I was wondering, through this, why Clive was making no effort to actually repair this... Then I realised that he is the last person in the world that would actually be interested in using the shaver socket !
@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 He spent a good many years as a professional electrician. He even used to do Glasgow's Christmas lights. He's done videos about some of the things he ran into, like live chassis that shouldn't have been live. It's also part of why he looks at the waterproofing of outdoor stuff so critically: He got the short end of the stick when that didn't work properly on the Glasgow Christmas lights.
Clive is a qualified electrician. I believe he did an industrial apprenticeship in a steelworks in Glasgow. There are also videos on here of him working on the Edinburgh military tattoo.
This makes me feel nostalgic. They just have GFCI outlets in US bathrooms. The pull-string lights in UK bathrooms throw me when I go back nowadays, I spend a good 30 secs pawing the walls.
What really throws me about UK bathrooms is the fuzz they make about electrical safety with the pull-strings and isolation transformers in shaver sockets. Then, at the same time, they have a freaking 18 kW, 3-phase 400V, tankless water heater INSIDE the shower cabinet. They call it "electric shower" (google it, I'm not kidding).
My college dorm in the United States had them. Additionally it had a dedicated razor blade slot (that just dropped the blades into the wall cavity, I guess they figured they would just replace the building when they filled up) And ashtrays built into all the furniture.
The razor blade disposal thing seems to be unique to the US - frequently encountered when renovating older houses. Presumably any pathogens on the blades would be long dead... PRESUMABLY :)
@@LewinEdwards I still see the slots in new medicine cabinets from time to time, but I suspect the lack of labeling means almost no one knows what they are for anymore.
@@zachazlett it was the dual round plug like in Europe and said shavers only. It was really odd for California. I'm sure it made sense in 1960 when it was built. They clearly were aiming the housing towards clean shaven chain smoking future aerospace engineers. (It was an all guys technical school at the time).
In my experience, these sorts of isolated "shaver" outlets are fairly common in many older installations in the US too (particularly in hotels, etc). Nowadays I think they're mostly being replaced by GFCI outlets instead, though (which are probably cheaper and I believe also now mandated by code in all bathroom installations in most states).
@@MilesCallisto The kitchen only requires the ones serving a countertop to be gfci protected. Also, any outlet within 6' of the sink. It wouldn't surprise me if that changes in the code update though.
Some commenters are suggesting it could have been overloaded by a toothbrush charger. No - these only use a watt or two at maximum, and typically less than half a watt once the toothbrush is charged. There is no way this would ever overheat a 20VA transformer, or even warm it much above ambient temperature. Vendors pushing special "electric toothbrush compatible" sockets are selling you alarmist snake oil.
It's not merely a VA issue, I believe the problem is the harmonics caused by the switching power supplies. Harmonics cause increased iron losses, eddy current losses, hysteresis loss, etc. It's well known with industrial loads and utility transformers, so those are monitored and limited.
@@straightpipediesel : If your electric shaver's harmonics are killing any rationally sized transformer, then you should probably stop using it to cut through trees.
@@absalomdraconis We're talking about electric toothbrushes here. They additional complication is that they use a inductive charger that operates at 20-100 kHz. I wouldn't be surprised if they drove the transmitter coil off line voltage.
I (continental European) remember being in a UK hotel room with my laptop, having to finish a presentation for the next day. I had forgotten to bring my UK travel adaptor, but the Schuko plug from the laptop charger could be jammed into the shaver socket in the bathroom with some effort. This worked just fine, at least well enough to keep the laptop battery from depleting. Only problem was the pain in my behind after sitting on the loo with my laptop, doing Powerpoint till 1 AM. I suppose a laptop charger consumes a lot more power than even the wildest electrical toothbrush ever will.
Yea they were somewhat common here in NZ homes, usually run off of a lighting circuit in the bathroom to provide isolated supply just like in the UK. Now days bathrooms are fitted with regular sockets and protected by RCD/GFCI at the main switch board. Although when upgrading a bathroom in an older home it is not uncommon to simply fit a socket with a built in RCD/GFCI in the place of the old shaver socket, but only there is push back on an upgrade from a fuse board to a switchboard.
I think I would prefer the old fashion way of doing things, when new, electronics are good but over time I would not trust them. With the transformer the failure is the electronic thermal fuse, which should have been made replaceable, just like fuses in plugs.
