KirkyG Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Dear all - I moved to Sydney nearly 3.5 years ago and bought all my white goods with me (as I found out that Oz operates on 240v as per UK) and therefore all I needed to do was to replug all the devices or get adapters to convert the uk plug outlet to an AU one. However we noticed a burning smell last week and found that our dishwasher had melted the wall outlet and nearly caught fire. Concerned we called an Electrician in who advised us that our Dishwasher was ruining on 15amp and that there is no way to fix this and that we'd have to buy a new dishwasher. Can this be correct - is there really no way to bring white goods to Oz? Thanks for any advice. Kirky G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 Personally I would just get a new dishwasher. What if your placed burned down and your insurance doesn't pay out because it wasn't Australian approved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkyG Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 I agree that I wouldn't want my house to burn down, but surely other people who have moved from the UK haven't had to refurnish their entire kitchen full of white goods? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 I agree that I wouldn't want my house to burn down, but surely other people who have moved from the UK haven't had to refurnish their entire kitchen full of white goods? Interesting - have been discussing this very subject with my son, who is coming back to Australia later this year with his partner. They don't have any big white stuff because they have been renting in the UK. Was vaguely aware that amperage and voltage are not the same...duh. So what about smaller stuff such as toasters and his precious coffee machine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) So far as I can tell from Wikipedia, Australian sockets have different ratings, 10A and 15A, but the pins on the plugs are slightly different to prevent you plugging a 15A appliance into a 10A socket. (Which would overload it.) If you've overloaded (and melted) the socket it could be because the plugs that were put on when you moved are the wrong kind, ie. 10A plugs for a 15A (or 13A) device. There should be circuit breakers and/or fuses somewhere that trip or blow if you overload a socket though, it shouldn't result in melting (or fire). Edited January 28, 2015 by mungbean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Thanks. I might note that the op shops here are full of used electrical equipment, some of it quite new looking, but they all carry the label that they must be checked by a licensed electrician before they can be used. With electricians charging about $100 for a call out.....that has been enough to put me off buying anything second hand, however cheap. Wired in smoke alarms are now mandatory on all rental properties in Queensland, too. I think it's only a matter of time before wired in alarms will be mandatory in all properties (following a disastrous house fire in Brisbane recently in which eleven people, mostly children, were killed.) If a burning smell was noticed and the smoke alarm didn't go off, I would be looking into that! Mind you, I am currently sitting here waiting for my electrician ("sparkie") to come because my wired in alarms keep going off for no reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Was vaguely aware that amperage and voltage are not the same...duh. The voltage is the same - 230V. Most appliances in the UK would be rated 13A for things like heaters, hair dryers or washing machines, and 3A or 5A for smaller appliances. UK plugs have a fuse fitted which is rated according to the appliance, to make sure the rating isn't exceeded. Australian plugs don't. All UK domestic sockets are rated 13A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Thanks Mungbean. So you would bring out smaller stuff such as heaters, hair dryers, toasters, electric kettles, coffee machines and get the plugs changed? It's a bit odd really. I noticed that the plugs in Singapore are still the same as the UK, but somewhere along the way Oz decided to be different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paganlady Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Australia DOES have two electrical current systems, but the 15A is usually found in workshops, businesses etc. This is the equivalent of what we call 'three phase' in the UK. The domestic system runs on 10A and your equipment should run on this (lower) amperage without any problems. were you running it with an adapter or had you had it replugged? Adapters are not advisable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 So you would bring out smaller stuff such as heaters, hair dryers, toasters, electric kettles, coffee machines and get the plugs changed? As long as the plugs are put on properly, I don't see why you shouldn't use any UK appliance you want. But you can't plug a UK device that draws 13A into an Aussie 10A socket. Disclaimer: I'm not actually there yet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScotsQuine Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Thanks Mungbean. So you would bring out smaller stuff such as heaters, hair dryers, toasters, electric kettles, coffee machines and get the plugs changed? It's a bit odd really. I noticed that the plugs in Singapore are still the same as the UK, but somewhere along the way Oz decided to be different. Singapore also use 2 pin plugs as well as the 3 pin ones like the UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 However we noticed a burning smell last week and found that our dishwasher had melted the wall outlet and nearly caught fire. Concerned we called an Electrician in who advised us that our Dishwasher was ruining on 15amp and that there is no way to fix this and that we'd have to buy a new dishwasher. Can this be correct - is there really no way to bring white goods to Oz? We're both 240v but the UK is 15amp and many Australian sockets are only 10amp, apparently http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1649994 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 We're both 240v but the UK is 15amp UK is 13 Amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Personally, I don't have anything in my house not bought here in Australia. But my daughter and her family in Singapore are using toasters, electric jugs etc they brought there from Australia, and are running them on adapters. No smoke alarms either. I have been vaguely uneasy about this....my son in law is an engineer, but not an electrical one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScotsQuine Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Personally, I don't have anything in my house not bought here in Australia. But my daughter and her family in Singapore are using toasters, electric jugs etc they brought there from Australia, and are running them on adapters. No smoke alarms either. I have been vaguely uneasy about this....my son in law is an engineer, but not an electrical one! We survived 5 years living in Singapore by using a mixture of adapters and changing plugs but all 3 houses we rented there had smoke alarms! You can buy them from the local hardware stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I lived in India for 4 years. During that time my master circuit breaker melted twice (it has one job: to trip when there's an overload... #fail!), and my doorbell went on fire once. If I tried to run both a.c. units at the same time, smoke used to come off the wiring. A friend had two small fires in her house, one when she left a coffee-maker on and the socket melted, and another when she fell asleep with an electric oil heater running, and again the socket melted and went on fire. Wiring over there is often not rated properly... sockets and plugs are 2 different formats, for 6A or 15A, but it seems common that 15A sockets are connected to the 6A circuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 An older post on this sockets question: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/household/154885-another-electrical-plug-question-sorry.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 UK is 13 Amp. The point is that many sockets in Australia are 10 amp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 The point is that many sockets in Australia are 10 amp There are two separate issues. One is the rating of the socket (actually the wiring behind it), the other is how much current the appliance will be drawing at its peak. Bottom line: if an appliance shows that its power rating is more than 2300W, I wouldn't be plugging it into an Aussie 10A socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberta2 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 There are two separate issues. One is the rating of the socket (actually the wiring behind it), the other is how much current the appliance will be drawing at its peak. Bottom line: if an appliance shows that its power rating is more than 2300W, I wouldn't be plugging it into an Aussie 10A socket. OK thanks. Presumably no toasters then. I have no idea of the power rating of a pod coffee machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mungbean Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 OK thanks. Presumably no toasters then. I have no idea of the power rating of a pod coffee machine. All mains appliances should have their power rating written on the device somewhere - usually a little plaque on the bottom or back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KirkyG Posted February 1, 2015 Author Share Posted February 1, 2015 Australia DOES have two electrical current systems, but the 15A is usually found in workshops, businesses etc. This is the equivalent of what we call 'three phase' in the UK. The domestic system runs on 10A and your equipment should run on this (lower) amperage without any problems. were you running it with an adapter or had you had it replugged? Adapters are not advisable! I was running it with an adapter (GULP!) but happy to have it replugged if that is in fact possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.