Why South Africa is changing its plug standard

[Jan]

For what it's worth, in response to the detractors in this thread: I like the new plug standard.

South Africa got stuck on the old British World War 2-era BS546 standard while the rest of the world moved on to better standards.

Would it have been better for South Africa to adopt the new flat-pin British plug standard, Schuko, or the Australian standard? Maybe.

Instead, as a small fish in a big ocean we decided to throw our lots in with the global standardisation body (IEC). From where I'm sitting, that's a perfectly rational thing to do. When the international body resposible for electrotechnical standards embarks on a project to standardise the whole 250V world's plugs and sockets that's a pretty noble goal to get behind.

I would far rather that we stay the course and adopt a standard that is interchangeable with Europlug, and ultimately get rid of those irritating Schuko plugs altogether in time, than see the country dither like we did with the digital TV migration.

As a reminder: part of the reason for South Africa's current spectrum mess is because the 2010 administration of the Department of Communications decided to throw out the standard that the whole industry had agreed-upon back in 2005.

I'm all for refining standards, or migrating to newer, better standards, but to halt a process halfway is not a good call.

Plus, for all we know, South Africa's adoption of the standard might help reignite debates in other countries to get the whole 250V world converge on one standard. It's unlikely, but a man can dream.

(Regarding my Schuko remarks: It's a fine standard, but I honestly think IEC 60906-1 is better as it is more compact.)

 

[|tera|]

Not to mention all my existing appliances and power tools that have the existing 3 pin plug on them.

Won't an adapter of sorts work?
Time for Ellies to make one.
Edit: or will that defeat the purpose?

 

[pinball wizard]

Won't an adapter of sorts work?
Time for Ellies to make one.

Sure, but the waffle around this new standard is to eliminate adaptors, so it seems to me this new plug standard is a retarded solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[Jan]

The benefits of the bottom one is obvious: You can switch off the one you don't want to consume power, but leave the other one on.... without having to pull something from the socket.

Also. All my extension leads and whatnot will be useless if I switch away from the old standard.

The article still doesn't answer the real question: What is the real advantage of spending a lot of money to change over to a whole new standard. And having 4/5/6 on one plate is not really incentive enough.

You can have switches on the new plug types if you want them. The headline image is one example of the configurations that are allowed. We've run a previous article which outlines some of the other options.

Agreed on the extension leads. That's one piece of kit I have not seen at Builder's Warehouse yet.

Your final questions was answered in past articles, but also covered in summary in this article: There is no advantage to the average household switching over entirely to the new standard yet. There is also no regulation compelling you to. The SABS is content to have the migration play out over many years.

 

[|tera|]

Sure, but the waffle around this new standard is to eliminate adaptors, so it seems to me this new plug standard is a retarded solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

Yep. Edited my post.
I guess an adapter defeats the purpose.

 

[Jan]

Sure, but the waffle around this new standard is to eliminate adaptors, so it seems to me this new plug standard is a retarded solution to a problem that doesn't exist.

You don't have this problem?

 

[pinball wizard]

View attachment 945612

You don't have this problem?

No. I'm not actually a tool. I just play one on this forum.

 

[Jan]

Not to mention all my existing appliances and power tools that have the existing 3 pin plug on them.

On top of that lots of power tools come with a Schuko plug. That's a real PITA thanks to the low quality adaptors flooding the South African market.

 

[konfab]

For what it's worth, in response to the detractors in this thread: I like the new plug standard.

South Africa got stuck on the old British World War 2-era BS546 standard while the rest of the world moved on to better standards.

Would it have been better for South Africa to adopt the new flat-pin British plug standard, Schuko, or the Australian standard? Maybe.

Instead, as a small fish in a big ocean we decided to throw our lots in with the global standardisation body (IEC). From where I'm sitting, that's a perfectly rational thing to do. When the international body resposible for electrotechnical standards embarks on a project to standardise the whole 250V world's plugs and sockets that's a pretty noble goal to get behind.

I would far rather that we stay the course and adopt a standard that is interchangeable with Europlug, and ultimately get rid of those irritating Schuko plugs altogether in time, than see the country dither like we did with the digital TV migration.

As a reminder: part of the reason for South Africa's current spectrum mess is because the 2010 administration of the Department of Communications decided to throw out the standard that the whole industry had agreed-upon back in 2005.

I'm all for refining standards, or migrating to newer, better standards, but to halt a process halfway is not a good call.

Plus, for all we know, South Africa's adoption of the standard might help reignite debates in other countries to get the whole 250V world converge on one standard. It's unlikely, but a man can dream.

(Regarding my Schuko remarks: It's a fine standard, but I honestly think IEC 60906-1 is better as it is more compact.)

