Why are plug sockets region locked?

Submitted ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨RangerOne@piefed.world⁩ to ⁨[deleted]⁩

There are types A (Japan), B (US), C (EU), D (India), E (France), F (Germany), G (UK), H (Israel), I (AU) and so on: in which all have a distinct plug shape and differences in prongs. Type A plug is just two straight prongs without a ground while Type B is nearly identical to A but with a ground connection and Type F has no ground attached to the outlet while Type E does, usually this is solved with a adapter (for electronics that are dual voltage and support 50/60Hz frequency).

However, household appliances are typically region locked in the sense of being singular voltage (like electric kettles, toasters, refrigerators, washing machines) since those are intended to not be made for travel (mainly for domestic use only supporting only a single plug type) unless you have both an adapter and a transformer. You can’t just plug a 120v 60Hz Toaster (B Plug) onto a 230v 50Hz outlet (Type F socket) with an adapter alone as that’ll blow the fuse.

Most modern electronics (as in laptops, game consoles and smartphones) support dual voltage and frequencies but their default plug type is region locked, so if you’ve bought a PS5 in the UK importing it into the US (the default cable is Type G that comes with the packaging when plugging into a TV) unless you swap cable for a Type B plug but it’ll work fine. Why is there no unilateral plug type that’s “region free” when discussing plug types found in appliances.

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FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
US voltages are stupid and pathetically inefficient (kinda a metaphor…)

Japan has a double-whammy of a stupidly low 100 VAC, and to make it worse, half the country is 50Hz and half is 60Hz

The UK has a good voltage and great plugs, but silly earthing arrangements. Their use of ring-circuits is also problematic

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- OwOarchist@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  US voltages are stupid and pathetically inefficient
  
  US runs on 240V, just like the UK. Pretty much every house in the US has 240V available. But we use split phase power for lower-power appliances, so most plugs in the house are wired to get only half that power – 120V.
  
  Really, there’s only a few appliances in a house that really benefit at all from the higher voltage: electric ovens, electric clothes dryers, (sometimes) electric heaters, and water-boiling kettles.
  
  For ovens and clothes dryers (if electric), US houses almost always have 240V outlets wired specifically for those.
  
  Electric heaters are often wired for 240V if they’re built in to the house. (But movable, portable space heaters are almost always 120V.)
  
  The only odd one out is the tea kettle. But tea is a lot less popular in the US anyway, so not many houses have one in the first place. And the ones who do … just kind of deal with their water taking 6 minutes to boil instead of 3 minutes. Not worth re-wiring an entire country (entire continent, really) just to boil your tea a little faster. The switchover would be chaos, would result in a lot of things being made obsolete earlier than necessary, and would suddenly require a ton of inefficient voltage step-down adapters for people who didn’t want to throw away all their existing 120V appliances.
  
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  - boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    The thing is… Europe also uses split phase. You get three phase power coming in at 380V in most houses on the, 415 in the UK. The 240V is what you get on a single phase.
    
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  - FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Yeah, it makes so much sense to have many different voltages across your domestic installations…
    
    It’s dumb as fuck, but you lot are stuck with it
    
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  - fullsquare@awful.systems ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    in EU there are really only two standards. for single phase loads up to 3.8kW, regular 16A plug is sufficient. above that, 3-phase 5-pin 32A plug (most common of them) is used which can deliver up to 23kW. there are common variants of 3-phase 5-pin plugs rated up to 125A that can deliver up to 89kW, and uncommon up to 800A variants that are also part of the standard, but it delivers up to 0.57MW and it’s a bit silly
    
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- simonlm@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I had to google the Japan frequency thing. I had no idea!
  
  Feel like elaborating on the UK issues/ why they’re problematic?
  
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  - FistingEnthusiast@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    If the earth conductor fails, then it’s difficult to tell, and painful to repair
    
    The Australasian system where each installation is earthed at the switchboard is far superior
    
    With ring circuits, a broken conductor doesn’t become apparent until the remaining part of the circuit burns because it is carrying the entire load
    
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  - DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    As a Brit, I’m guessing their issues with earthing is that we make everything to have a earth post, even when it’s not needed on a device, but the longer prong that is the earth post on our 3-pin plugs is a security feature of our plug/socket and makes any item that requires earthing to be earthed before it is even powered.
    
    Couldn’t say why they have issues with ring mains though. It became the norm in a post-war Britain when copper was still scarce.
    
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- Noel_Skum@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I do love me a good ring main when I’m in the UK - never heard them described as problematic though.
  
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  - manualoverride@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Yeah not a problem if you just plan it correctly, I use 4mm t&e on all socket circuits, in trunking and just use a 25A or 30A MCB, that way even if there is a break in the ring it’s still within spec. Modern homes just don’t have the power draw to worry about overloading sockets, especially when I can get a 30A.
    
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Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

region locked?

A very wrong Interpretation.

