Had this a few times now with recent purchases.
A Patio heater delivered today - no plug (and a ridiculously short power lead).
Is this another Brexit "benefit", or is something else going on?
Everything used to come with a decent moulded plug on it...
So clever my foot fell off.
That's the first I have heard of this happening, but then I haven't bought any appliances lately (other than a single Samsung washing machine, which did have a moulded plug attached).
The majority of folks these days wouldn't know how to wire a plug, so that will cause some headaches / expensive electrician call outs for them!
I was under the impression that it is a legal requirement to supply a power lead with a correctly fitted plug.
Was it an online purchase?
We've just bought a new soup maker and that had a plug fitted. My new amplifier also had a fitted plug.
I thought it was mandatory.
What the &^%$ are you doing heating your patio in the middle of a climate crisis*? Cold outside? Go in or put a jumper on. The lack of plug and short lead were trying to tell you something.
*I'm slightly sceptical about how much of global warming is down to man, however wasting a valuable resource and putting lots of waste heat in to the atmosphere with Canutian goal of warming up outside is a bit daft
Electrical appliances must be correctly fitted with an approved plug with sleeved pins. All plugs should carry the name and reference number of the approved body, normally BSI or ASTA. The plug does not have to be moulded on but it must have the correct fuse for the appliance.
Originally Posted by Jeremy67
I'll pass your comments on to the missus, who bought it so she could see her mother who is currently being treated for breast cancer, and about to undergo radiotherapy and chemo outside over the coming weeks, and to try and prevent said MiL from feeling too cold.
I'm sure she'll see your point.
So clever my foot fell off.
Sorry to hear your MiL is unwell, my sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery.
As others have said, it might well be that its not supposed to be plugged in, but hardwired into a dedicated circuit. Certainly likely if its more of a commercial type heater than a domestic one from Homebase etc.
What is the max wattage of it? More than 3000 watts and it shouldnt be plugged in on a 3 pin plug at all.
Thank you. Difficult times.
So clever my foot fell off.
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I just wonder I went into a shop to buy a new dishwasher a few months ago and they said supply was so short they had to buy them from Poland and put new plugs on them maybe your heater was a non uk model and they never got round to putting a uk plug on ?
The EU wanted to get rid of our 3 pin plugs and replace them with their crap 2 pinners 😁
Grounded Shuko? Not a bad solution!
Is it designed to be wired into the mains with a switch like a light rather than being plugged in?
Good shout that
Outrageous. Watch this 4 minute vid to understand why the British plug is vastly superior.
https://youtu.be/UEfP1OKKz_Q
Euromyth - never happened.
No it wasn't, and yes it never happened.
Typical Brexit nonsense.
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info...nd_sockets.pdf
https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info...m_brochure.pdf
Ok 25 to the fundraiser if you can find the EU proposed directive where this is put forward as an idea.
You might struggle a bit because this euromyth first appears in about 1992 or 1993 (in the Daily Heil I think first) but I'll wait.
Hmm not sure what the Poland comment means. Poland is Europes main manufacturing hub for white goods and, for example, all the Samsung white goods are made in the Samsung plant in North Poland.
May well be due to the loading,might be a bit much for a 13a plug top.
I think the rest of the world finds our industrial-sized, over-engineered UK plugs quite amusing. I discovered this when I used to travel on business quite a lot. India is the only country I remember as having something similar. No doubt another unwelcome colonial legacy.
My German colleagues would routinely force their two pin plugs into a UK three pin socket, and then jam a pair of scissors into the third "hole" to charge laptops, etc, even though we had three pin power leads and block converters available for them. We'd look on with horror and our H&S Manager would have a fit...
One day the Old Boy who was chair of the AG board at the time received a right belt, big bang & flash, all power lost, burning smell in the board room, his comment "Those damn Englander plugs...."
South Africa has quite a lot of the old style round 3 pin plugs and sockets left so probably a legacy thing.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Yep SA, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana all have the three pin (in some case the old round three pin) plugs.
They have gone even further in preventing electrocution in Southern Africa ‘load shedding’ means it unavailable for days at a time.
Anyhoo as you were...
Last edited by Sinnlover; 31st March 2021 at 08:26.
