wiring a UK extension into a Dutch electrical point?

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dontouchmachisel

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Hi, I'm staying with friends in an old house in the heart of Amsterdam and without going into a long story i'm thinking of wiring my UK extension lead into the point meant for the washing machine.
They didn't even know what it was for and I had to fix before they even knew it was live. I was happy to reattach wiring to where it obviously had come loose, but my experience of household wiring comes from the UK with my father and lots of books and diagrams as backup. The lack of earthing on plugs and on/off switches makes me a bit uneasy.

The box I want to wire into has a switch, and an earth (thankfully!) I have one of those 'electrical screwdrivers' which lights up on a live line so I can see which side is live, when the switch is off.

I've even tried a Dutch extension lead, wired in and actually run the washing machine and the hoover from it so I know it works, but I took that wiring out as a personally didn't like the lack of an earth wire.

What I'd like is just a bit of confirmation, about how to do this and if there's anything I'm not considering. I would wire the live wire into the point that is live, when it is switched off and the neutral into the other "dead" point. Now the earth point has three screw's, one has the earth wire in, are there two empty earth points to give the option to wire in two separate machines? (Washer and dryer? Which doesn't make sense as there's only one point to wire into, unless series wiring two devices into the same holes is considered normal in old dutch wiring?) So I can just wire my earth into either of the empty screws below the earth wire?

I've probably been as clear as mud. I've put two pictures below, with the two wire extension lead wired in. The white plastic inbetween is the switch, with the cord removed. Any help is much appreciated :) [GALLERY=media, 80023][/GALLERY] [GALLERY=media, 80024][/GALLERY]
 
What device was the Hoover? Another washing machine perhaps, or a dishwasher. Hoover make all kinds of devices.

You never wire devices in series as that would mean sharing 220 volts between them. That does not mean 110v each, it could be 150 and 70 say depending on the loading of each.

You need to ensure your earth points actually go to earth before you do anything further.

Where are the pictures below?
 
Apologies, maybe its just a northern slang to refer to a vacuum cleaner as a hoover. But I only tried these devices to check the point was providing power, so it's irrelevant really.

My predeliction for a little bit o'slang aside, I'm hoping to wire in a UK extension. I would of course wire in the earth first, I was just curious as to why there was two points for the earth. I'm more nervous about getting my live and neutral the wrong way around, as the Dutch don't use these as we do.

I think I the pictures are up now, I've loaded them three times now so, fingers crossed.
 
quote="winston1";p="3158030"]

You need to ensure your earth points actually go to earth before you do anything further [/quote]

Sorry again I was on the move when I read your reply, I misread.

I tested the earth with the old "bulb method" that i was shown years ago, an old electrician I used to work with showed me so I've always used it and thought it reliable? Unless I'm wrong?
 
Why are you wiring an extension lead into the fixed wiring ?

Can you not do the simple and sensible thing to do which is fit a Dutch plug onto the extension lead and then plug that into a socket.
 
bernardgreen said:
Why are you wiring an extension lead into the fixed wiring ?

Can you not do the simple and sensible thing to do which is fit a Dutch plug onto the extension lead and then plug that into a socket.
Click to expand...

This is the only power supply in this room, there are no other power outlets nearby. There was, 6 extension cords plugged into each other with numerous devices also plugged in, with no fuses or on/off switches to be seen. I got rid of all this because i thought it was unsafe. I thought a functioning, earthed, unused power point was an excellent alternative and also meant I could wire in my UK extension lead and take the converter out of the equation.
I posted this message in case somebody could point out any pitfalls with this idea.

Just to note, there is a fully safe cover that goes over the power point and the cord was removed for cleaning.
 
winston1 said:
You can wire your earth into either of those screws as they both go to the same point.
Is the original Dutch socket a Schuko type with side contact earth like this:

http://www.fam-oud.nl/~plugsocket/Schuko1.html

or is it 2 pin and no earth like this:

http://www.fam-oud.nl/~plugsocket/Europlug4.html[/QUOTE]

Thank you, Winston1.
Every socket is the old 'EU' type with no earth, that's why I was happy to see this more up to date point and an actual earth. I believe this was fitted separately within the last 20 years, but students lived here and it's all a bit of a mess.

The main bit I'm worried about is wiring the live and neutral the wrong way. I've fitted many lights and a few sockets over the years but always UK wiring and even then I was extra cautious and double checked everything.
Click to expand...
 
Unfortunately those dopey Europeans aren't quite as switched on as we are! They don't care about polarity; their plugs can go into the socket either way up. (Except the French/Belgian socket which has the earth pin sticking out of the socket). Apparently it does not matter which way round the fixed wiring connects to the socket, some sockets have live on the left, others have live on the right (as you look into the socket). All is not lost, however, they DO use double-pole circuit breakers so both live (line) and neutral are disconnected when the breaker trips. No prizes for working out this means ********* huge distribution boards and the associated cost of DP breakers.

Rule Britannia! No! I'll say that again. RULE BRITANNIA!
 
It would seem daft to call neutral and line live yet not switch on fuse the neutral. Which is the case in the UK. And this is the big issue in the UK we don't fuse or switch the neutral. With the 'Schuko' socket in the main double pole MCB's are used and all switches work on both line and neutral.

The problem is using a UK plug with fuse in the line only simply does not work with the 'Schuko' system.

There is a good reason why the 'Schuko' system is not allowed in the UK and for things like caravans we make special consumer units with neon indicators and a change over switch to allow their use in Europe.

So I will say how I personally over came the problem. I plugged one of these
tb_1_metrel-alphatek-tek989-socket-tester-597.jpg
into a 6 way extension lead with a 'Schuko' plug and if the lights did not show correct I simply turned the plug other way around.

clearly non earthed sockets are a problem but when in Rome! The thing to remember the rest of Europe used RCD protection well before us and they have relied on it. In some areas the rocky nature of the ground means they have no option but rely on the RCD.

This tester even does a loop test and at £18 it is not that expensive. I worked with the Dutch system for many years in Algeria and I had very little problem with it and that was 1980 when RCD protection was not normally used. The only problem I had was the 220 or 240 volt question today we are harmonised at 230 volt so that problem has gone.
 
ericmark said:
The only problem I had was the 220 or 240 volt question today we are harmonised at 230 volt so that problem has gone.
Click to expand...

Not this again. What ever the problem was then is still there as the supplied voltage in Europe is still 220V and that supplied in the UK is still 240V.
Modern equipment though is more tolerant of the difference.
 
Correct. Last time I measured it, my mains voltage was about 250v RMS.

I was working in the industry when the new regulations were being formulated. I was on one of the committees that met in London. The UK was adamant that it wasn't going to change its mains voltage - and AFAIK it didn't.
 
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