rob aylestone
Moderator
Easy to convert - at least in most homes. Everything is 3 pins with ground/earth, BUT in Europe 2 pin is very common, and there are also 2 pin plugs that have a ground/earth socket, so you can plug in a connector that may have or may not have earth/ground!! As many imported products have a earplug, we use the never to be recommended adaptors. these things can be good quality, but most people have what has come to be known as the 'death-raptor' - a small, multi-hole device that enables most plugs to be inserted into UK big, safe outlets. You can mis plug these leaving one pin exposed and loads of people have pulled them out, touched a live pin and got a shock. Nobody as far as I know has died, but they're well known, and got the deathdaptor nick-name. They have no approval markings, or have fake ones, and are around in the thousands - often supplied free of charge with a Chinese import. Using them with a two pin plug does allow live/neutral swapping, and it does often result in lower noise. This swap is not actually considered a safety issue, because most kit that uses them is double insulated. The most common connection being the two pin figure of 8 shaped connector, good for a few amps and very common on Class II double insulated products worldwide.
In the UK, we have a safety culture - we warn about high risk and often go over the top. In electrical safety cases, our 240V makes taking these things seriously common sense. In the past month I have lost too much equipment to electrical faults for me to disregard electrical issues.
In the UK, we have a safety culture - we warn about high risk and often go over the top. In electrical safety cases, our 240V makes taking these things seriously common sense. In the past month I have lost too much equipment to electrical faults for me to disregard electrical issues.