Bob Myers wrote:
> "Miguel Cruz" wrote:
>> Like in Thailand, in China they add something to the electricity to make
>> it extra-sparky when you plug and unplug power cords.
>
> Ummm...you mean like an extra 110-120 volts? China is a
> 230 VAC (nominal), 50 Hz country, like most of the world outside
> North America and Japan.
Specifically, I think the issue is that the US-style plugs they use in China
and Thailand really weren't designed for 220v. Worse still, they are
invariably extremely low-quality sockets, so the plug doesn't make a clean
contact but wiggles around, giving extra sparkley fun.
In 220v Australia the plugs are of a similar design to the US (in terms of
the shape and size of the blades, and the comparative shallowness of the
sockets) but they have little switches on the outlets that people are
religious about using.
The European and British designs have deeper sockets and plastic shielding
around the tops of the plugs so the potential for arcing only occurs way
inside where you don't have to see it.
miguel
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