American sockets are very different from Russian (European), and our plugs cannot be plugged into them, no matter how hard you try. :-) Same problem with reverse side, many people want to purchase equipment in America (because the selection is better here and prices are lower) and take them home, but they are faced with a variety of plugs.
US grid voltage
The voltage in the electrical network in Russia is 220 (220-240) volts, in the USA it is 110 (in Japan, by the way, too). Theoretically, it's more safe level voltage, and there is less risk of fire when short circuit. Most of modern technology works on both voltages, on some chargers Both power supplies have switches, some of which operate automatically depending on the voltage in the outlet. So research the chargers and plugs on your equipment in advance.
Americans also have different plugs - with two flat pins (the left one is wider vertically than the right one), or in addition to two flat pins there is a rounded third one. In general, the holes on the socket look like some kind of scared smiley face. ?
These are plugs (plugs) from an electronic watch and below from a laptop charger.
Also a big plus in modern chargers is USB. That is, players and phones can be charged from a computer, or you can purchase a power outlet/USB adapter (if one is not included with the device). This is how I charge my tablet:
And there are also these unusual forks with buttons. They are made mainly on hair dryers, styling irons, electric shavers and kitchen appliances (mixers, blenders). If water gets into the socket, the fuse trips and the hair dryer, for example, turns off, protecting you from a short circuit.
We have the same socket (with buttons) in our kitchen:
When we moved, knowing such a difference in sockets and plugs, we left many electrical appliances in Russia, and there was no point in dragging them. All sorts of hair dryers and razors can always be bought in the USA, they are good and not expensive. The only thing we had with the Russian plug was charging from the camera. But the cord with an American plug from a laptop purchased in the first days of my stay in America fit very well with it. :-)
Still, if you need an adapter, you can order it in advance before departure on some Chinese website or look for it in electrical goods stores. There are also adapters that have several plug options built in (for all occasions for tough travelers). In the USA, an adapter from an American plug can be bought on the Amazon website (they cost from 3 to 10 dollars, depending on the sophistication and are called “adapter”), you can also look in supermarkets with household goods, such as Target or Walmart, and they also write that The adapter can be purchased at the airport upon arrival, but of course, it will cost several times more. Yes, and as a last resort, if you are just going to the USA to relax for a couple of weeks, then you can rent an adapter from friends and acquaintances. ?
Try to imagine homo modernus without mobile phones, cameras, laptops, navigation systems and other gadgets? The answer is simple: it is impossible. Well, all these benefits of civilization cannot exist without “food”; they need recharging.
Therefore, beaches, parks, museums fade into the background, and the first thing a traveler should think about is what sockets and what voltage will be in the country where he is heading.
In most cases, the issue is resolved with the help of an adapter. But it can become useless if the voltage in the network is very different from the native, domestic one. For example, in Europe the voltage varies from 220 to 240 V; in the USA and Japan - from 100 to 127 V. If you don’t guess, you’ll burn your device.
Let's try to understand the intricacies of electrical engineering.
Voltage and frequency
By by and large, in the world only two levels of electrical voltage are used in the household network:
European - 220 - 240 V and American - 100 - 127 V, and two AC frequencies - 50 and 60 Hz.
Voltage 220 - 240 V with a frequency of 50 Hz is used by most countries of the world.
Voltage 100 -127 V at a frequency of 60 Hz - in the USA, North, Central and, partially, countries South America, Japan, etc.
However, there are variations, for example, in the Philippines, 220 V and 60 Hz, and in Madagascar, on the contrary, 100 V and 50 Hz, even within the same country, depending on the region, there may be different standards, for example, in different parts Brazil, Japan, Saudi Arabia, in the Maldives.
Therefore, before you set off, collect as much information as possible about circuits and signals, the types of sockets used in the country and the voltage in the network.
Electrical sockets
Sockets, plugs and connection options electrical network very much. But don’t be alarmed, there is no need to deal with everyone and look for an adapter for each one.
You need to remember (save, sketch, photograph) the 13 most used types of sockets, which are designated in Latin letters from A to M:
Type A - American electrical socket and plug: two flat parallel contacts. Used in most countries of North and Central America (USA, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Guatemala), in Japan, and almost everywhere where the mains voltage is 110 V.
