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The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

themu.co.uk

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Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#41

Post by excuse-me »

klodolph wrote: post #35
excuse-me wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US it's almost impossible to get a re-wireable plug except for industrial extension leads. Most Americans have no idea which pin is 'live'

There's no need for Americans to know which pin is live. (The correct answer is "both", by the way.) Americans who do DIY electronics / electrical systems all know that black is hot and white is neutral, bare or green is ground. Plugs come with cables, so there is no need to know which pin is which, and I'm not sure what the benefit of rewiring a plug is except in the very rare case that the plug is damaged. For the…

True, and all new products in the UK have to have pre-wired sealed plugs now. Although you can still buy replacements plugs - I don't know hoe much longer for.

It's just part of the lost art of being able to fix things, now you throw away the Walmart appliance rather than replace a plug. Soon you wont be able to fix your car and will have to scrap it when the dealer decides that support has expired.

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#42

Post by excuse-me »

lucian1900 wrote: post #25
beseku wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that depends on the angle you approach the issue from. Having spent the last three years in Japan after growing up in the UK, I find the general lack of respect towards electricity as a deadly force that is encapsulated in the flimsy plug design quite startling. While the UK plug design is unwieldy in comparison, it also features a huge number of cleverly designed elements intended to provide the utmost prote…

Japan may be on the other side of the scale, I also find their plugs look flimsy (as an European). But the UK plug is just an artefact of the dangerous series circuits in many houses built during copper shortages. Such circuits are dangerous anyway, the remaining such houses should be fixed instead.

There's nothing about ring mains that makes them any more dangerous.

The UK pugs probably are needlessly safe - but so are aircraft and cars these days. I can't see a big campaign to remove earth pins, shuttered sockets, fuses and switches to increase the number of accidents getting much public traction!

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#43

Post by moylan »

frabcus wrote: post #8
unwind wrote: post #3

I couldn't find any information about whether or not this contains a fuse ... Isn't that mandatory for UK plugs? Seems quite "daring" to launch something like this for only the UK. Sure, it's a big market, but I hope they're looking at modularizing the plug part internally so they can instantiate the Mu for other markets, too.

Umm, it only makes sense in the UK, where we have a very large plug standard.

and ireland. and with all the companies from the usa here i suspect it'll be a popular purchase to save space in a bag.

i know i want one or three.

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#44

Post by cstross »

gouranga wrote: post #37
mmcnickle wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Class II (double insulated) appliances don't require an conducting earth pin. It's only needed at all to open the shutters that cover the live/neutral holes in the socket. >>> That thing is flimsy, requires manual twiddling Have you tried the product yet? >>> I very much doubt it's been tested or approved They've stated that it's been independently tested, which is sufficient for self-certification for the CE mark. W…

I've never worked with appliances so please excuse my ignorance on the subject. I retract that part of the rant. You are correct and I've upvoted you accordingly. My comment regarding the flimsy nature of it will be proven. A rotating mechanical joint which needs to be pulled HARD (UK plus need to be pulled very hard) will fail rapidly and expose live wires. Not only that, the profile of the unit is very narrow and a…

I've got a Mu plug. I'm quite impressed by it; while it probably is less robust than a regular plug, my gut feeling is you'd have to hit it side-on with a hammer to stand a chance of breaking it while it was in a socket. The fold-out shield around the pins is reinforced and angled to deflect side-impacts. A USB cable seated in it pulls out long before it can exert enough leverage or force to pull the Mu's pins out of a socket. The rotating pin arrangement feels solidly built.

While I think it's a bit gimmicky at this point (and: £25 for a USB charger?!?) it's better designed than a lot of the crappy kit you see out there, and shows promise for something better to come.

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#45

Post by gouranga »

cstross wrote: post #44
gouranga wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never worked with appliances so please excuse my ignorance on the subject. I retract that part of the rant. You are correct and I've upvoted you accordingly. My comment regarding the flimsy nature of it will be proven. A rotating mechanical joint which needs to be pulled HARD (UK plus need to be pulled very hard) will fail rapidly and expose live wires. Not only that, the profile of the unit is very narrow and a…

I've got a Mu plug. I'm quite impressed by it; while it probably is less robust than a regular plug, my gut feeling is you'd have to hit it side-on with a hammer to stand a chance of breaking it while it was in a socket. The fold-out shield around the pins is reinforced and angled to deflect side-impacts. A USB cable seated in it pulls out long before it can exert enough leverage or force to pull the Mu's pins out of…

Thanks for the objective review.

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#46

Post by mahyarm »

archivator wrote: post #7
casca wrote: post #4

The only good thing about the UK plug is that it's possible to push a standard 2-pin EU plug into the socket.

I've had a plug disintegrate inside the socket. (the metal prongs somehow detached from the plug). So, don't do this! I'd argue that the really good thing about the UK plug is 1) the switches in the sockets and 2) that the devices are all well-grounded. The EU one is usually just 2 contacts, with an optional 3rd one for ground. That's bad, anyway I look at it.

I think something like a flat blade 3 pins in a row italian style plug would be the ideal. Flat and square plugs tend to stay in place compared to round plugs and the 3 pins in a row would be space compact, while still providing grounding.

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#48

Post by alter8 »

dalore wrote: post #36
gioele wrote: post #17

It is a (design-wise) shame that the UK plug design forces adapters to be so big. Europlug USB adapters are much more slicker http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/339903558/_Euro_Plug_USB_T... .

I wonder if the Mu and your plug have the same complicated insides as an Apple iPhone charger. This article was recently posted here: http://www.arcfn.com/2012/05/apple-iphone-charger-teardown-q...

A submission of the tiny, cheap and dangerous fake iPhone charger killed my account 1 month ago, even though it got 140 points (duplicate or linkbait, anyone care to explain?)

  http://www.arcfn.com/2012/03/inside-cheap-phone-charger-and-why-you.html
  http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3903705

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#49

Post by excuse-me »

mahyarm wrote: post #46
archivator wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a plug disintegrate inside the socket. (the metal prongs somehow detached from the plug). So, don't do this! I'd argue that the really good thing about the UK plug is 1) the switches in the sockets and 2) that the devices are all well-grounded. The EU one is usually just 2 contacts, with an optional 3rd one for ground. That's bad, anyway I look at it.

I think something like a flat blade 3 pins in a row italian style plug would be the ideal. Flat and square plugs tend to stay in place compared to round plugs and the 3 pins in a row would be space compact, while still providing grounding.

The reason for the UK triangle is that the orientation is set, so you know which of the supply wires is live and which is neutral - and if the plug is half removed the top exposed pin is ground so if anything fell down onto the socket it wouldn't touch a hot pin

Extreme I know - whoever designed the UK plug was obviously paranoid.

Re: The Mu - Folding UK 3-pin → USB plug

#50

Post by mahyarm »

excuse-me wrote: post #49
mahyarm wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think something like a flat blade 3 pins in a row italian style plug would be the ideal. Flat and square plugs tend to stay in place compared to round plugs and the 3 pins in a row would be space compact, while still providing grounding.

The reason for the UK triangle is that the orientation is set, so you know which of the supply wires is live and which is neutral - and if the plug is half removed the top exposed pin is ground so if anything fell down onto the socket it wouldn't touch a hot pin Extreme I know - whoever designed the UK plug was obviously paranoid.

That would be solved by the 'polarlized' flat pins that the USA has, making the pins covered for part of the rod and making the grounding pin longer.
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