# Why are plugs in the US such a PITA?



## agallant (Jul 1, 2010)

I am in Germany right now and am falling in love with the plugs over here. Everything is 220. The plugs have two long prongs and two grounding strips, the grounding strips always make contact first and there is no way that you can touch the two hot leads. Why can't we have something like this in the US. I have been zapped a few times before by our plugs. as for 220 in the US the connectors are huge. We have these twist lock plugs at work for 220, you plug the thing in then twist it to lock it I like the locking part but the plug is huge, as for they type of plug my dryer uses that is too big too. 
Check it out. I love these plugs, wish I could have them in my shop. 
http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/electricity.htm#plugs_f


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## tenontim (Feb 24, 2008)

? All of the 220 plugs in my shop are the same size as the 110 plugs, just have a different prong orientation. You have to have the large plugs for high amp items, like 5+ hp motors.


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## steviep (Feb 25, 2011)

This is what we use in the Lighting world 









The only downside is they are pricey!

This one is fun too-









6 separate runs of 20AMP power (load, neutral and ground) in one handy (and heavy) cord!


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

All 220?

I've always understood that, while 110 volts can give you a good kick, it is very rare that it would kill you. By contrast, under the right circumstances, 220 can kill you.

Maybe I am wrong about this. Nonetheless, if I am right, it seems like 110 should be used where it is sufficient and 220 should be limited to applications that need it.


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## derosa (Aug 21, 2010)

It's the difference of AC vs. DC and the US being conned by Edison into picking the wrong electrical type, 220 in Europe is much less dangerous at 220.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

It's not the volts that kill, it's the amps… Plenty of people have been killed, or at least needed CPR because they came in contact with a live hi tension lead (coil to distributor lead) on a car, 12V, but thousands of amps… I have been zapped by 110V before on the job site, don't want to do that again…

No matter what the cause, you want to have your body avoid contact with live electrical circuits at all costs…


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## Grandpa (Jan 28, 2011)

If the human body is shocked at the right time in relation the the heart beat then the heart cannot be restarted. I had a distant family member that has shocked by a bad drill motor and his wife was beating herself up for not being able to revive him. Someone told her this. Another cousin asked me if I had heard about this and I had not. I asked a young doctor friend and he told me that it WAS true. He said there was a term for it but he could not remember it. He said it was discussed in first year medical school. All I really learned here is an electrical shock is a dangerous thing whether 110V or 220V or whatever.


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## Smitty_Cabinetshop (Mar 26, 2011)

I thought Edison *didn't* get his way, despite his con efforts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Currents


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## Torr (Feb 26, 2011)

@dbhost, Actually the ignition coil coil puts out 10,000+ volts and a few milliamps of current. It is basically a step-up transformer. The input to it is 12 volts and 10+ amps.

My understanding is that only a few milliamps across the heart will disrupt its rhythm and possibly cause cardiac arrest.

How voltage plays into it is a bit more complicated as the resistance / impedance of the body comes into play.

As a general rule, I believe most safety standards consider anything under 42 volts low voltage and generally safe. Above that there is risk of electrocution.

So the 110 vs. 220 debate is somewhat moot. Either can kill you. The one benefit of 220 volt systems is the lower amperage needed for a given device and thus less thermal issues. Fire safety concerns may have driven the selection of 220 more so than electrocution risk.


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## glassyeyes (Apr 14, 2009)

Another issue is 50 cycle (Europe) vs. 60 cycle (US). I was told by a German engineer that 50 cycle AC current is less dangerous to the human body than 60 cycle. AC can mess up the heart rhythm more easily than DC at some voltages.

Also, AC current came to the fore because DC current cannot be efficiently transmitted for any significant distance. Transformers work well on alternating current, but not on DC. Nikola Tesla invented some of the AC system, but was snookered out of the rights to it by others.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

As an electrical engineer, I simply have to chime in on this one…

The difference in danger between 50 Hz and 60 Hz is minimal. However, the difference in danger between AC and DC is immense. Most of it is because of the body's reaction to electric current. DC will actually cause the muscles to "clench" in contact with DC and it is sometimes impossible to let go. Because the AC is constantly reversing direction, it is easier to let go of an AC circuit. However, with enough voltage, even AC will cause enough contraction of the muscles to make it impossible to let go.