Yep my grandma's old house has one of those outlets with a 240v outlet and a 120v outlet which is missing the ground prong for some reason. I haven't seen many here in New Zealand homes though
@@LoganT547 no ground prong as its an isolating transformer, meaning there is no direct path back to ground stopping you from getting a grounded electric shock, dont recommend touching both live and neutral at the same time though, you'll still get a zing
Used to see these a lot in houses built in the 1960s and 1970s in Canada. Square metal plate with a single ungrounded 120 VAC outlet marked "RAZOR ONLY", employing an isolation transformer. Where I live in Canada, they weren't immediately replaced by GFCI receptacles... that came later (late 1980s/early 1990s)... for about ten years (1977 - 1987 ?) a conventional 120V, 15A duplex receptacle was right next to the bathroom sink, eagerly awaiting for something to be submerged while powered. Local codes require GFCIs now, but there is a ten year window between the safety of the "RAZOR ONLY" isolation transformer and the GFCI receptacle.
Our old house built in 1980 came with regular outlet in the bathroom, however they were attached to a GFI breaker in the main panel. As GFCIs outlets came into vogue (and became more reasonably priced) you general found the GFCI in the bathroom proper and daisy chained to other bathroom or devices that required that protection by code. So those regular outlet in early 80s were likely protected, but at the panel instead. This of course is in Canada. CSA seemed to do there homework back in the day, they don’t do as much testing these days, but are on top of the codes as they have written most of them.
@@mpbgp is it really a problem? I've never heard of anybody dropping anything in the tub and reaching in after it hair driers and the like have had built in gfci for as long as I remember, and one of the first things taught in school is household safety
I've seen them in motel bathrooms in Australia but they have never been installed in residential bathrooms here. They were only installed in motels to provide travelers 115v for the shavers I assume .
Yeah, hotels, motels, trains, airports, that's about it and mostly for foreign devices rather than electrical protection. Though I did go looking for one recently to install in my bathroom so I could nix the ghetto adapter I'm currently using to plug my Japanese purchased electric shaver in (it's a universal input jobbie but obviously has a Japanese plug).
The house I grew up in over here in NZ ( built 1975 ) had one of those. Not so common these days, seems to be standard outlets with RCD's in bathrooms now, or RCD back at the fusebox.
The house I grew up in in Canada, which was also built in the late 70's had a shaver socket in one bathroom (and a regular socket not too far from the sink in the main bathrroom - so go figure). You don't see them anymore - all GFCI (RCD for you limey types) plugs now.
@@gorak9000 Here in the States my 32 year old home has the bathroom circuit (two bathrooms on the same circuit) protected with a GFCI in one of the bathrooms. I have verified that when it trips both bathrooms have their power outlets become "nonfunctional" until someone resets the GFCI. To my knowledge they aren't required by code in Michigan (which has only seen minimal updates since the 1950's) but for $20 I would rather have one than not. Mine came with the house installed but they aren't that much harder to install than a regular three prong outlet. A friend of mine built a house himself and even though his kitchen was all on two circuits he installed multiple GFCI outlets on the wall behind his sink (all on one circuit) and counter when he only needed one. Since Michigan's electrical code is silent on the use of GFCIs the inspector let it slide.
@@mharris5047 That's not how it works - Michigan doesn't get to set their own rules - they only get to add rules on top of the NEC which go beyond what the NEC calls for. GFCI's have been required for YEARS anywhere close to a water source. All kitchens / bathrooms / outdoor plugs must be GFCIs. A relatively new thing is all bedroom or living room plugs must be AFCI now too - too many people running extension cords for lamps under carpets leading to fires. Pretty much the only plug you'll find in a modern house that isn't GFCI or AFCI is a special single plug outlet in the garage for a deep freezer if you have such a circuit - the nuisance tripping of a GFCI or AFCI on a freezer leading to spoiling of the food was allowed an exception. There might be a similar exception for the plug behind your fridge in the kitchen too, but I'd check the code book on that one... (and yes, it's fine to have one GFCI plug with a bunch of regular plugs after the GFCI - if wired correctly, the one GFCI plug protects all of them - that's standard practice to have one GFCI plug on the circuit, and a bunch of regular plugs after it - sometimes they put a sticker on the plate notifying you that it's GFCI protected, so if the plug isn't working, you know you have to go find the GFCI somewhere to reset it)
Ah, this explains an experience I had in a hotel in France … the only outlet in the room was such a socket in the bathroom. My laptop needed recharging, but the charging would stop every so often and then resume a while later, The thermal fuze!