Type B is a variation of the Type A connector, with an additional round ground pin. Typically used in the same countries as the Type A connector.
Type C - European socket and plug. It has two round parallel contacts (without grounding). This is the most popular socket in Europe, excluding England, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus. Used where the voltage is 220V.
Type D is the old British standard with three round contacts arranged in a triangle shape, with one of the contacts thicker than the other two, rated for maximum current. Used in India, Nepal, Namibia, Sri Lanka.
Type E is a plug with two round pins and a hole for the grounding pin, which is located in the socket of the socket. This type is now almost universally used in Poland, France and Belgium.
Type F - The standard is similar to Type E, but instead of a round ground pin there are two metal clamps on both sides of the connector. You will find such sockets in Germany, Austria, Holland, Norway, and Sweden.
Type G - British socket with three flat contacts. Used in England, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Note. This type of outlet often comes with a built-in internal fuse. Therefore, if after connecting the device it does not work, then the first thing to do is check the condition of the fuse in the outlet.
Type H - has three flat contacts or, in an earlier version, round contacts arranged in a V shape. Used only in Israel and the Gaza Strip. Not compatible with any other plug, designed for voltage values of 220 V and current up to 16 A.
Type I - Australian socket: two flat contacts, as in the American type A connector, but they are located at an angle to each other - in the shape of the letter V. Also available in a version with a ground contact. Used in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Argentina.
Type J - Swiss plug and socket. It is similar to the Type C plug, but has an additional grounding pin in the middle and two round power pins. Used in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Ethiopia, Rwanda and the Maldives.
Type K is a Danish socket and plug, similar to the European Type C, but with a ground pin located at the bottom of the connector. Used in Denmark, Greenland, Bangladesh, Senegal and the Maldives.
Type L - Italian plug and socket, similar to the European Type C socket, but with a round ground pin that is in the center, the two round power pins are arranged unusually in a line. Used in Italy, Chile, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Cuba.
Type M is an African socket and plug with three round pins arranged in a triangle shape, with the ground pin being clearly thicker than the other two. It is similar to the D-type connector, but has much thicker pins. The socket is designed to power devices with a current of up to 15 A. Used in South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho.
A few words about various kinds adapters.
The easiest way to be ready to put the plug into the socket is to purchase an adapter, converter or transformer in advance (it depends on what your needs are). In most hotels, if you contact them, they will select the device you need at the reception.
Adapters - combine your plug with someone else's socket without affecting the voltage, the most versatile device.
Converters - provide conversion of local power grid parameters, but for a short time, up to 2 hours. Suitable for small (camping) household appliances: hair dryer, razor, kettle, iron. Convenient on the road due to its small size and weight.
Transformers are more powerful, larger and more expensive voltage converters designed for continuous operation. Used for complex electrical appliances: computers, televisions, etc.
And in the end easy life hack, how to use English socket without adapter
Happy travels!
Sources: wikimedia.org, travel.ru, enovator.ru, personal experience.
There are more than a hundred ways to connect electrical appliances to the network in the world. There are a huge number of plugs and sockets. It is also necessary to take into account that each country has a specific voltage, frequency and current strength. This can turn into a serious problem for tourists. But this question is relevant today not only for those who love to travel. Some people, when renovating an apartment or house, deliberately install sockets of the standard of other countries. One of these is the American outlet. It has its own characteristics, disadvantages and advantages. Today there are only 13 standards for sockets and plugs that are used in different countries peace. Let's look at some of them.
Two frequency and voltage standards
It would seem, why do we need so many standards and types of electrical elements? But it should be taken into account that there are different network voltage standards. Many people do not know that the household electrical network in North America uses not traditional 220 V, as in Russia and the CIS, but 120 V. But this was not always the case. Until the 60s throughout the territory Soviet Union household voltage was 127 volts. Many will ask why this is so. As you know, the amount of electrical energy consumed is constantly growing. Previously, apart from light bulbs in apartments and houses, there were simply no other consumers.
Everything that each of us plugs into a power outlet every day - computers, televisions, microwaves, boilers - did not exist then and appeared much later. When the power increases, the voltage must be increased. Higher current entails overheating of the wires, and with them certain losses due to this heating. This is serious. In order to avoid this unnecessary loss of precious energy, it was necessary to increase the cross-section of the wire. But it is very difficult, time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, it was decided to increase the voltage in the networks.
