Regulatory issues: Difference between revisions

 

Power plugs also differ greatly around the world. If only two-wire unearthed power is needed (typical for small appliances), the 2-pin CEE 7/16 Europlug works throughout Europe and in many other countries. If 3 pins are needed for earthing, there are three incompatible standard plugs in the same area of Europe. The most common, the French/German version, is incompatible with the Italian, Swiss, and Danish/Scandinavian versions. There are two different-sized Italian plugs. Australasia and Israel have their own, incompatible plugs and sockets (Israel has 2 different plugs, for some obscure reason). The American 2-pin plug (NEMA 1-15) and 3-pin plug (NEMA 5-15) are also used in Japan and most of the Americas. The old British BS546 plug is still used in India and much of Africa, while the UK itself now uses a totally different plug (BS1363). Argentina uses the Australian plug, but with line and neutral connections reversed. Some countries, such as China and Brazil, cannot agree on a single standard. Some countries (Italy, Spain, Greece) have obsolete plugs in older buildings.

 

Thanks to Internet dealers, a company selling music gear is prone to end up selling the same item in many countries, complicating design greatly. The [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60906-1 IEC 60906-1] proposal to standardize] European power outlets has apparently failed as of 2011. This situation is why manufacturers needing AC mains inside the product have standardized on the universal [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320 IEC 60320] AC mains inlet socket, and left the procurement of a matching AC mains power cord to the consumer or local dealer. Most modern equipment either has a transformer tap switch that the consumer must adjust for his AC mains voltage, or it contains a [[switching power supply]] that can accept and work on anything from 90v to 264v, with no adjustment.

 

For smaller devices, an AC adapter producing low-voltage AC or DC power is almost universal. Most of them are made for 120v or 230v only, and usually can't be adjusted. Once again, providing the proper AC adapter is left to the local dealer or to the consumer. If you purchase a product made in another country via a website dealer, you have to be aware of this, and willing to find the proper cable or adapter. It can be very difficult to buy an adapter or power cable for one country in another.

 

In Asia and some parts of Europe many newer buildings have ''combo sockets'', which will accept European, Australian, or American NEMA plugs. However all such sockets are wired for the local 220-230v power only. Plugging an American 120V appliance or Japanese 100V into one of these sockets will destroy it.

 

=== Regulations ===

 

One side-effect of all this is that the number of certified testing labs has exploded in the last 20 years. Before, there were very few labs, because products tended to be simple and regulations were scarce. Only medical or other safety-critical gear was tested routinely. But the commonplace use of microprocessors, increasing legal controls, import/export regulations, and differences of all the regulations between countries have contributed to a climate of test everything just in case, and the consumer, are paying for it.

 

=== Cabinet builders ===