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: xkcd.com/3186/
I think Randal would enjoy my plug adapter
xkcd #3186: Truly Universal Outlet
Submitted 3 weeks ago by xkcdbot@lemmy.world [bot] to xkcd@lemmy.world
https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/truly_universal_outlet.png
Comments
Skullgrid@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
ook@discuss.tchncs.de 3 weeks ago
Ugh, what a shameless plug
WhyIHateTheInternet@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
You try spending your whole life getting penetrated by various foreign objects and not feeling shame
otter@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
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.
RandomStickman@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
or was it done that way to look more insane.
Yeah I think that's it lol
Skullgrid@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
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.
guy_threepwood@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
N/L are “reversed” on the UK BS1363 standard vs US/EU Earthed plugs. By having two sets of N/L you can ensure that they are always correctly wired.
This is often why some adaptors seem to be “upside down”
Most devices can handle N/L being swapped, though.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
I’m not sure I fully get the joke, considering the literal existence of outlets like this.
_stranger_@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
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)
atthecoast@feddit.nl 3 weeks ago
Typical wall outlet in china. Any plug will hang loosely in there and work. Dangerously
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
Only if the socket is worn out and you are using a plug without inherent safety mechanisms.
quinkin@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Plenty don’t fit that. Type i for instance.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Can’t speak for all of them, but type I does fit
mech@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
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.
gabelstapler@feddit.org 3 weeks ago
As an engineer, thinking of designing the metal connectors needed for this, this gives me nightmares.
hperrin@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Simple, just use a metal mesh in each hole. Make sure it’s a really thin mesh too, like practically steel wool. Pushing 15 amps through steel wool has never caused anyone any problems ever.
felbane@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
thisisfine.gif
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Good news, you can just buy them from China at pennies :D
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
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
Skullgrid@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
They might also enjoy your electrical adapter.
elbarto777@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Ok bro. You had already posted this.
sukhmel@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
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
ayyy@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The embed looks fine for me using Voyager through sh.itjust.works with a ‘muricuh IP.
cabillaud@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Thunder user, works fine
Venat0r@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
😏
Fiery@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
There’s no preview, not even a hint of the image being there… But clicking on the text show the image in Boost
sukhmel@programming.dev 3 weeks ago
On thunder there was no picture in post preview, but there is a picture in the post. Maybe it’s because of png format, or maybe Wikimedia does something weird when you embed links to it, dunno
dadarobot@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
biblicaly accurate outlet
mlg@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
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.
balsoft@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
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.
wolfrasin@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
/stares in unibrow
SmackemWittadic@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Psh tp-p-p Psh tp-p-p Psh-Psh
Psh tp-p-p Psh tp-p-p Psh-Psh
ultrahamster64@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That lowkey looks like christmas tree
jordanlund@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
What about the voltages and the hz?
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yes.
Alcoholicorn@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
Put the plug in upside down to get 220V.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I have faith that we will eventually standardize plugs internationally. Assuming we avert the apocalypse, that is.
Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
We can’t agree which one is best. When Tom Scott proclaimed his home plug to be the best I scoffed. I thought my own home plug is better. But in reality I think they all suck in their own way, every single one of them.
I think a new more research driven approach like the USB-C design would be better, something that protects your fingers, is easier to locate when behind furniture or in the dark, works in more than a single position, is not going to stab you if you leave it on the floor, does not get stuck in the socket, I think it might even be possible to add a fuse without making it larger than a typical phone charger, but to be honest, the smaller the better. One can only dream.
pelya@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
tiramichu@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
The trouble is of course the huge legacy of all the existing sockets you’d have to replace, never mind the pure unpopularity with the public of switching standards.
Possibly the most successful attempt at convergence so far has been the Europlug, but only because it’s a weird compromise. Did you know the europlug prongs aren’t actually parallel? They angle slightly and have a little flex, so they can be accepted in multiple European countries’ sockets that actually have slightly different dimensions! It’s a cool design, but you wouldn’t intentionally design it that way if you had the opportunity to standardise the world from scratch.
dublet@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
We can’t agree which one is best. When Tom Scott proclaimed his home plug to be the best I scoffed. I thought my own home plug is better.
The UK G type is the only one which is insulated, fused, grounded and polarized by default:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets#…
This is great for electrical safety, though it’s a very bulky plug.
squaresinger@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s generally the thing with decisions that don’t matter much. If one option is much better, there is no discussion.
But if the benefits of either option are marginal at best, you get tons of discussion and no decision.
For example, the EU decided almost a decade ago that they would get rid of daylight saving time, and everyone quickly agreed that DST sucks, mostly because changing the clocks sucks.
Since then, the whole EU has been arguing about whether to keep summer time or winter time, even though that matters so little that we have been using both of them for decades. A week after switching DST, nobody even notices the time shift.
ranzispa@mander.xyz 3 weeks ago
Don’t know where all that research driven approach led us… USB-A worked perfectly, nobody ever had a problem with it; except having to turn it around a couple times to figure out how to plug it (which could be solved with a coloured dot on plug and cable). USB-C had the advantage of being a little bit smaller, but it sucks in any other aspect. While I might have broken a couple USB-A cables and plugs in my life, I do not expect an USB-C cable to last much longer than one year.
ksigley@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
There really is an xkcd for everything.
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Electricians hate this one weird trick
Hegar@fedia.io 3 weeks ago
Wooo! IEC type I! Shoutout to the greatest!
pelya@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
The only truly universal solution
Image
InFerNo@lemmy.ml 3 weeks ago
From schuko to shocko
kamen@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
It might be a final solution too if you’re not careful…