Electronics > Beginners
Oscilloscope comes with no ground power cable?
soldar:
--- Quote from: Berni on May 29, 2019, 05:40:05 am --- Those weird "unicorn" wall sockets are actually the superior type. These have a better ground connection, can't get bent and are polarized for live and neutral while being the exact same size.
--- End quote ---
I agree with this. The "unicorn" pin provides better and more reliable earth contact. And polarization which is good. With regards to polarization Schuko is the exception and I believe pretty much all the rest of modern standards are polarized.
The Schuko plug is very old and was probably the most advanced in its time but now has serious flaws. The earth clips were added later and are not really a good solution. A third, longer pin would have been better. You want the earth contact to make contact before the others.
While Schuko is bulky it offers 16A compared to 10A of the common other systems (AUS, China, NEMA). 10 A at 230 V is generally enough for most applications but it is good to have the extra ampacity.
It would be interesting to know if round or flat pins are better electrically (my guess is round is better) and which ones are cheaper to produce and more convenient to manufacture.
janoc:
Eh, don't complain about Schuko - you have likely never seen older Danish or French installations where non-recessed (!) outlets are common and many don't even have a ground connection at all (even the round ones capable of accepting a cable like shown by the OP).
The German "non-unicorn" Schuko on German appliances is annoying because it is an incompatible exception in Europe (most other plugs/outlets mate together, maybe with the exception of Italy and Switzerland/Lichtenstein who use weird variants of the 2 pin plug with an extra ground pin), but I have never heard anyone complaining about the issues you have described.
soldar:
Well, I wouldn't say I am "complaining". Just commenting on the differences between systems. Schuko design is 100 years old and it is understandable that it is not perfect by today's standards. We still use many designs which are not the best but they have been grandfathered in. If we had to design a new plug system today from scratch we could do much better than Schuko.
I think I am going to design and patent my own superior system :)
Zbig:
--- Quote from: Berni on May 29, 2019, 05:40:05 am ---These have a better ground connection, can't get bent and are polarized for live and neutral while being the exact same size.
--- End quote ---
Don't assume that the fact you're forced to stick the plug in the certain way makes them polarized. Sadly, that's often not the case
janoc:
--- Quote from: soldar on May 29, 2019, 03:04:04 pm ---If we had to design a new plug system today from scratch we could do much better than Schuko.
--- End quote ---
Sure but that is a purely academic debate. Ain't happening, because the costs would be enormous.
Even though if EU should work on harmonizing something, the crazy amount of different variously incompatible mains plugs, outlets and electrical standards that exists in Europe would be a good start. Not holding my breath for that one happening in my lifetime, though.
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