In terms of fibrillation (sp?) of the heart (the thing that causes death in electrocution), AC (50 or 60 Hz) is actually worse than DC. It takes about 10X as much DC current to cause fibrillation. This is through the skin which is a pretty good insulator. Since we are primarily bags of salty water (very conductive), contact directly through the skin to the fluids of our body can be much more lethal. If you were to drive a pin under a fingernail of each hand (ouch) and connect a common D-cell battery (1.5V) to the pins, the resultant current through your heart would be enough to kill you.

You need current directly through the heart to cause fibrillation, which is why many old electricians recommend "keeping one hand in your pocket". Current flowing through one arm to the other is deadly because it goes through the heart; current flowing through either arm to your feet much less so.

As far as 110 versus 220; the skin doesn't really break down until about 500V then things get really deadly. Below that, 110 or 220, the effect is strictly resistive. That doesn't mean "not dangerous"; plenty of people have been killed by both 110 and 220. 220 will give about 2X the current of 110 for the same body resistance. Body resistance can be lowered by sweat, or direct contact with water.


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## becikeja (Sep 12, 2010)

Hey, I have an idea. Just make sure not to touch any of it.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

What becikeja said- don't touch the prongs on the plug. I learned that years ago.

EE, I had alway heard that one would freeze on 110 but 220 would throw you off the wire.

Germany? I have a lot of respect for German engineering and technology, in many instances. Read Albert Speer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." They had the capability of winning WWII if Hitler hadn't been an idiot.


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## StumpyNubs (Sep 25, 2010)

I lived in eastern Europe (old Soviet Union) for a while and let me tell you, I understand why every single building is made from poured cement, even the interior walls. The electrical system they use there (just two round prongs and a lot of old wire) will *burn your biscuits in a hurry!*


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## Bertha (Jan 10, 2011)

In the dead guy business, high voltage is considered 600V and above but you're right, it's the amps that'll get you, at whatever voltage. Search for research on Tasers to learn about the amperage required to disrupt proper cardiac condution. Be careful talking about it, though, as a certain taser company (I'll let you figure out which one) is well known to sue anyone and everyone in sight. I honestly shouldn't say any more.


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## Knothead62 (Apr 17, 2010)

Correction: Inside the Third Reich by Albert Speer; got it mixed up with The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire.


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## Roger Clark aka Rex (Dec 30, 2008)

The safest power plugs in the world are the ones used in the UK. Although they may be a bit cumbersome they have safety features that prevent you touching any live wires. The ground (earth) Prong is upright rectangular and at a certain insertion point will allow the live sockets (horizontal rectangular) to open the shield. The plugs also contain a "bullet" fuse you can change to suit your tool/application. If you look up Electrical Safety, you will find this is so. They also have very strict rules about switch locations; Pull light switches in bathrooms and safe poer locations from any water source.
It may be a tad cumbersome, but safety is the criteria.


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## crank49 (Apr 7, 2010)

Referring back to the OP. What is ito love about those clunky european plugs?
All the ones I have seen and used were the size of a coffee cup.
I like our plugs much more.
Wouldn't have a problem with everything being 220v though.

Richgreer said, "I've always understood that, while 110 volts can give you a good kick, it is very rare that it would kill you. By contrast, under the right circumstances, 220 can kill you." 
I've always heard the opposite. That 110 will hold you, while 220 will knock you away. Neither one is really true. Depends on the circumstances, what part(s) come in contact, path to ground, etc.

I used to work on TV's for a living, back in the early 1970's. There is a high voltage lead on the back of a CRT, depending on the size of the tube, with up to 35,000 DC volts. I got bit by those suckers a couple of times. Not fun at all.


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## marcbousquet (Oct 15, 2011)

If I remember correctly when talking to a couple of buddies of mine, one who was an electrical engineer, you can in theory get shocked with thousands of volts and not get killed. Will it hurt like hell, ask anyone who has been hit with a taser, but not lethal(50,000 volts but only 3 milliamps). Amperage is what kills, 0.5 amps across the heart can be considered lethal. Of course that would have been nice to when in my high school physics class the teacher let us monkey around with the control panel for the class room and one setting allowed you to run ~16.5 amps of DC through the line. Found out that like 0.4 amps will heat mech pencil lead to burn paper and a lab table a bit. 16 or so amps will with like a half-second on power flowing through a pencil with one wire connected to the sharpened end and the other to a screw embedded so it touch the graphite core near the eraser end will vaporise the paint on the half near the sharpened end and cause the paint to completely bubble up on the back half.


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## EEngineer (Jul 4, 2008)

I had to go looking for exact current levels. From Wikipedia:

Small currents (70-700 mA) usually trigger fibrillation in the heart which is reversible via defibrillator, but large currents (> 1 A) cause permanent damage via burns, and cellular damage.

