
RCA student radically improves the UK plug - alexandros
http://www.iconeye.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3864:rca-student-radically-improves-the-uk-plug
======
axod
74 days ago: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=782236>

2 months ago:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/9djgs/a_radicall...](http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/9djgs/a_radically_improvement_of_the_uk_plug_it_folds/)

4 months ago:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/8uvbh/1cm_thi...](http://www.reddit.com/r/unitedkingdom/comments/8uvbh/1cm_thick_uk_plug_designed_video/)

etc etc.

~~~
electromagnetic
How are the reddit links relevant? Not everyone on HN follows reddit, in fact
I personally stopped following reddit after I discovered HN because HN has
more mature and tech-orientated posts and discussions.

However you're right, and there was a link to the youtube video up on HN over
four months ago: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=670856>

------
jbarciauskas
This was posted a while back; isn't the whole point of the UK design to be
able to embed fuses in the plug itself? I assume that that would mean this
design is dangerous in early post-WW2 houses where the integrated fuse design
was meant to save on wiring (which I only know thanks to a previous HN post
about the history of electric plugs...)

~~~
electromagnetic
Fuses in the plugs serve a secondary purpose, one that people don't realise.
The conventional wisdom today is that the circuit breaker is the safety
measure, however people infrequently jam their circuit breakers open instead
of paying $50 for a higher amperage (it's uncommon, but it happens way too
much). This causes 2 main problems, the first is that it allows potentially
unlimited current to flow until either A) the breaker fails, or B) the wiring
fails, and either can easily burn you house down. The second problem is that
breakers usually flip because of a ground fault (hence the breakers being
ground fault interrupters), not high current draw, and jamming the breaker
open allows electricity to flow to ground, which either A) allows you to be
electrocuted, or B) the Earth wiring fails and your house burns down.

The fuse still serves a great purpose in that if your equipment fails and you
was stupid enough to jam the G.F.I. open, then the fuse will near instantly
fail as the amperage drawn will go through the roof. The second function they
serve, is that many plugs are equipped with a 3A fuse, but they're on a 15-30A
G.F.I., which means if the equipment fails in a spectacularly bad way you can
have up to 10 times the amperage flowing through wires that can't handle it...
unless you have a fuse.

I was always dubious of how unlikely it must be to damage the neutral+earth
but not the live. However, when working as an electrician I managed to slice
just those two whilst working, which is the important reason to turn mains
power off while doing electrical or construction work in a house, either by
running off a generator or by running a dedicated extension line from the
breaker box. You can always know where your extension is, you can't always
know where a live electrical cable is inside a wall (even with a detector).

~~~
Zak
Don't Do That Then.

A better unsafe solution is to upgrade the breaker without upgrading the
wiring or outlet. Breakers are usually $5-10 and most wiring won't burst in to
flame from an extra 5 amps.

Note that fuse-in-plug does not keep you from overloading a circuit; it only
helps when the device itself malfunctions.

 _Disclaimer: sometimes it will burst in to flames. You shouldn't actually do
this._

~~~
electromagnetic
Wiring typically has ~100% safety margin built in, however this cannot be
counted on. If your wiring takes 15A, it should in theory handle 30A safely.
_HOWEVER_ , any nick or sharp bend in the wiring can increase resistance in
the wiring, or even worse decrease the electrical resistance of the cable
insulation. Heat also amplifies this problem, so an overloaded wire handling
30A in the cold of a Siberian winter might not handle it in a sweltering
summer.

The safety margin is there for safety, just like how skydivers have a reserve
chute, it doesn't mean you should rely solely on your reserve day after day.

Personally I would never overload house wiring, it's just not worth the risk.
However I do occasionally overload extension cords (they have the same ~100%
safety margin) for certain quick tasks where the cable doesn't heat up, but
I'd certainly never push a 15A cable to 30A . . . I got close to something
similar, a 14A appliance on a 8A extension because I was a moron and didn't
read the label.

Also it's good to note that, not all cabling or extensions have the 100%
safety margin, this margin is in place so that any defective products should
still meet the _minimum_ requirement.

------
zandorg
Very classy-looking! I'm surprised this is 'art' and not 'industrial design'.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
RCA London teaches: "Animation | Architecture | Ceramics & Glass |
Communication Art & Design | Conservation | Critical and Historical Studies |
Curating Contemporary Art | Design Interactions | Design Products | Drawing
Studio | Fashion Menswear | Fashion Womenswear | Goldsmithing, Silversmithing,
Metalwork & Jewellery | History of Design | Innovation Design Engineering |
Painting | Photography | Printmaking | Sculpture | Textiles | Vehicle Design"

<http://www.rca.ac.uk/Default.aspx?ContentID=159384>

The guys BA has worked as a graphic designer (advertising copy by the looks of
it) but took his MA in "Design Products".

Edit: another of their alumni,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Day_%28designer%29>