The times of Edison and Tesla
Edison was a proponent of direct current. He believed that this particular current was convenient for work. Tesla believed in the advantages of variable frequency. Eventually the two scientists began to practically fight each other. By the way, this war ended only in 2007, when the United States switched to alternating current in household networks. But let's return to Edison. He created the production of incandescent light bulbs with carbon-based filaments. The voltage for optimal operation of these lamps was 100 V. He added another 10 V for losses in conductors and in his power plants took it as operating voltage 110 V. That is why the American outlet for a long time was designed for 110 V. Then in the States, and then in other countries that worked closely with the USA, they adopted 120 V as the standard voltage. The current frequency was 60 Hz. But electrical networks were created in such a way that two phases and a “neutral” were connected to houses. This made it possible to obtain 120 V when using phase voltages or 240 in the case of
Why two phases?
It's all about the generators that created electricity for all of America.
Until the end of the 20th century, they were two-phase. Weak consumers were connected to them, and more powerful ones were transferred to linear voltages.
60 Hz
This is entirely due to Tesla. This happened back in 1888. He worked closely with J. Westinghouse, including on the development of generators. They argued a lot and for a long time about the optimal frequency - the opponent insisted on choosing one of the frequencies in the range from 25 to 133 Hz, but Tesla stood firm on his idea and the figure of 60 Hz fit into the system as much as possible.
Advantages
Among the advantages of this frequency are lower costs in the manufacturing process of the electromagnetic system for transformers and generators. Therefore, equipment for this frequency has significantly smaller sizes and weight. By the way, the lamps practically do not flicker. An American outlet in the States is much better suited for powering computers and other equipment that requires good power.
Sockets and standards
There are two main standards in frequency and voltage in the world.
One of them is American. This network voltage is 110-127 V at a frequency of 60 Hz. And standard A and B are used as plugs and sockets. The second type is European. Here the voltage is 220-240 V, frequency is 50 Hz. The European socket is predominantly S-M.
Type A
These species are widespread only in Northern and Central America. They can also be found in Japan. However, there are some differences between them. The Japanese have two pins parallel to each other and flat with the same dimensions. The American outlet is a little different. And the fork for it, accordingly, too. Here one pin is wider than the second. This is done to ensure that the correct polarity is always maintained when connecting electrical appliances. After all, previously the current in American networks was constant. These sockets were also called Class II. Tourists say that the forks are from Japanese technology Works without problems with American and Canadian outlets. But connect these elements in reverse (if american plug) will not work. A suitable adapter for the socket is required. But usually people just file down the wide pin.
Type B
These types of devices are only used in Canada, the USA and Japan. And if type “A” devices were intended for low-power equipment, then such sockets are used mainly for powerful household appliances with consumption currents of up to 15 amperes.
In some catalogs, such an American plug or socket may be designated as Class I or NEMA 5-15 (this is already an international designation). Now they have almost completely replaced type “A”. In the USA, only "B" is used. But in old buildings you can still find the old American outlet. It does not have a contact responsible for connecting the ground. In addition, the US industry has long been producing appliances with modern plugs. But this does not prevent the use of new electrical appliances in old houses. In this case, resourceful Americans simply cut off or destroy the grounding contact so that it does not interfere and can be connected to an old-style outlet.
About appearance and differences
Anyone who purchased an iPhone from the USA knows very well what an American outlet looks like. It has its own characteristics. The socket consists of two flat holes or slits. New type devices have an additional grounding contact at the bottom.
Also, to avoid errors, one pin of the plug is made wider than the other. The Americans decided not to change this approach, and left everything the same in the new outlets. The contacts on the plug are not pins like a European socket. These are more like plates. There may be holes at their ends.
How to operate American equipment in the CIS countries
It happens that people bring equipment from the States and want to use it in Europe or Russia. And they encounter a problem - the socket does not fit the plug. So what should we do? You can replace the cord with a standard European one, but this is not an option for everyone. For those who are not technically savvy and have never held a soldering iron in their hands, it is recommended to purchase an adapter for a socket. There are quite a lot of them - they are all different in quality and price. If you are planning a trip to the USA, then you should stock up on adapters in advance. There they can cost five or more dollars. If you order from an online store, you can save up to half the cost. It should also be taken into account that even in US hotels, all sockets meet the American standard - and it doesn’t matter that most of the people who stay are foreign tourists.
