Need Detail on European Plug Configurations for Small Appliances

Thanks... I have seen that before.

Various Thomas Glover handbooks might be helpful, even if not fully comprehensive.

Excellent tks. The neutral at the house supply is bonded to the "earth" conductor?

Not in a TT system, a TN-S system or an IT system (IT is not usually found in houses in the UK - more common in hospitals).

There is an excellent article in Wikipedia on earthing systems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthing_system

So in your TT system, the only point the neutral is bonded to earth is at the supply. Thanks PW... appreciated.

This interactive chart my help.

The voltage is 250V at 50Hz, correct? I usually measure between 220 - 230.

How many pins in a standard receptacle and how are they refered to? Each country it seems has their own, even the Europlug is modified between countries. Define your country.

As to the conductors that delivers power to a device and returns it back to the source, what do you call them? A hot and a neutral? Phase or live and neutral.

Is the neutral bonded to the case of an appliance inside that appliance? No. That is simply very dangerous, code should never allow it, ever?

You use a bonding conductor, correct? Do you call it a bond or a ground conductor? Ground, earth, Masse, Erde, what language do you want?

Is the bonding conductor bonded to the case of an appliance inside that appliance? Depends if the device to be powered is double insulated or not. If double insulated, no earth required.

How exactly does your RCDs work, what conductors do they monitor and how? God knows why you need to know this, but they compare the current in the phase to that in the neutral, if they are not the same, within given tolerances, the breaker drops within a set time limit.It does not need an earth connection as far as I am aware.

How different is it, from a configuration perspective, from one country or area of Europe to another? There are plenty of differences, the UK has the best system of all, each plug has a fuse that needs to be sized for the device at the other end of the cable correctly.

They use ring mains since about 1945.

The plugs do not allow tiny fingers or objects like knives to touch them when live.

The live and the neutral sockets are covered by insulating parts that prevent entry of foreign objects and are only automatically released once the earth pin (always present even if not used as an earth connection!) is inserted and the phase and neutral pins are entering their respective sockets...Brilliant system. Used also in various other countries.....

Boldface, like all-caps, is just another form of shouting.

Thanks...

Country... There is no country defined at the moment in the issue I have before me.

Neutral to Case Bonded... Agree fully, I still need to understand European practices.

Language... More interested in the term used as opposed to what language is used.

Bond Conductor to the Case... So it is bonded to the case if not double insulated.

RCD Functions... Because an RCD is being proposed as a way to mitigate a potential harmfull situation. As such, I need to determine it ability to mitigate the hazard.

I'm going to add a bit more on previous answers, with a nugget of gold at the end for those who persevere :-)

The voltage is 250V at 50Hz, correct?

50 Hz yes but anywhere from 220-240V nominal. Most are nominal 230V. The UK has the highest I have encountered at 230 +10% / -6% = 253V max.

How many pins in a standard receptacle and how are they referred to?

Standard UK receptacle has been described. However 15A 3 x round-pin un-fused are still in use for theatre lighting. 5A 3 x round pin can be used for small standing lamps for example (to prevent people plugging in higher powered appliances).

As to the conductors that delivers power to a device and returns it back to the source, what do you call them? A hot and a neutral?

Live and neutral, which are known as active conductors. In US and Canada you can have 2 hot-legs to give you 240V for large appliances. This is not used in Europe since the voltage is already near that level.

Is the neutral bonded to the case of an appliance inside that appliance?

No not ever no way. As an active conductor, the neutral must never be so connected unless by the supply authority itself.

You use a bonding conductor, correct? Do you call it a bond or a ground conductor?

See below.

Is the bonding conductor bonded to the case of an appliance inside that appliance?

See below.

How exactly does your RCDs work, what conductors do they monitor and how?

See below.

How different is it, from a configuration perspective, from one country or area of Europe to another?