These things are common in hotels for their 230/115V capabilities I guess, but in France you will not find them in normal houses (I mean at home). We have GFCIs instead (mandatory on the bathroom circuit).
The thermal fuses aren't like automatically resetting circuit breakers that resume the connection when the device cools off ---- they blow just once and that's it, the fuse is open, permanently. That hotel outlet may have had a different type of protection built in, like a bi-metallic strip used as a thermal-overload disconnect.
At least it was a self-resetting one - and not permanent, (imagine asking the hotel manager “why are there no sockets in my room - I’ve overheated the shaver socket in the bathroom trying to change my laptop and the socket is now dead 😳)
@ Peter Thejll What year did you go to that hotel ? I'm French and am very surprised that a hotel will only provide guests with a shaver outlet. But if it was in the 70s or something like that I would be less surprised on the other end. Seriously, even cheapo hotels like Formule 1 or Première Classe or Fasthôtel do come up with actual outlets in the room for you to plug your cell phone or laptop at least. I know because I slept in one of the latter maybe 15 years ago and outlets were present in the room.
There's always more sockets around somewhere - unplug any of the 3 or 4 lamps or the TV and or associated boxes which prevent you from seeing the naughty channels
NL: We used to have these in some houses, very rare though. Back when it was the only allowed outlet. Nowadays however, it is allowed to have splash shielded outlets, behind RCD, and a minimum height and distance from the sink, so these became even more rare.
In Spain it's alarmingly common to have a common-or-garden Schuko socket right next to the sink - ready for a hair dryer, etc. Fortunately almost all houses have at least one RCD in the consumer unit covering all circuits.
That's just the way it's done in Spain by law. They don't have GFCIs but earthed sockets and a general 30 mA RCD protection in the breaker panel. The same goes for the rest of Euro countries.
In Argentina(south America) we only have 220/230v outlets, all the same thing, no extra protection in the bathroom. If you have a good electrical installation in your house there is nothing to worry about. There are wery few accidents, and all are because old installation.
I just completed my first major soldering job, a clock kit. And, thanks to Big Clive I got all the components seated well, most notably the 60 LEDs. It is remarkable how fast you build your skill.
I'm so glad you came up with this video as it's literally the first time I ever get to see the back of a shaver socket and its actual transformer. And as far as other countries go, we do (Or at least _did_ ) have shaver sockets in France as well, although the last and up to this day only time I've seen one in a private home bathroom was back in 2007 or 2008. It was a Legrand branded one that was of course taking two spaces or a two-gang box (I don't know how to call it in English) but it was single-voltage (I don't remember if it was 220 or 230 volts but mains was and still is definitely 230 here) and looked like a standard French socket but with no earth pin. The entire front was plastic and there was "For shavers only" marked, both in French and English. From what I read in a French book that basically teaches DIYers how to safely do electrical work in their house, shaver sockets come with a isolation transformer but in order not to be too expensive, the power is usually limited to somewhere between 30 and 50 VA if I remember correctly. And since then I assumed for a very long time that the actual transformer might be located very far from the socket, maybe in the consumer unit, or in some box somewhere I don't know, if not deep inside the wall. But in reality it's much simpler as you've just shown in this video. And also I didn't know about the switch either. Shaver sockets seem to have fallen out of fashion at least in France by now, even though you can still find them online and I didn't see anywhere that they were banned or anything. But there is another place in France where shaver sockets and indeed dual-voltage ones like you've just shown are still definitely a thing: Trains ! I'm only talking about regional and sometimes even commuter trains called TER in France, although the most recent ones (Called Régiolis and Regio2n) don't have sockets in the toilets anymore, "older" trains roughly built from the 90s to the mid 2010s do indeed have dual-voltage shaver sockets in their toilets, and in fact the "face" with the plug holes looks pretty much the same as the one in this video, with the EXACT same shaver pictogram. But they again have all-plastic fronts (Or faces or whatever...) that look like Legrand Mosaic.
They are common here in New Zealand particulary in old houses but less with new construction. They are mostly being replaced by RCD plugs but they do lact the multi-volatge capabilitys of the transformer.
Its like those cheap 100 watt travel power converter that go from 120v -> 240v or 240v -> 120v. You always get people plugging in a 1800 watt hair dryer and wondering why the thing went up in smoke!
