an individual device in the event of a malfunction as *extra protection*, rather than relying on the homes circuit breakers alone.
Because this is required *legally*; it makes sense to keep the fuses accessible.
Whereas, these safety fuses rarely exist in American products. The safety features of the home’s circuit breakers is relied upon instead. Trips/faults show up on the circuit instead of per-device. We don’t do this in the UK, because one faulty device could damage every other item on the circuit. This is why surge protectors are such a big deal in the US, and not so much the UK.
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They’re usually one piece with access to the fuse nowadays. I’m old enough to know how to wire a plug, comes in handy once or twice a year.
The UK power grid is one of the oldest in the world and was built before the use of fuse/breaker panels were standardized.
While fuse panels are mandatory in the UK now, in order to ensure safety with older electrical setups UK plugs have built-in fuses which is why they are so large and you can open them up.
While this started as a workaround to a problem it has the benefit that UK plugs are the safest in concept because of the extra protection.
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