Guest sdpd Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I have been looking online for a UK to Australia adapter but am confused as some seem to have 2 pins and others 3! What is the norm? I thought Oz plugs were 3-pin like UK but slanted instead of straight? What's with the 2-pin plugs?? Also, if we just get a couple of adaptors am I right in thinking that we can plug a UK extension lead into them and run our UK appliances off that. It would save any bother changing plugs on appliances as we are only staying 1 year. Is it safe enough to do it this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Hi, have a look at the chart on this page -http://www.accesscomms.com.au/reference/AustMainsPlugVariants.htm Phone chargers and other typical low voltage adaptors tend to be 2 pin, where as things like pc's tv's etc tend to be 3 pin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TaniaandRob Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I have been looking online for a UK to Australia adapter but am confused as some seem to have 2 pins and others 3! What is the norm? I thought Oz plugs were 3-pin like UK but slanted instead of straight? What's with the 2-pin plugs?? Also, if we just get a couple of adaptors am I right in thinking that we can plug a UK extension lead into them and run our UK appliances off that. It would save any bother changing plugs on appliances as we are only staying 1 year. Is it safe enough to do it this way? Aussie is 2 or 3 pin but the both fit the same adapter the 2 pin ones are just missing the bottom pin. / \ / \ | :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 The third pin is the Earth, equivalent to the top pin on UK plugs. If you look at UK plugs, you'll notice some have a metal third pin (e.g. irons, hairdryers etc), others (e.g. phone chargers) just have a plastic one. In australia they don't both with the plastic one, hence some plugs have 2, and some have three. All sockets will have the three holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted January 21, 2011 Share Posted January 21, 2011 RockDr has it spot on. In the UK, even devices that don't use the earth have to have a third pin because, on UK plugs, the earth pin is slightly longer and pushes a safety device that opens the covers on the live and neutral sockets. Australian sockets don't have these safety shrouds so, when the earth isn't used, they just leave it off the plug. However, all standard sockets here are set up for 3 pins--it's just that some electrical things you buy are double-insulated and allowed not to have an earth. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gpo1971 Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 We bought a load of adaptors when we came but ultimately set out on a program to either replace plugs or products not long after. Costly but justified. Firstly, it looks crap with adaptors all over the place, they don't fit behind the couch and stuff like that, they stick out a lot. Secondly, and more importantly, its just feels slightly unsafe and I don't know how we'd go insurance wise if we burnt the house down and the assessor found 67 adaptors in the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul1Perth Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 You can get new plugs from Bunnings or somewhere and it's not rocket science to replace them. Pretty cheap too. Just chop off the old one and brown to positive, blue to negative and yellow and green to earth. If in doubt ask an electrician. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobbsy Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I agree totally on replacing plugs rather than using bulky adaptors forever--that's exactly what I did. However, just to be completely honest, here in Queensland (and I believe several other states) technically it is illegal for anyone other than a qualified electrician to change the plugs. Should you ever have a fire and it be found that a plug you changed yourself was involved, it could void your insurance. Being honest, I've been doing electrical work for more than 40 years as part of my job so I went ahead and made the changes anyway--but I just thought I should post this to make sure anyone doing this knows what they're getting into--sort of pointing out the small print! Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 You can get new plugs from Bunnings or somewhere and it's not rocket science to replace them. Pretty cheap too. Just chop off the old one and brown to positive, blue to negative and yellow and green to earth. If in doubt ask an electrician. Yes - 20 or so years ago, all electrical products sold in the UK came without a plug - just bare wires. You had to buy the plug separately and fit it yourself. Then they introduced moulded plugs that were fixed to the wires and the plug changing skills were just not passed down the generations. Most people younger than me have never seen the inside of a plug. And with this has come the false belief that changing a plug must be very difficult and probably dangerous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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