You provided a link to a Schuko plug, but not to a Samovar. So it is an urn with a teapot sitting on top.

Did you run a bit of g/y from the urn to the MET in your tea break(s)

A conversation I have had with customers and their tenants.

Not only no earth, but also probably no fuse, some adapters contain fuses but a lot do not.

Zoomup said:

Did you know that you can plug a 2 pin European Schuko plug into a U.K. 13 Amp adapter so that an appliance can be used here in the U.K. A Turkish Gent supplied me with tea all day today from a Class 1 electric samovar which had a two pin Schuko plug rammed into a 13 Amp three way adapter. It still worked without the earth being connected.  Genius!

Yes, I am aware of this ... and works because the pins of the SHUKO get bent slightly inwards !

But that can normally only happen if something else is poked into the BS 1363 socket-outlet to open the shutter mechanism.

For the 2 pin euro-plug there is an even more unpleasant device that looks like one of those deprecated 'child safe' shutter devices with 2 holes for the L and N pins..

Just about OK on an extension lead as the lead itself is fused, but in a 32A ring or a 40A plus cooker circuit not nice at all.

Having said that the adaptor described  makes a class 1 device, into class 0, so still single fault to danger, and that is how much of the world works all the time, but not generally Europe or IEC land. If the supply is RCD protected then the risk of fatal shock during an earth fault is not that high, but of course a live chassis condition could persist tingling everyone until someone drew enough to operate it.

Mike.

Yes, and it was difficult to pull out the plug out of the adaptor. After explaining to the Turkish gent the dangers of such a practice, his English is very limited, I cut the schuko plug off and fitted a 13 Amp plug. Using very graphic sign language and many clear gestures I was convinced that he fully understood not to do this.

Then, when I went into another room he had yet another samovar plugged into a 13 Amp. adaptor steaming away nicely. I have concluded that he might be responsible for wiring sockets in 13 Amp flex, and an 8.5kW shower in 2.5mm2 T&E cable at the shop where he lives in a back room.

His boss the shop owner, said that in Turkey if you get a shock you are likely to die as they apparently have no sensitive automatic disconnection of supply like the U.K.

Z.

It is like a cylindrical bain marie to keep the tea pot warm. 

Z.

If it is a 2-pin plug, how could there be an earth connection at all?

Schucko, 16A is for Germany, parts of Italy and now much of the former eastern block, This   has live and neutral pins, and a side swipe earth, and the pins are 4.8mm dia 19mm spaced and do not go in a 13A socket without an adaptor. Sadly they will force into a UK shaver adaptor, and both overload it and fail to pick up an earth.

3 are the L/N pins, 2 is the Schutz kontact == "safety contact' or earth, after which the plug is named,  4 is a slot that gives  mechanical location and an increased creepage path.

These plugs are reversible so there is no concept of plug socket polarity, reversal is not seen as a fault, and all CE marked kit must work either way round.

The French socket have the same pins, but earth is a reverse pin, so a hole in the plug and no other location feature. This plug could have been polarised, as it only fits one way, but in practice both options of live left and live right are seen in the wild.. gah !

To aid harmonisation, most class 1 gear has a CEE7/7 plug with both the hole and side swipe contacts so  that it  fits French and German variants. This suits about 80% of Europe

Swiss go their own way and  have 3 pins

Danish had there own special

but in new buildings are phasing it out in favour of Schuko,

The Euro plug  (CEE7/17) is only  2 pins, that are thinner and sprung to be slightly off parallel to fit all these options and more, and as it happens will also pick up power if you open the shutters on the UK socket, This is found on low current double insulated gear only.

Hope that helps.

Mike

This is an even more risky option but does have insulation between live and neutral.