In this case, an adapter with American outlet to European. The same applies to equipment purchased in the USA. If you don't want to solder, you can buy an inexpensive adapter made in China and make full use of electrical appliances, charging your phone or tablet on a non-standard outlet. There are no other options here.
Summary
They say that you can’t understand Russia with your mind, but in the USA everything is not so simple either. You can't just show up and use American style sockets with European or any other plugs. Therefore, you should take adapters on the road, and you need to order them in advance. This saves a lot of time and money.
DA Info Pro - March 6. When connecting any household appliance to the electrical network, we do not think about what types of electrical outlets there may be. However, you can get into some confusion when repairing electrical wiring in a house abroad or in an apartment in which foreigners lived before you. In addition, you may encounter some problems when traveling to another country when trying to plug in electrical plug to the network.
Electrical plugs vary from country to country. Therefore, the US Department of Commerce (ITA) adopted a standard in 1998 according to which different types of electrical outlets and plugs were assigned their own designation. We will write in detail about each type of electrical outlets.
Classification principle and main types
Total exists 15 types electrical outlets. The differences are in shape, size, maximum current, and the presence of a ground connection. All types of sockets are legally established in countries within the framework of standards and norms. Although the sockets in the image above may be similar in shape, they differ in the size of the sockets and prongs (plugs).
All types according to the American classification are designated as Type X.
| Name | Voltage | Current | Grounding | Countries of distribution |
| Type A | 127V | 15A | No | USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan |
| Type B | 127V | 15A | Yes | USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan |
| Type C | 220V | 2.5A | No | Europe |
| Type D | 220V | 5A | Yes | India, Nepal |
| Type E | 220V | 16A | Yes | Belgium, France, Czech Republic, Slovakia |
| Type F | 220V | 16A | Yes | Russia, Europe |
| Type G | 220V | 13A | Yes | UK, Ireland, Malta, Malaysia, Singapore |
| Type H | 220V | 16A | Yes | Israel |
| Type I | 220V | 10A | Not really | Australia, China, Argentina |
| Type J | 220V | 10A | Yes | Switzerland, Luxembourg |
| Type K | 220V | 10A | Yes | Denmark, Greenland |
| Type L | 220V | 10A, 16A | Yes | Italy, Chile |
| Type M | 220V | 15A | Yes | South Africa |
| Type N | 220V | 10A, 20A | Yes | Brazil |
| Type O | 220V | 16A | Yes | Thailand |
In most countries, standards are determined by their history. For example, India, being a British colony until 1947, adopted its standard. The old standard can still be found in some hotels in the UK. Type D.
The image shows the types of electrical outlets in various countries peace
Although when single-phase connection current polarity is not important, type A and B sockets are polarized. This manifests itself in the fact that the plugs have different thicknesses - the position of the plug is important. In addition, in the USA, where they are actively distributed, they are used alternating current with a frequency of 60 Hz and a voltage of 127 V.
Development of different types of sockets and plugs
The widespread use of electricity in everyday life required the introduction of standards in the field of connecting electrical appliances. This would make electricity safer, devices more reliable and more versatile.
And many manufacturers of electrical equipment and devices in practice provide replacement cords for their devices. different kinds and countries.
Electrical sockets and plugs have evolved, including due to stricter safety requirements. So from Type D Type G appeared - the maximum current increased, additional protective insulating coatings appeared at the base of the plugs.
Some connector types are already obsolete. This is how the American Type I, the Soviet Type I, the old Spanish sockets, and plugs with cut plugs went out of everyday use. In fact, many countries standardize sizes among themselves. And standardization committees are trying to make interstate standards official. The main such organization is the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
It turns out interesting when connecting electric stoves - the maximum power can reach 10 kW. Various countries have introduced rules and regulations to use a separate type of electrical outlet for such powerful devices. And in some places they are generally required to connect without an outlet in a fixed way.
To connect plugs of one type to a socket of another, adapters are usually sold. They are found both from one type of electrical outlet to another, and universal - from any to a specific one.
