How does the type-A (Japan) ground?
this post was submitted on 29 Jul 2025
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A useful source:
https://worldofsockets.com/
Japan uses weaker voltage and many things don't require a ground or can rely on an alternative method. That said, they'll have a good ol' three prong for appliances and newer buildings will have a few three prongs in select locations.
It doesn't, Japanese homes don't have that by default. Sometimes there are special options for grounding specific items.
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There was two different ways you could have ordered this alphabetically, and you failed to do either.
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Appreciating the UK's plug (type G) is the closest I get to feeling patriotic.
I think the recessed plug face is superior. It keeps an object from falling across an improperly plugged in plug and shorting.
Fun fact; even though China and Australia both use Type I plugs - they aren’t actually fully cross-compatible, due to differences in the thickness of the metal prongs.
China’s are thinner, so they hang somewhat loose in Australian outlets - and given they are less likely to have insulation around the plug ends, are a relatively common fire risk.m
On the other hand - Australian plugs don’t commonly fit into Chinese wall sockets due to their girth (giggitty), and often require the use of a power board or travel adapter in order to work.
Brazilian Type N looks like it's not a big deal, but the shape and depth are actually extremely good - you get a fantastic connection that never wobbles but also comes out when you need it without having weird pins or moving locks that always end up failing in some other designs. It's also compact and stacks nicely.
Safety? England
But personally. Type L is beautiful because is so modular. You just get different fruits for different needs. Need an etheret keystone. Get one an plop it in istead of a blanking plate. Need an extra switch? Same thing. All with the same faceplate for any possible combination.
The British plug has a lot of features that are supposed to make it very, very safe. It'd be interesting to see if there's a study out there that tries to make apples-to-apples comparisons of electrical accidents in different countries. Do those features actually work out in practice?
The US plug is bad, but does that actually translate into more accidents? Hard to say. If you can do the study above, then you can start making the argument for switching to something else.
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This is the most definitive argument that type J is superior to all others:
Image showing an arrangement of 3 swiss plugs in the same footprint as one french one
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The safest ones (design-wise) would be the ones that are inset, like types C, E, F, H, J, and K. If there is ever a chance a plug is partially pulled out or not fully inserted, the socket being inset wouldn't allow anything to touch any of the contacts.
Fuses in plugs and the orientation are relatively irrelevant to the plug style and are more a convention choice, if not regulatory requirement.
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Even tho I live where type F/C is common, I know that type G is the best. Reason is that ground pin always connects first and disconnects last. This is an ultimate way to make ground pin.
Also, type F/C and some other types sometimes doesn't have ground. There is literally not a single type G plug/socket without a ground. Simply safer.
Type G can also be ungrounded (the grounding pin is just plastic)
And type F (and E and K) are also made so that ground is always connected first and disconnected last (when they are grounded).
What makes G somewhat better (and why the ungrounded plugs has the plastic pin) is that the holes for the living room live wire are closed by a shutter that can only be removed by a lever in the ground hole.
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The weird fucky version of type B they use in Thailand is missing. It's like the fucky version of the type L that's displayed except the fuckyness was added to a different base type.