this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2024
93 points (92.7% liked)
Asklemmy
43520 readers
1831 users here now
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
Search asklemmy ๐
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
- Open-ended question
- Not offensive: at this point, we do not have the bandwidth to moderate overtly political discussions. Assume best intent and be excellent to each other.
- Not regarding using or support for Lemmy: context, see the list of support communities and tools for finding communities below
- Not ad nauseam inducing: please make sure it is a question that would be new to most members
- An actual topic of discussion
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
- Lemmyverse: community search
- sub.rehab: maps old subreddits to fediverse options, marks official as such
- !lemmy411@lemmy.ca: a community for finding communities
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_A@discuss.tchncs.de~
founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Fused plugs still have a big advantage.
The amperage can be specific to the device.
We do mandate all circuits have RCD/GFCI now, but we're not taking away fuses in plugs.
If a lamp starts drawing too much current for its wire, it might be on a 20A breaker. It should have a 1A fuse in the plug.
Fuses on the sockets would mean either specific sockets and circuits for low, medium, and high power devices or a loss of specificity. In fact there are 5 levels, so 5 different levels to replicate with your system.
https://www.stevensonplumbing.co.uk/bs1362-fuses.html
For a short or earth the RCD trips. If more goes out on the live than returns to the neutral the RCD trips. If the current goes high but returns correctly to the neutral, the RCD does nothing, the fuse in the plug breaks.
Fuses are an inch by a quarter inch.
Fuses and plugs could be made smaller but to be honest the pins and wires need to be able to take 13A.
Most of the bulk is about the length of the pins. Making it mechanically safe so the earth connects before the live, making it difficult to accidentally pull out the wall, and making sure no live connection is contactable when partly outside the wall.
We have low power travel adapters for low power devices that fold away bits they don't need. Or separate onto pieces.
I think we're good. Plugs are still smaller than AC-DC adapters we use all the time. Calling the bulky is a bit of a stretch. They're aren't bulky, even compared to a modern phone charger.