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cattywampas@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
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fozid@feddit.uk ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
The vast majority of the world uses compatible voltages, so just a basic adapter is all that you need. The only places using odd voltage requiring a transformer are Japan and Northern America.

However for things with a power brick like a ps5, you just need to buy the correct power brick.

You can get universal plug sockets that accept any plug, see them in the middle East a lot. Obviously they only work with 220-240 v

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- fullsquare@awful.systems ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  modern smpss can take anywhere from 100 to 250V input so you can use them with either and any voltage inbetween. older ones had a switch between 240v and 120v modes (rectifier vs voltage doubler)
  
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- Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  You really just need the right cord for 99% of devices using a power supply.
  
  Hell, stuff I buy in the US these days often comes with a changeable plug right on the power supply itself, with both a US and EU adapter in the box.
  
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A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

Most modern electronics (as in laptops, game consoles and smartphones) support dual voltage and frequencies but their default plug type is region locked, so if you’ve bought a PS5 in the UK importing it into the US (the default cable is Type G that comes with the packaging when plugging into a TV) unless you swap cable for a Type B plug but it’ll work fine.

And most appliances are designed in such a way that the swapping is extremely easy - no soldering, just unplug the bad one and plug in the good one. And this secondary plug is so effing standardized that you probably already have a suitable cable lying around.

Why is there no unilateral plug type that’s “region free” when discussing plug types found in appliances.

The EU plug is one attempt. I believe that includes the UK.

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- Successful_Try543@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  The EU plug is one attempt. I believe that includes the UK and a few non-European countries.
  
  The Europlug works in all of Europe, but not in UK and Ireland, as type G plugs have rectangular pins, and do not fit on Italian 16 A type L sockets (only on the 10 A and hybrid ones).
  
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schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
because different places thought of standards that would make sense independently; xkcd.com/927/

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whaleross@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
They were introduced and installed and became common and at some point declared regional standards at the time when there were no standards at all. You’d visit your local shop and buy your four lamps in your entire lifetime with a plug that fits the socket and you’d be happy that you have this new electricity thing in your house. There would be no reason for anybody to be interested in what the sockets and the plugs look like in the neighbouring country, not to mention some far away land.

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luthis@lemmy.nz ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Lol I have never heard it called region locked before.

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raman_klogius@ani.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Region locking is the wrong word to use. It is an intentional thing. For example, Blu-rays are designed in one physical and technical specification, but the specification purposefully prevents discs from working worldwide.

Electrical plug and socket designs came about organically as domestic electricity is developing. Economics-wise almost all electrical appliance purchases would be for use in the region where it’s purchased so it makes the most sense for them to come with the plug type where it’s being sold.

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BananaTrifleViolin@piefed.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It comes down to the cost of changing. All these systems were independently developed as electricity become standard in homes. In the UK for example, the standard was developed in 1947 - electricity was already in the country but there wasn’t national standardisation in infrastructure, so when that happened a standard plug was introduced. And this was also done in other commonwealth countries including Ireland (which is very integrated with the UK grid), Australia, New Zealand and others. They are so embedded in each country that it’s near impossible to change them all - or when it is possible (e.g. the UK & Ireland could change to an EU standard gradually) it’s just not deemed worth the cost - the old standard would need to be maintained for a long time, and at some point people would need to be forced to change to get it done.

There was never a successful global effort standardise plugs. Globalisation wasn’t really a thing in those days so there wasn’t enough support for pushes for global standards. There was a lot of regional standardisation though - large parts of Europe have the same electricty supply and separately North American between Canada and the USA, due to the pragmatic issue of sharing grids. 8 Plugs when there are over 100 countries isn’t terrible.

“Region” locking now is basically 3 types. Some devices don’t have transformers, so those devices - like kettles - are designed to directly use the local electricity supply. Those are very much more “region locked”, but not necessarily to 1 plug; for example in Europe while the plugs are different the actual grid is pretty similar.

Many devices do need transformers - like modern Laptops / TVs / Mobile phones etc - the local supply is converted from high voltage to low voltage. Most of those transformers are external or can even be built into the plug, while others are built into the device. That means items can be sold to multiple areas with just the external power supply being different. When the transformer is built in that does “region lock” the products. An ATX desktop PC for example has a Power Supply Unit which is regional; but all the components are international and inter changable. Meanwhile a small form desktop these days has an external transformer much like a laptop and is much less region locked.

And now of course, USB has become a defacto standard to the point that many new devices don’t come with their own chargers and rely on whatever the customer has. And increasingly USB outlets are being added to public spaces across the globe, and people can change their own plugs to include a regional socket and USB outlets.

USB is probably going to be the defacto consumer facing charging for many uses, alongside the regional plugs for devices where USB doesn’t make sense. But the background grid differences between say North America and Europe is unlikely to ever change, due to the massive cost of changing the entire grid.

