On poniedziaÅek 05 lipiec 2004 07:27 am, Andre Poenitz wrote: > On Mon, Jul 05, 2004 at 12:09:10PM +0100, Jose' Matos wrote: > > On Monday 05 July 2004 11:00, Jean-Marc Lasgouttes wrote: > > > I will probably be able to bring one if really needed, but I have no > > > idea about german electric outlets... > > > > I will bring mine too. If you remember from last year the problem is > > not the german outlets as I think that they are the same in all the > > continental Europe... more or less... > > More or less... two holes in the wall and you'll get a bad experience > once you plug your fingers in...
:) Well, the German system is IIRC called Shuco, from the name of the company that probably sold the "system" outlets and plugs first. It has two "standard" prongs in the plug for the live/neutral, but grounding is handled by two rails on the opposite sides of the plug. IIRC you'll find the same thing in Austria. In France, Poland, Russia and probably other Slavic countries, there are no grounding rails but there's a hole in the plug for a grounding prong that sticks out from the outlet. Shuco and the "French" system are handled by a "universal" European plug that you'll find everywhere in western Europe save for Switzerland and maybe Italy. In Switzerland the grounding is achieved by a third prong in the plug, and the plug itself is flat instead of round. I don't remember how it's in Italy, but I fear they might have something special too for grounding. The Brits have their own 3-prong plug which is double the size of "standard" European one and is a nifty thing if you want to use it to hook up an arc welder. OTOH, if you happen to carry around a laptop instead of an arc welder, the plug might be bigger than the laptop in question. In any event, it's a good idea to get a laptop with a doubly-insulated power supply for which you only need two prongs in a flat plug. Those will work in any European country save for the countries located on British Isles where eveyone seems to expect everyone else to be proficient mainly in arc welding ;) Cheers, Kuba