However, this is "macroshock", defined as current flow through the skin. Again, from Wikipedia:

Microshock is a risk in patients with intracardiac electrical conductors, such as external pacemaker electrodes, saline filled catheters, or weak or old heart tissue within the heart. A current as low as 10uA (microampere) directly through the heart, may send a patient directly into ventricular fibrillation.

This is the circumstance I described above where contact through the skin to the fluids of our bodies lead to much more lethal conditions. Considering that tasers which "launch" their probes use barbed sharp projectiles to penetrate clothing, I can see where they might even penetrate skin in which case even 3mA is about two orders-of-magnitude too high! This might explain some of the anomalous deaths through tasing.

But make no mistake: 110V or 220V can kill you in the right circumstances. Deaths from 110V are not rare at all.


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## DMIHOMECENTER (Mar 5, 2011)

I like our plugs just fine. However, while surfing for electrocution info, I came across the following and am now severely afraid of walking on top of electric trains. It might explain why they called them conductors.

Not for the faint of heart…

http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=Ar6Usr7qHdneHQXnwADecs.bvZx4?p=train+electrocuted+dead&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fr=yfp-t-471


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## Vrtigo1 (Mar 18, 2010)

EEngineer, I always heard you should keep your left hand in your pocket since your right arm is further from your heart.

What I don't really get about people talking about the difference between being shocked by 110v and 220v is that. In a lot of instances there is no difference. What I mean is that 220v is just two 110v legs. If you get shocked it's usually because a conductor had bad insulation or you touched a terminal. In either of those cases you would likely only contact one of the hot conductors, effectively getting a 110v shock. Just something that I'm guessing most folks don't stop to think about.


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## jonathanm (Nov 18, 2011)

In European 220/240v there isn't two legs like the US.

Having been shocked by both 110 and 240, I would take the 110 any day of the week. The 240 shock was right across my chest from one hand to the other and the thing that saved me was being thrown 6 feet across the room - the force ripped the cord right out of the back of the thing I was holding.

The UK plugs and sockets are indeed much better than those in the US and Germany (I have lived in all 3 places).

Another safety aspect is that higher voltages = less amps which results in less heating of wires and reduces fire risks. It also allows for thinner conductors.


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## BillWhite (Jul 23, 2007)

220/110 is not important to me in the home. However, I'm driven to drink (more) by the fact that in most instances, a right angle plug would certainly be more easily used in stead of the straight plugs we have. Seems that they (rt. angle) would cause less clutter and take up less space.
Bill


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## glassyeyes (Apr 14, 2009)

It would seem simple to add a collar to the outlet that would shield the prongs before they become "hot,", giving similar protection to the better designs. A right-angle plug needs to be angled to the side to prevent clearance problems on vertically stacked outlets. Maybe we should place the outlets horizontally?


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

Some locations, such as the U of W, require 120 volt outlets to be installed up side down so the ground will be on top preventing contact with the hot. However, with a loose fitting connection, the ground then becomes the first to be disconnected which is more hazardous than having a a tiny bit of hot exposed at the outlet.

BTW, I have been shocked a few times ;-)) Everything from electric fences, lighting ballasts and power systems. The worst was a fluorescent lighting ballast that was grounded to the cover which I removed. It would probably kill me today, but was no big deal when I was in my 20s. Next in line was one leg of 480; ie, 277 to ground. The thing to keep in mind is to always work so your contracting muscles pull you away from the source.

When I was an apprentice, I drew an arc off a 13,800 distribution system. I realized it was just static as I would not have seen the arc if it had been live ;-)) We were shorting out system to cross phase and to ground. The connection on that buss was a bit loose.


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## patcollins (Jul 22, 2010)

I have often wondered why some places install outlets "upside down".

I knew someone in highschool that had one leg and one arm, when he was younger he had a kite get stuck in a tree. He climbed the tree and grabbed onto a transmission line that was in the tree (why was the tree growing into the line in the first place) he completely lost one arm and the opposite leg below the knee.

Aircraft use 28V DC and 115V AC at 400Hz, I got zapped by the 400Hz and it didnt seem as bad as 60Hz household, still dont want to do it again.


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## TopamaxSurvivor (May 2, 2008)

400 hz has the advantage of lighter, smaller motors. That is why they use it on aircraft. It's proximity to ferrous metals, especially conduits, cause excessive line loss. It is only use in aluminum conduit. The runs of cable need to be as short as possible. You could compare it to trying to transmit DC, doesn't work well.


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