emmigrating to Holland

[maz66]

Maybe this is a bit of a simple question, but does anyone know if its possible to change all the plugs on my UK appliances, ie fridge/washing machine/dishwasher/tv etc to Dutch plugs. I'm no expert but many of these appliances have the plug moulded on so will it be safe to just cut it off and rewire onto a dutch plug?
In the long term changing the plugs would save space and be safer i guess than using loads of adaptors everywhere!

 

[Goldberg]

will it be safe to just cut it off and rewire onto a dutch plug?

In purely logistical terms, there's no reason not to do what you're proposing, but, if you cut off a fused plug and replace it with an unfused one, you might want to play safe and make sure that the appliance isn't capable of overloading the Dutch circuit that you'll be plugging it into.

 

[ericmark]

All new appliances are suppose to be designed for whole of Europe and I think Holland use the German Schuko sockets!

These are not permitted in UK because they are reversible for polarity. As although new appliances should be OK so old stuff may have single pole switching and fusing and could present a danger.

I cut off the plug on a standard six way adaptor

and replaced with a Schuko plug for Turkey and same visa versa when I use items with Schuko plugs in UK. And I have bought new lead sets

with 2.5A connectors and same with 10A version but in this country only RS Components seem to sell them but once in Holland there should be no problem.

The French type socket is better being non reversible and there are plugs

designed to fit in both so make sure what type you have first.

Note some pictures have links.

 

[plugwash]

but in this country only RS Components seem to sell them

IIRC farnell and CPC do too.

 

[solair]

The fuse in a UK plug is really largely there because of the ring-circuits i.e. the socket might only be fused at 30Amps or 32Amps.

On the continent, socket circuits are fused at 16Amps normally, sometimes 10amps (older wiring).

Just cut the UK plugs off the appliances, and wire on Schuko plugs, if you need help on doing this consult a local electrical shop, electrician or someone who is familiar with wiring plugs.

Remember though, it's a little less common to wire plugs on the continent as they've had molded-on plugs as standard for MUCH MUCH longer than the UK.

However, it is usually still possible to buy plugs in most hardware shops and even supermarkets.

With small, appliances that do not require an earth, up to 2.5Amps (575W) max you can use

For all other appliances, you need to use a CEE 7/7 plug

Wiring either of these is pretty simple - if you need help, I'd suggest asking a Dutch person who has some clue about wiring.

European sockets are not polarised, i.e. it doesn't matter which way the live and neutral go.

Earthing is done with scraping contacts on the sides.

Normally, on rewirable plugs, the live and neutral are the two outer terminals and the earth will be a centre terminal.

No modern appliances will have any issue with non-polarised sockets, the only thing you should remember is that if you are servicing an appliance you should ALWAYS remove the plug from the wall socket, not just switch it off as there is always a risk of live internal components.

Also, if you're changing light bulbs in lamps, plug them out first.

Never assume that everything is dead in an appliance simply because it is switched off.

(This is equally useful in advice in the UK)

With regards to overloading a circuit, you won't be able to. the MCB will trip / fuse will blow once you go over 16amps and there are no appliances for normal use in the UK that are rated more than 13 amps so that's highly unlikely.

Overloading is more of an issue if you're using multi-way adaptors and power strips all plugged into a single socket outlet and you have tampered with the house's fusing !

 

[ericmark]

European sockets are not polarised, i.e. it doesn't matter which way the live and neutral go.

With regards to overloading a circuit, you won't be able to. the MCB will trip / fuse will blow once you go over 16amps and there are no appliances for normal use in the UK that are rated more than 13 amps so that's highly unlikely.

Overloading is more of an issue if you're using multi-way adaptors and power strips all plugged into a single socket outlet and you have tampered with the house's fusing !

In the main what Solair says is correct but French plugs are polarised German are not and in Holland you can get a mixture of both.

Old UK appliances before we joined EEC may have single pole fusing and switching I would say after around 1980 items were designed to be sold not only UK and rest of EEC.

Standard lamps sold in UK often had very thin flex which was OK when protected by a 3A fuse but not for protection with 16A fuse.

To take 16A flex should be a min of 1.5mm but in real terms 1mm flex is still likely to blow a 16A MCB before it melts although it would become very soft. But in UK some lamps used 0.5mm flex which is far too small to be protected by a 16A overload.

In the UK we have never had a supply where all sockets were 16A. There was a time pre-war where we had 2, 5, and 15A sockets and because the tariff for lighting was less than power we also cheated and used BA22d to 5A adaptors but houses may have only had 1 x 15A socket the rest being 5A and even post-war houses would have only 5 sockets total.

So anything older than 1980 I would get an electrician to check before using in Holland.

 

[plugwash]

But in UK some lamps used 0.5mm flex which is far too small to be protected by a 16A overload.

Well afaict plenty of continental european stuff also uses 0.5mm flex. Even thier IEC leads are often only 0.75mm! (which I personally consider rather dodgy)

Afaict the principle is that the MCB will provide adequte short circuit protection and overloading is unlikely given the appliance characteristics.

P.S. when checking the rating of an IEC lead always check the ratings of all components, afaict the ratings stamped on the connectors are only for the connectors.