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AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
It was even worse at the start of the 20th century. There were no national standards, and different companies came up with their own plug/socket systems to save early adopters from having to wire everything in directly. If your house came with electrical sockets, their type often depended on what the builder could get cheaply. National standards arise when governments and standards bodies picked winners. (The US ended up choosing one American manufacturer’s flat-pinned system, though another one, with the pins rotated at a 45° angle, ended up being adopted in Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.)

Occasionally you see odd-looking sockets on old buildings, often with a distinctly early 20th century styling. Some places keep them for distinct uses (in railway stations in Britain you sometimes see sockets that look like the normal British ones only with the pins rotated, presumably reserved for cleaning equipment).

There have been moves to establish a unified international standard (which looks like a more compact version of the Swiss plug), though only Brazil has adopted it (and South Africa is transitioning gradually to it from the old British system it inherited).

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- OwOarchist@pawb.social ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  And the reason few are changing it is because trying to change to a new electrical standard requires tons of investment to redo everything, and it’s a compatibility nightmare during the transitional period. … And all for pretty marginal long-term gain.
  
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- floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I think the rotated pins on British sockets is reserved for high-current appliances? similarly to how type L has an identical but larger 16A variant
  
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  - greyscale@lemmy.grey.ooo ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    There are higher-capacity versions of the plugs that are rotated, yes, but there are the standard 13A socket with the pins rotated to disallow usage of it to the general public.
    
    Some systems have the earth pin shaped like a T instead
    
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Lehmuusa@nord.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Type C is completely compatible with types E and F, though. Among with some other ones, such as the smiling Danish socket. So, at least something is being done to standardize this mess!

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ivanvector@piefed.ca ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
The “modern electronics” you mentioned are very low-power devices in the range of things you can power from a household socket. They’re also low-voltage DC, which means that no matter what voltage/frequency you can get from the wall it is being converted, and converting AC to DC is electrically very simple. The difference in circuitry between converting from 110V or 220V is just a transformer with a center tap, and the frequency doesn’t matter at all since DC is 0Hz anyway.

With high-power devices, pretty much anything with a motor or a heating element, the device is designed to match the voltage and frequency available in the region they’re going to be used. An AC motor’s speed depends on the frequency of the power supplied to it, and a heating element depends on voltage, which is why electric kettles and ranges boil water much more quickly in 220V regions. Travel adapters are basically just a transformer, which changes the voltage but not the frequency. The difference between 50Hz and 60Hz isn’t that big so most motors will still run but with impaired performance and maybe timing issues, but others will fail in spectacular and dangerous ways. Supplying a heating element with the wrong voltage will make it either not heat up, or heat up too much and start a fire. The different plug types ensure that you don’t plug in a high power device to power it’s not designed for.

If we were going to standardize on one plug type, we would also have to standardize on one power signal. Ignoring the political issues, that would mean that any region that doesn’t already use that standard signal would have to immediately retool all of their power plants, their entire transmission system, every industrial facility, and adapt or replace every AC household appliance. And there’s not really any good reason to do it, other than convenience.

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sbeak@sopuli.xyz ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
There was an attempt at standardisation, the type , but because of 1. cost, 2. time, and 3. effort, there was no wide adoption. The “Type N” plug was similar to the “Euro plug” Type C but with a grounding pin near the middle. It was, like the Euro plug, recessed as well. However, it was only adopted in Brazil and South Africa, and not really anywhere else.

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JelleWho@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
For a better seperarion. You examples (laptops consoles phones) all run DC, meaning they Need to turn AC to DC, needing a PCB who does it who not design it for world use? For fridges, washing machines, dryers, they run on AC, they are cheaper to make if they just don’t have a PCB and run straight on AC.

Also note that EU kettles can run on USA network, they will just be horrible slow heaters (they are slower with about 230V/110V = ~2x)

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- Successful_Try543@feddit.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  
  Also note that EU kettles can run on USA network, they will just be horrible slow heaters (they are slower with about 230V/110V = ~2x)
  
  It’s even worse: P = U·I = U^2/R, so only about a quarter.
  
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Shimitar@downonthestreet.eu ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
There is also a commercial reason. By selling 110v or 220v appliances with different plugs, it used to be difficult or not viable to mass produce stuff on the us to sell over In Europe or vice versa.

Same for pal and NTSC formats. Main reason was producers lock in.

And of course all the other reasons others already mentioned.

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- Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe ⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  The original reason for both plug type and PAL was simply different electrical systems.
  
  Plug type ensure you didn’t plug a 110v appliance into a 220 system, which could be gangerous to the person.
  
  PAL vs NTSC was really just because PAL came after NTSC and attempted to fix some of the color issues in NTSC, but also had to work on a completely different electrical system - and both relied on timing elements within that electrical system.
  
  It wasn’t “lock in”, it started because the two electrical systems were very different (even the prior black-and-white systems were very different for the same reason, 220v at 50hz vs 120v at 60hz). This frequency difference means different timing mechanisms and even alters the number of scan lines.
  
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