Small wonder. They are running that poor thing at 18 times its rated current! In fairness to them, if it has a NEMA 1-15 receptacle on it, I too would expect the device to be able to handle the full 15 amps through it.
@@scratchpad7954 These devices have a label that specifically states the maximum output power. Its too bad a lot of people dont bother reading any labels... I've seen so many things broken by user error because instructions were not read...
It's not quite the same. Cheap travel convertors use auto-transformers where the secondary and primary are a single winding. Shaver adaptors like this have a fully isolated secondary. Problems arise because the UK standard shaver socket has to allow other sized plugs such as the US, AU and EU variants. The UK one is actually different so you cannot plug a UK shaver into non-isolated outlets in Europe.
My wife used the hair dryer in the caravan. Then the fuse in the inverter was blown. Since then there are only towels to do it. Most devices only require 12 volts. The 230 volts are only for small loads with no 12 volt input.
I was wondering about that... is the fuse in the unit Clive tore down really a one-shot fuse and not a resettable device that got destroyed by too many (or one massive) overload(s)? Or IOW is this really a device that is permanently buggered by a single overload?
@@sootikins good question; a one-event thermal fuse is usually a small shiny metallic cylinder the size of a half watt or one watt resistor, but the one on the video looks like a tiny ceramic capacitor. Probably a one-time device, regardless.
In Canada, any outlet near the sink has a Ground-Fault Interruptor, basically another term for RCD device. This device predated them here, and you'll still find them, especially in older houses.
I remember seeing these at campgrounds, rest stops and hotels when I was much younger in Canada. They didn't support 240v as we only have 120v to the end point. (240v to the panels and high load accessories).
I just had to replace a thermal fuse in an expensive toaster oven. It's such a shame that a $2 part can bring down a $400 device that otherwise is perfectly fine. The fuse just wore out or something, it wasn't even hot when it died. Great video Clive!
Netherlands has 20va shaver sockets too. Well, used to, anyway. Under modern rules you can just use a standard earthed outlet which is of course gfci protected just like the rest of the house. We don’t put 110v sections in though.
Years ago, light fixtures near / over bathroom sinks here in the USA had shaver plugs but they were just regular plugs that you could in theory plug anything into. There was also in many cases a local switch to turn the light on or off which mystified six year old me because the switch in the wall controlled the lights...
2:11 the US doesn't have any sort of isolated outlet like this, but we put GFCI''s (basically, dual-winding solenoids with one winding for each power prong, mechanically linked to cut power if the currents ever differ) in outlets near water.
My grandfather has one in his house here in the US, i even want to say that its not a full 120v but i cannot recall. He did however have a slot under the outlet, he told me that its for shaving razor blades and it just dumped out in to the wall.
thanks for reminding me of these. I've thought for quite some time about the differences between our (US) and your electrical systems and the different way in which they address the same needs... THESE. are the ONE thing we don't, to my knowledge, have *ANY* equivalent of. We just put a GFCI (RCD) on the any outlet near the sink and call it a day. Until some fractional-witpower half-phase individual comes along with their UK shaver and decides to try to shave in the shower with it plugged into an extension cord whose male end has been castrated and jammed into the electric dryer socket.
We used to have those in the Netherlands too (mostly in the 80’s but there are still some around today, and I can indeed confirm that they rarely work)
I have a GFCI in my bathroom and was confused why my outlet tester wasn't tripping it since one of the indicator bulbs is powered from live to ground to confirm the ground is working. Turns out those things need 5mA to ground to trip and after a little googling the little neon bulbs only used about 2mA.
A more common thing today is to have a battery powered shaver, some of the better brands are even waterproof, which helps to avoid the dangers. The really dangerous items are hair dryers, curling irons, and other electronics.
I've never actually heard of that at all until now! Here (USA) we just have a GFCI protected outlet for you to plug in your shaver, hairdrier, electric toothbrush, etc. That said, the shavers and similar things I've had all have a wall-wart and low voltage going into the shaver body.
I've heard that's then only part of an USA home that has protection, whereas Australia and New Zealand for all outlets and lighting we use RCD's before the MCB's and our voltage is 230-240V @ 50Hz, average 240V 10A power outlets are 2400W, doing the math 120V 20A = 2400W lower the voltage safer it is NO, all the same wattage it is the combination of volts and Amps that can kill! FACT!
Jonathan: The amps are directly based on the voltage if current runs through your body because the resistance of your body is consistent. Don't post things online if you don't know what you're talking about. Idiot. Or does a car battery that gives hundred of amps on a short circuit kills you?
