South Africa bans switched sockets to improve safety.

So they prefer to use an European specification, but chose the wrong one?


Andy Betteridge

That is interesting, though I do not think switches as such are banned, indeed they figure in  this South African ECA bulletin   

The SANS 164-2 is just the IEC 60906-1 earthed Europug, agreed in 1986,  but used by no-one but Brazil, who managed  to cock it up with the same plug and socket on both 120 and 230volts. It does not matter their of course, as they do not follow their own rules and have a mix of US and 2 pin europlug on all voltages. I'm not sure that enforcement of rules is much better in South Africa.

Switches are not banned - despite the headline of this forum discussion.

indeed, the linked article is merely emphasizing that this will be a cheaper and more compact standard from now on.


Far from banning them, there is even a line at the end of the 'switch is misleading in its isolation impression' (without justification) note saying " You can still include a switch in the new system." (as the later picture then shows)


What the article seems to somewhat clumsily be saying is.

* ALL old SA sockets were switched, 

* NEW SA sockets (as standard) will come un-switched.

however, you can still have one if you wish.

and they will be lighter and more compact.


They could however just insist that they are wired and tested correctly ;)

nothing in the article seems to address the other underlying issue....


but hey, a Euro Standard is continuing to break out over the rest of the world...

UK electricians will probably go into meltdown looking at the Crabtree.co.za range of socket outlets with 16 and 6 amp outlets in the same plate and fuse less  plugs.


The 6 amp outlets can share a switch or be unswitched, and it all seems to be a a bit of a pick and mix assortment.


I presume the original plugs and sockets were the old British Standard 15 and 5 amp plugs and sockets that we still occasionally see in use in the UK.


Andy Betteridge

Insufficient gap on the switches when they are open and that they are only single pole seems to be the issues with the old socket switches, also a lack  of shutters and dodgy wiring on the sockets along with plugs that have uninsulated pins all add up to high risks when using these plug and socket combinations.


I started looking at the South African plug and sockets because I was wondering if there is any point in giving a UK earth loop tester to a charity that sends second hand tools to other countries, I’m not sure how much use it would get though there seems to be a need for such equipment.


Is there any requirement for RCDs to protect sockets in South Africa?


Andy Betteridge

Their regs do not change as fast as ours   as this article says  In South Africa, there have been four Wiring Codes since 1922, which influence the interpretation and application of the rules in today’s code of practice.  

 This article    discusses the history of earth leakage protection in SA, in some form it has been a requirement for a long time, with gradually increasing scope.

This South African company claims their earth leakage breakers are better than ours!


 Andy Betteridge

Sparkingchip:
New requirements for socket outlets in South Africa


 Andy Betteridge 

They may be thought as a drawkcab, and are in places; they were pioneers in earth leakage detection from the safety need in the gold mines. Most of the big name players were North American and European such as Westinghouse, Cutler Hammer, Schneider, GEC etc.. As an ex-Pat; when I bailed out in 2000, an electrical inspection certificate was required to put the house on the market, I remember the electrician who carried it out, lost 6 Jack Russells to a Python in his large garden, all at the one time and evident by the girth!. Any employees with Escom at that time were from the UK and it was a stable organisation .............. sadly, it is no more due to the ignorance of the great unwashed, incompetence and greed from a government ...... who isn't.


Their wiring regulations were also in a loose leaf binder, so that pages for amendments could be easily be replaced and were sold in CNA, a well known book store,      


Jaymack.

Maybe the heading should have been:


In South Africa it is considered that switchless sockets may be safer than switched sockets.


It still begs a few questions.


Andy Betteridge

The first link on this thread reads to me like something written by a business person with a mission to reduce raw material consumption, under the subterfuge of safety, rather than something written by an electrical engineer. There is certainly plenty  of "dumming-down".


I  saw this type of plug and socket when I was in Brazil a couple of years ago. (Fortunately the hotel was able to loan an adaptor for my trusty BS1363 plugs. No adaptor I had brought with  me was any good.) It does have a good safety point in that the socket has a deep recess so there is little risk of touching live, partially-inserted pins. That is about as far as the positive goes. It is not  fused, so if the appliance goes faulty it takes out the  entire sub-circuit.


I disagree that a switch makes the power socket more dangerous. I don't encourage people to insert or remove plugs with the socket switched on. It can sometimes be convenient to switch an appliance on or off at the socket leaving it plugged in. It is worth mentioning that sometime in the 1940s (maybe earlier) Crabtree brought out an interlocked plug and socket system based on the BS646 (round pin) standard, whereby a plug could not be inserted or removed with the switch on. It implemented this by having a "narrow section" on the earth pin which the switch mechanism latched into. A good idea, and compatible with ordinary plugs but it did not catch on.


There is mention of shutters that only open when the two "live" (sic - I presume this really means live and neutral) pins are inserted simultaneously. This is also a good idea and works also with two-pin plugs where applicable. MK implemented this  idea on on BS1363 sockets many years ago and other manufacturers have done the same. Our BS1363 plugs are now made with  shrouded pins to avoid the risk of touching live pins partially inserted. This idea is nothing new either; it was implemented on the Crabtree interlocked plugs.


In short, it is perfectly possible to enhance safety standards without completely replacing an established standard and all the chaos that that will create. I'm glad I  don't live in South Africa.