Except that isn't what happens:

I do like the new plugs though, I just think there is some unwarranted optimism about how successful it will be.

The problem is that the only other country that seems to use it is Brazil.

 

[|tera|]

On top of that lots of power tools come with a Schuko plug. That's a real PITA thanks to the low quality adaptors flooding the South African market.

I hate Schuko plugs.
I think I have a multiplug deficiency somewhere in my hands. I haven't been able to insert 1 schuko in any multiplug without struggling my ass off.
Not even one.

 

[Ipwn 4]

Tldr

No reason is given

Quality click bait.

 

[JohnStarr]

There was a (Zoom / Teams) media event hosted a few weeks ago by the SABS to go through what has been added to the standard in the last year, and answer questions. This article was based on Campetti's answers to one of my questions.

Rather than bombard the site with all of the articles, all at once, we've published them over the course of a few weeks. Either way there would have been complaints, but this way it's not information overload at least.

We know they want new plugs. This has been going on for months now.

New South African plug standard is mandatory for new installations

South Africa’s new plug and socket standard has become mandatory for new installations.

mybroadband.co.za

Actually since 2018. I have yet to see a new house with any of these in. It's going to take years.

 

[RudderVator]

soo.. What is so wrong with the british flat 3 pin plug? It is similar to the current standard here and has much wider adoption.

Even smartphone manufacturers make their wall adapters in that shape already? so there would be no need for the 2 pin socket with an adapter.

It has a fuse inside of the plug for extra protection and has the live wire inside as the shortest wire so if the wire got yanked on accidently it would break the live wire off first instead of the earth.

 

[CommonSense]

View attachment 945612

You don't have this problem?

Thanks you for the other reply and it would be nice if all information can be done in one thread then.


One point. Your picture above will just move the "problem" to the wall-outlet, and back again if adapters become widely available once adoption of the new standard really happens.

I invested a lot of money into Allocacoc cubes when they were easily available. A nifty solution/design.

 

[Jan]

Except that isn't what happens:

In fairness... This was in 1986. It's thanks to the failure of the IEC to convince Europe to get on board, followed by the failures of many other standardisation bodies, that Randall Monroe can make memes like that .

I do like the new plugs though, I just think there is some unwarranted optimism about how successful it will be.

I guess we'll see. As I said, the SABS appers to be content to play the long game. This year was the first time I've seen rewireable plugs / plug tops for the ZA Plug standard available. There are also adaptors from the old BS546-based standard (SANS 164-1) to the new ZA Plug standard available now.

The next step is to convince manufacturers of earthed appliances to bring their stuff in with new-style plugs.

In the end, whether in 10 years or 50, the old standard will be phased out. When it comes to stuff like this the definition of success is a little different than with standards like Thunderbolt, USB, character encodings, Betamax, VHS, HD DVD, Blu-ray, etc. In this case adoption will ultimately be legislated.

And from the SABS' perspective there's no reason to rush adoption precisely because it's not like Betamax/VHS or HD DVD/Blu-ray. No reason to force people to spend money they don't have when the old system they have in their homes work perfectly fine.

 

[phoneJunky]

I hate Schuko plugs.
I think I have a multiplug deficiency somewhere in my hands. I haven't been able to insert 1 schuko in any multiplug without struggling my ass off.
Not even one.

I broke my last multiplug trying to get a schuko in. I normally just replace the plug. I have already replaced all my power tools to the new standard that needs it.

 

[Jan]

Quality click bait.

That's just objectively not true. (/cc @Rabobi). The article goes into some detail about why South Africa chose this standard, and why it stuck with it.

 

[phoneJunky]

Actually since 2018. I have yet to see a new house with any of these in. It's going to take years.

I have seen a few, but they are almost always hybrid plugs with the old one and 2 new ones with switches

 

[|tera|]

I broke my last multiplug trying to get a schuko in. I normally just replace the plug. I have already replaced all my power tools to the new standard that needs it.

I've definitely popped a vein or two with those damned things.
The best route is to change the plug.
TBH I'd rather have standard 2-point plugs all over. I do understand the limitations and electrical issues it could cause is bad though.

How much did you pay per 'new' plug to replace it on your tools?

 

[Jan]

soo.. What is so wrong with the british flat 3 pin plug? It is similar to the current standard here and has much wider adoption.

It's *huge*. I'm also not a fan of the additional admin of needing a fuse. I think I'd much prefer the Australian standard if we're not going to stick with IEC 60906-1.



A common question I always hear from within the industry when the topic of plug standards comes up is current rating. Both the British and Australian standards are rated to a maximum of 15A.

Our standard supports up to 16A.

As I understand it, changing that would be a fairly major undertaking.