@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 specific circuits that may be near wet areas usually are GFCI. Bathrooms, garage, kitchen countertops,. Etc. No real reason to have them other places...and even when they exist it doesn't do much unless you happen to be grounded. Had an aquarium heater leak and malfunction and never tripped the GFCI adapter I added even as it partly melted the power strip because there is no path to ground. I assume a hypothetical hairdrier in the bathtub would have similar issue not tripping as the tub is typically fiberglass and the drain PVC pipe so it would still be a balanced in/out between the hot and neutral...but I don't plan to test that theory...
@@matthewmiller6068 Yes if there is an internal electrical fault the MCB should trip! Please don't test that theory! However, say if one had a electric blanket and one sweats (water) could result a "ground fault" condition - thus zap - without RCD/GFCI, although if the GPO's are wired correctly, should be no problem Black wire inserted to the N and the Green wire to the E for each GPO great, other wise if wired incorrectly, and tow different device (metal chassis) pluged in could result a "Earth fault" condition thus tripping the RCD/GDCI - e.g. in the livingroom -DVD & VCR (metal chassis)! You don't have to be grounded (feet to earth) to receive an electric shock two hands is enough! and could kill!
@@matthewmiller6068 Some people (Americans claim the lower the voltage the safer it is - BS - 120v @ 20A = 2400W as to 240V @ 10A = 2400W even the the HT transmission lines the current may be low while the voltage is high e.g. 110,000V by the time it arrives at one's home the current increases. Tell that to the Americans! No offence intended! Here's a thought, AC power - does the eletrons flow back and forth like a two-way road or in one direction like a one-way road? Or is it the frequency that goes up and down. I believe its the latter! There are too many TH-cam video that confuse people!
I've lived in a couple of houses where grounds were novelties. I imagine with all the special outlets and switches there UK schools must have a class in how to plug things in.
I'm secretly waiting for the first "FUBAR" branded items to appear on Amazon. Given the inflation of crappy brand names from China (to go along with the crappy products), it can't be long.
Some places in Canada have dedicated outlets for things like razors and hair dryers. Usually in hotels, but sometimes, and very rarely, you can find them in homes. From what I can remember the devices are usually fixed to the outlet. No unplugging then or throwing them in the bath
Common in Swedish hotels. Exists in some Swedish homes, most built in the 70-80's. I have one like it built into my upstairs bathroom light fixture. In the fixture in the downstairs bathroom I've retofitted a GFC beacuse that outlet was straight to mains and the house is so old that there are few grounded outlets let alone a GFC in the fusebox.
Same before when we moved into where my parents live there was one of these in the bathroom with only 110 V output. Appearently most shavers at the time was 110 V to make them less hazardous for bathroom use since there were no battery powered shavers at this time (70s-80s) so they ran right of the plug.
Being familiar with building design and code from an earlier job, the standard here in the US is for wet locations to simply have a GFCI protected outlet. Given that most shavers today are battery powered, its kind of a moot point as the main danger from the outlet is usually from hair driers which can draw close to 2kW. Too much to practically isolate. But with the proliferation of smart phones one nice standard to have would be for sockets that have USB outlets designed for wet locations that are water resistant, isolated and protected from ground faults and leakage.
20VA? Very nice for a plate (anode) supply for a vacuum tube preamp, nixie clock etc. I'd be glad to get a few of those sockets :) I think I've seen one in the Netherlands, but definitely not here in Poland. This thing is soooo nicely fooked.
they were used in the US for a short time, I have been to some old hardware stores that specialize in vintage house parts and have seen them NOS on the shelf, they were replaced by GFCIs beginning in the 70s
I (mis-)used one in a Swiss hotel to try and charge my laptop - or rather tried to use it as an overload protection kicked in after a few seconds, reset after a few more seconds and so on ... so there must be some with a self-resetting protection.
Yes Australian and New Zealand do have shaver outlets, we have two types: one with built in RCD (can't be used with the consumer unit with RCD's) and same type but plastic plate, and our voltage is 230-250 Volts @ 50Hz
Most tourist related bathrooms here in Belgium have these: Hotels, trains, expo buildings... But I wouldn't be surprised they get phased out since almost no-one use them in an age of battery powered electric razors.