Aha. A huge organisation called Schneider have thought about this. Helpfully they have produced a great tome called the Electrical Installation Guide which you can download free of charge from here:

http://www2.schneider-electric.com/sites/corporate/en/products-services/product-launch/electrical-installation-guide/electrical-installation-guide.page

Also search for their 'Cahiers techniques' which will give even more detailed information on the workings of RCDs (for example).

Thanks...

A morsel of information. The earth wire that runs to small appliance receptacles [sockets in UK] is defined as a circuit protective conductor [cpc] " a protective conductor connecting exposed-conductive-parts of equipment to the main earthing terminal" while a bonding conductor is "a protective conductor providing equipotential bonding". The words in italics are exactly as the definitions in the "IET Wiring Regulations" British Standard 7671, current edition. Another definition makes "equipment" an abbreviation of "electrical equipment".

Each circuit from a distribution board fuse/breaker has its own cpc, usually called "earth", of course! A bonding conductor is, for example, between the main building earth terminal and the metallic piping for water and fuel gas and is not part of any "circuit".

I appreciate that your using the term "bonding" shows that you have your principles firmly in mind in North America and know that bonding the kit in a building is the essence and a real "ground" only matters outdoors.

It is standard practice in Britain for the cpc of a typical 2.5 sq.mm copper socket circuit to be only 1.5 sq.mm.

Nice find... thanks.

Sweet.

But what's that 'Spur Unit' in the IEC/British standards? It looks like it's joining to different circuits together. That doesn't seem safe...

The spur unit is just T-ing a spur off from a ring main circuit (the most common method of domestic wiring in the UK). The diagram doesn't make it very clear. Look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_circuit

Oh, a Ring circuit is a way to carry an amp load with smaller wiring, by running the circuit in a loop from the electrical panel out through the area, and then back to the same point, so the load is shared by two conductors.

Very clever .....

Until a wire breaks or comes loose, or a component gets miswired, then the whole house burns merrily like a Yule Log.

(shakes head) "...mad dogs and Englishmen..."

That's why I love ANSI rules for wiring: every INCH of a wiring circuit must be able to carry the FULL CURRENT the breaker or other circuit protection will allow, with some extra capacity as a safety buffer.

Yes, but on a ring main in UK we have two earth returns from each socket! What happens when an earth wire breaks in US?

The ring main was introduced in 1948 to save on copper, which was strategically short then. For 2 x 2.5 square mm wire you get a 32A circuit. The associated BS3613 sockets had shutters over live & neutral socket entries opened by the earth pin and the matching 13 amp plugs all had integral fuses. The better sockets to current standard will not open shutters unless all 3 pins are inserted.

If you have a 2.5 sq.mm Cu wire in a 20A breaker radial circuit with a bad joint is it that much better? It is the bad joints that get really hot and cause trouble [and 115V has twice the current for the same power]. The wires are usually buried in plaster.

Europe uses 230V, which for the same power and % volt drop uses 1/4 the copper of 115V.

Every system has its disadvantages and benefits.

67model

"Yes, but on a ring main in UK we have two earth returns from each socket! What happens when an earth wire breaks in US?"

Two Earth returns for each socket? In the US we call that a Ground Loop and it's generally a Bad Thing to have.

But when you have a single ground line and it breaks, you end up with ungrounded equipment. Which is why it's important to regularly check your building wiring for problems such as that. It's just part of Regular, Preventative Maintenance, which should be done anyway.

Personally, I'm only worried about 'broken grounds' when hooking up audio equipment, since I live in Chicago, and all our wiring, even in residential locations, are contained in metal pipe, and the pipe doubles as the 'ground connection.' a broken hot will touch the inside of the pipe and trip the breaker, a broken neutral may trip the breaker, or it may simply leave the circuit it's part of 'mostly dead' (equipment will not run, although the hot side is still live) or, if the neutral is connected to the Earthing point inside the equipment, cause the equipment to run power down the ground for the brief moment needed to trip the breaker.

(The reason for watching grounds when hooking up audio equipment is to eliminate any 'ground hum,' a 50/60Hz buzz that leaks in when equipment is grounded improperly. Ground Loops are a major source of Ground Hum.)