Polarity advice on 16amp

[devonwoody]

I had to wire up a 16amp plug yesterday for the first time but there were no polarity markings inside the plug. Also it appears which ever direction the plug is inserted into its socket the blade still goes the correct way round, stange to me.!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Nigel]

Hi DEV
not quite sure what type off plug you are using but they are not able to be reversed in the socket due to a moulding on the plug
also you will not reverse a single phase motor just by revering the polarity

is this the type of 16amp plug
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.as ... 2104&g=114

Nigel

 

[devonwoody]

Thanks for reply Nigel but my plug is nothing like that example mine as picture below, and it goes into the machine socket in either 180 degree position.

So would like assistance if available.

 

[Nailer]

I had a sheppach TKU with the same plug and it made no difference which way around it went.

Also my new 804 is the same the motor turns the same way no matter which way round you wire it. :?

Hope this helps

 

[Nigel]

If there are only 2 connections then the motor is double insulated and does not require an earth and would not be polarity conscious
It would take more than a polarity change of the supply to change the rotation of the motor but thats another story

Nigel

 

[CHJ]

I had to wire up a 16amp plug yesterday for the first time but there were no polarity markings inside the plug. Also it appears which ever direction the plug is inserted into its socket the blade still goes the correct way round, stange to me.!!!!!!!!!!

Hi John, what you have is a German Standard 3 Pole Socket.
There will be no Polarity markings as such as the Plugs can be inserted either way round, as has been said in a previous reply your single phase AC machine does not care either way.

Make sure that the Earth (the two spring clip like prongs) is wired though in case your machine uses it for safety and/or Capacitor returns.

 

[devonwoody]

thanks all for info and advice.

CHJ:
out of interest does that mean in Germany all their plugs have no polarity interest?

 

[johnb]

See http://users.pandora.be/worldstandards/ ... .htm#plugs for an explanation of various European and other plugs worldwide.

In France under the latest regulations both live and neutral are connected to the circuit breaker (MCB) whereas in the UK they are only in the live line. Three-pin plugs do not usually have any distinguishing marks for "live" and "neutral" pins; and I don't think the regulations give any indication about the way sockets should be wired although electricians normally stick to one standard when wiring a whole house. Much of the lower power domestic equipment is double insulated so only uses two-pin plugs with which don't have polarity.

 

[CHJ]

thanks all for info and advice.

CHJ:
out of interest does that mean in Germany all their plugs have no polarity interest?

Not on any Single Phase that I have come across, The Three Phase (4 pin) ones have had a number sequence. New wiring is to the same harmonized colour code as here.

But the existing wiring in the old house that I have had access to is in conduits and not colour coded, this is not critical on a cooker but for motors you need to use a sequence meter or suck it and see to get correct 3 PH rotation.

This latter lack of colour coding makes sharing of loads on single phase loops or the safety separating of the feeds difficult. I found one room (a kitchen!!) with faulty equipment (poor earth) that had 440 volt potential between units due to two differing phases supplying adjacent equipement.
The property is due for a makeover at some future point to meet current regs, glad I am not meeting the bill.

 

[Losos]

Just as a matter to note the "Euro Plug & Socket" shown in CHJ's photo is pretty standard through most of Europe nowadays. When I was fitting some sockets I noticed that in fact the "Live" and "Neutral" were marked, 'tho the plugs are not. As it happens the Live and Neutral were the reverse of what is normally the case in UK. By this I mean that if you are looking at the wall socket, the live would normaly be the right side terminal in UK whereas it's supposed to be the left side terminal in Europe.

As other have said it usually doesn't matter on double insulated appliances but on my adapter leads I try to keep to the correct polarity, just to avoid the case CHJ mentioned ie 440 volts across two machines :shock:

 

[devonwoody]

Back again unfortunately showing my ignorance again regarding 16amp.

I now have two machines in the playroom both with 16 amp systems, does this mean after reading above threads that if both machines were running at the same time that I could have this 440 volt problem arise in certain circumstances?

 

[Les Mahon]

DW,

in a word no - At least assuming you don't have a 3 phase suply coming into your workshop. Chas was describing a set-up in germany - which if it is the same as Luxembourg has 3 phase supply to every house.

Les

 

[devonwoody]

Again thanks all. (By the way I shall soon be ready to take my
Mech. elec. eng. or what ever its called)

 

[CHJ]

DW,

in a word no - At least assuming you don't have a 3 phase suply coming into your workshop. Chas was describing a set-up in germany - which if it is the same as Luxembourg has 3 phase supply to every house.

Les

Thanks for picking that one up Les, the only time I have seen a similar problem in the UK was an old business premisses that had domestic quarters attached and someone had swapped room use over the years.

John, in the UK the supply company selects the phase distribution to each group of houses in an effort to balance the loads and keep the problem at bay. (don't know how bad the load balance gets in Germany!!)

However it is never a good idea to run a long extension leads between properties, for a public function for instance which I have seen, because of this increased risk.