Hi Folks A few years ago I worked for BSI "Technical Help to Exporters" and helped to update their publication "World Wide Plugs and Sockets Survey" - which I assume is still available from BSI (see www.bsi-global.com)
I remember looking at the Korean standards for plugs and sockets:- Yes - they were/are variations of Schuko types(both with and without earthing contacts), but I also seem to remeber some NEMA (USA/Canadian) types as well. However, as part of another large exercise for a customer I reviewed many of the European wiring rules standards to identify any conventions or requirements for the polarity of wiring-up of sockets - notably those that accept the various versions of the (generally reversible) Schuko plugs and also the somewhat similar Danish, Swiss and Italian plugs. Result : there were (and presumably still are) wiring colour codes for the building wiring to these sockets - BUT NO CONVENTION AS TO WHICH COLOUR IS CONNECTED TO WHICH CONTACT TUBE OF THE SOCKET, apart (obviously) from the requirement that the Green/Yellow insulated conductor be connected to the earthing contact. Therefore you must always assume that the Line/Neutral polarity of the wall socket is random - this is also true for the French version of the socket with the earthing pin projecting out since it is only a (more recent?) variety of the type of socket which has no such pin. Thus the equipment connected to it must have some sort of double-pole disconnect device (be it a switch, or the plug itself). Double-pole fusing requirements may depend on the product standard requirements, but is effectively required where the internal wiring of the equipment cannot deal with the full prospective fault current available from the wall socket. Hope this clarifies matters. Regards John Allen Thales Bracknell, UK. -----Original Message----- From: Robert Wilson [mailto:robert_wil...@tirsys.com] Sent: 20 February 2002 19:17 To: emc-p...@majordomo.ieee.org Subject: RE: South Korean Power System Schuko plugs come in two basic versions. The original (larger) plug has two solid round pins for the AC interconnect, and two metal strips along the side of the plug (one on each side) that are grounding contacts. When inserting the plug, the body of the plug disappears into the socket recess BEFORE any electrical contact is made, making them far safer than the plugs used in North America. Ground contact to the side ground strips is made before any AC contact. These plugs have no polarization feature when used in German and most other European Schuko sockets. The plug can be rotated 180 degrees with no possibility of polarizing it. However, the Schuko plug had to accommodate the slightly different French AC socket. This socket is almost the same as the "normal" Shuko socket, but there is a ground pin that sticks OUT of the recessed socket, and inserts into a hole in the Schuko plug beside the 2 AC pins. This hole has a female contact (that is in parallel with the grounding strips along the edges of the plug). If the French ONLY be inserted one way around. The second type of Schuko plug is rather like the North American 2-prong plug (except is not nowhere near as cheap, flimsy or dangerous). It is flat and has no ground contact. There are two solid round pins, but they are made of plastic, with metal contacts ONLY at the very tips, so once again, no metal is exposed once contact is made. Bob Wilson TIR Systems Ltd. Vancouver. ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@mediaone.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list" ------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE EMC Society Product Safety Technical Committee emc-pstc discussion list. Visit our web site at: http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/emcs/pstc/ To cancel your subscription, send mail to: majord...@ieee.org with the single line: unsubscribe emc-pstc For help, send mail to the list administrators: Ron Pickard: emc-p...@hypercom.com Dave Heald: davehe...@mediaone.net For policy questions, send mail to: Richard Nute: ri...@ieee.org Jim Bacher: j.bac...@ieee.org All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://ieeepstc.mindcruiser.com/ Click on "browse" and then "emc-pstc mailing list"