LOL. I'm sure the Indians are outraged at lower rates of accidental electrocution in the home.
The British 13 Amp plug and socket is considered the safest in the world. It is one of the results of UK government planning in the 1940s to improve building standards. The committee entrusted with improving electrical installations included just one woman, but that woman had an enormous impact! Her name was Caroline Haslett, she was an electrical engineer, a pioneer in the use of electricity to benefit women by liberating them from household drudgery, and an expert on safety in the home. She believed that a new, more convenient and safer plug and socket was needed. As a result, the first requirement in the committee's recommendations was that it should protect young children from being able to touch live parts by means of shutters, or the inherent design of the socket. The resulting design, still in use today, actually does both. A baby's finger is not small enough to go into the socket holes far enough to reach the live parts, but to make sure there are insulated shutters on the inside of the holes which prevent anything but a plug being inserted. These shutters close automatically as soon as the plug is pulled out.
Last edited by ernestrome; 30th March 2021 at 08:55.
A good old British plug is a mastery of Poke Yoke
Longer earth pin to open the positive and negative gates, so the earth is always connected in the event of a short
Shape , cant be put in the wrong way
Insulation on the pos and negative pins to prevent finger wrap around when pushing it in ( as stated above)
Only issue I would suggest now is the millennials who have been brought up with everything having a moulded or normal plug fitted from new. I wouldn’t trust them to get the wires either in correctly or on the right terminals.
I used to run a plug assembly as part of a training exercise. I recon I have run it 500/600 times. The range of times for someone to assemble a plug WITH No WIRE in ranged from quickest 60 seconds, average 4.5 mins upto “ good effort, lets call it a day shall we!”
Steve
Last edited by higham5; 30th March 2021 at 09:01.
Yes, I struggled to see why it would be an "unwelcome" legacy also.
When I got my replacement printer. It came without a plug. For some reason I kept the one from the printer I threw out and being the new one was from the same company.
It fit fine
Seems odd not to include one. Doesn't matter what the product. If it needs a plug. Include it
DON
You mean power cable?
True, there may be other parts of our legacy less welcome. Probably not worth too much deep thinking. Most Indian offices I visited had UK and US sockets fitted as standard as well so that may be keeping their accidental electrocution rate up.
Ireland also uses the same 3 pin plug & corresponding s/o as we do..
I hope the OP has unplugged the heater, its clearly not intended for such use as stated in the installation manual, it could be dangerous or cause a fire.
Last edited by Sinnlover; 31st March 2021 at 11:35.
From the instruction manual linked to the product webpage above:
ELECTRICAL INFORMATION:
The Hawaii 2000 is not supplied with a plug and is intended for connection to the fixed wiring. Installation must only be carriedout by competent persons or a qualified electrician according to national regulations and the unit must be earthed. The electricalsupply to the unit should be provided by connecting to a current protection device suitable for the electrical rating of the unit inaccordance with Table 1 and providing disconnection in both poles. All fixed wiring must have sufficient capacity to carry thecurrent required by the heater.
An electrical plug may be added by the installer so long as both the plug and electrical supply circuit to be plugged into areappropriately rated according to the requirements of the heater in Table 1 and in accordance with local regulations. Any extensionlead used must have sufficient capacity to carry the current required by the heater. All plugs, sockets and switches intended foruse outdoors must have an appropriate water ingress protection. Always disconnect the heater from the power when not in use.
Don't be coming in here with your facts and spoiling his fun.
Yes, Ive put a 13amp plug on it, attached to a heavy duty weather resistant single gang extension cable (the type with the clamshell), and plugged into an outdoor weatherproof socket on a separate ring main with recently installed circuit breaker and consumer unit.
Ran it yesterday evening for six hours, no problem at all.
Ive always worked on the assumption that up to 2kilowatts is fine on a domestic supply, as most fan heaters sold are up to around this.
Thanks all.
Last edited by TheFlyingBanana; 31st March 2021 at 15:38.
Intended or not, I'd do my own risk assessment and probably leave it rather than paying an electrician 50 or whatever they charge if they could be arsed for a small job like this.
I see where you are coming from but I would probably look for a lesser powered model or wire it in.
Its not particularly high powered.
This is a fascinating website (to me anyway!) -
https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/
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