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xkcd #3186: Truly Universal Outlet
Title text:
Building Inspectors HATE This One Weird Trick
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3186/
There really is an xkcd for everything.
The only truly universal solution
It might be a final solution too if you're not careful...
From schuko to shocko
Seems to be incompatible with some plugs, after all:
For some reason the image doesn't seem to work for me, so here's the link to it, too
The embed looks fine for me using Voyager through sh.itjust.works with a ‘muricuh IP.
What about the voltages and the hz?
Yes.
Put the plug in upside down to get 220V.
You can switch from 60hz to 50hz by rotating the plug fast enough
I'm not sure I fully get the joke, considering the literal existence of outlets like this. Did Randall not know they exist?
Typical wall outlet in china. Any plug will hang loosely in there and work. Dangerously
Only if the socket is worn out and you are using a plug without inherent safety mechanisms.
I'm guessing seeing one of these was the starting point for this cartoon.
Also wouldn't surprise me if he threw in 1-2 types that don't exist.
Randall isn't suggesting a universal wall plug, he's suggesting you cut holes in your existing plates to make them "compatible". (At least that's how it reads to me)
Plenty don't fit that. Type i for instance.
Can't speak for all of them, but type I does fit
These were all over Vietnam when I travelled there. Didn't even need an adapter.
I think Randal would enjoy my plug adapter
Ugh, what a shameless plug
You try spending your whole life getting penetrated by various foreign objects and not feeling shame
This also makes me wonder why the xkcd one was laid out like that. Is the xkcd one better/safer, or was it done that way to look more insane.
On yours, the Canada/US and UK layouts overlap, while in the xkcd one they're opposite to each other.
or was it done that way to look more insane.
Yeah I think that's it lol
I think it's because mine doesn't have Schuko (type f) support ... probably because it's real? And maybe because his adaptation uses "Euro"/A combination, wheras mine uses vertical axes for the "euro" plug.
I actually have a really annoying problem in that I cannot find any universal adapter that has a real ground pin.
All of them only have prongs for the hot and neutral wires, and sometimes a dummy plastic ground to grip the socket better.
I understand that 99% of the time, modern electronics don't need a ground cable and its only there for safety, but it would still be a lot more comforting knowing the ground is actually connected.
I even considered modifying an adapter with a ground cable I can manually insert into the socket.
Ground is always there just for safety. It is supposed to be connected to any metal bits on the outside of any device, so that if a live wire touches the outside it just shorts and some fuse blows or circuit breaker trips, rather than providing an unpleasant surprise to anyone who touches it.
Most modern electronics is "double-insulated", meaning there are at least two layers of reinforced insulating material between any mains-carrying conductors and the user. This is deemed to be safe enough so that those devices don't need to be grounded, and if the case is plastic then they will almost never be. So if you're only connecting plastic-cased electronics to the socket, a ground would be superfluous in almost all cases. There might be some exceptions, like power supplies connecting one of the low-voltage pins to ground, but it is quite rare to see.
As an engineer, thinking of designing the metal connectors needed for this, this gives me nightmares.
Simple, just use a metal mesh in each hole. Make sure it’s a really thin mesh too, like practically steel wool. Pushing 1500 watts through steel wool has never caused anyone any problems ever.
thisisfine.gif
Good news, you can just buy them from China at pennies :D
Im not an electrician in any way shape or form, so I dont know if my slightly panicky sweaty-behind-the-knees reaction to this is appropriate, but it scares me
/stares in unibrow
https://media.tenor.com/re5TT3M0cAkAAAAC/electro-boom-eyebrows.gif
biblicaly accurate outlet
That lowkey looks like christmas tree