Yes for facial hair most just use battery operated shavers, but for headshaving, I still use a wired set. Although, when I travel, I don't shave my head as I do that before I leave... So I'm good for a week or two 😜
@@AaronSmart.online My facial shaver uses a switching power supply for charging. 100-240v input. I would just use an adapter I would already have on hand for my cellphone charger (Which is also a switching power supply).
Something else to note. A lot of people use them for charging toothbrushes. Which is not good for them. There not designed for permanent load and can overheat
Before GFCI they existed and where somewhat common, especially in hotels. The cover plate would say "Razor only". Naturally someone would plug in a hair dryer and burn them out. They usually fit a 4" square box (the one that's a little smaller than the commonplace 4-11/16" square range plug box.)
Our modern houses are RCD protected for all outlets, lighting circuits. GFCI is essentially the same as RCD. Slightly older installations will have one or two RCDS protecting the entire installation while newer knees have individual RCDs in the consumer unit (electrical panel) for each circuit. Some even have AFDDs (arc fault detection device).
I remember seeing one of these in London when I visited and was quite surprised to see a dedicated socket for shaving! It makes more sense that it has other uses, but now I know what it was and how it works :)
Many many years ago, before I was born, my dad plugged his US shaver in to an outlet in the UK. It did not survive. He would have loved to have had a 110v socket.
I've always been fascinated with how these sockets found their way onto everything from plane to train bathrooms, YEARS before USB or outlets for charging phones. What is the demand for beard trimming in tiny airline toilets???
GFCI sockets are building code in areas close to running water in North America (Kitchen, bathroom, outside). All the mixed volages and plugs is unique to Britain. Arc-fault plugs are required in bedrooms where I live to prevent fires when people crush the plugs behind furniture.
We used to have bathroom outlets like that in Canada. You can still find them in 80's houses and older. But these days we use ground fault interrupter outlets instead.
@@dlarge6502 The advantage of the GFCI/RCD outlets is that they're mandated to be anywhere that might be near a water source. ALL of your bathroom and kitchen outlets are individually GFCI/RCD protected. In the case of the shaver outlet, it's safer to have a whole isolation transformer protecting you, but that's only one one outlet. The other outlets are only protected by the GFCI/RCD at the main breaker box... or possibly the one massive RCD for the whole house.
When this American visited Britain many years ago, I brought my Braun shaver with me, but forgot to bring an adapter and was very happy to learn that my American style plug would fit in the 115 volt shaver socket over the sink. It worked just fine although it sounded funny because it was made for 60Hz electricity.
The last two weeks worth of content from Clive has been exemplary. The stuff about batteries, chargers and power supplies in general. wrt batteries then I consider them like estranged wives/gfs : They're unreliable, they let you down when you least anticipate it, they don't perform to any given standard, they got hot/catch fire when you least expect it, anything you use use to test them gives incorrect results and yet you spend most of your life surrounded by them because [apparently] you can't survive without them ; it seems. Why haven't we managed to come up with something better yet????? (batteries ; that is).
Evening Clive, they are not a domestic device here in Straya, we have general purpose outlets (10Amp RCD protected), in our bathrooms for your drying and or shaving pleasure. That said, accommodation houses often have a combination plate that houses the 100va isolated dual voltage sockets at one end, and a standard GPO at the other.
In the US, my family's old vacation home built in the 1960s has the receptacles in the bathroom on a light switch. A bit of research suggests that this was done back then because the isolation transformers in shaver sockets could cause radio interference. There's just 2 ordinary outlets there now, but it's an interesting artifact. Any electric razor I've used has always been battery operated.
If it actually has a transformer, the switch is to save power when it's not in use. More likely it does not have a transformer and the switch is just there so you can safely leave something connected and turn off the power when it is not in use.
Howdy Clive, long time comment lurker and fan from Australia here. As Glen Miller mentioned, they were once a far more common sight, but you still see ones in private residence on a rare occasion, generally apartments or the like; However they are still extensively used in our hotels/motels and other paid short-term accommodation. They seemed to become far less popular here once battery powered dock/cradle style shavers (that couldn't be used whilst charging), became the norm over here along with RCDs being in practically every home. All the best, and keep up the good videos!
This brought back memories of my uncle having an adapter that allowed him to power his electric razor from the light fitting - grand Idea except for slight issue of then not having any light to see what you were doing...
Same with my grandparents and ironing clothes, you could only iron in daylight. All because originally sockets were metered at a higher rate than lighting. Replace the lighting fuse with a nail and the iron works on the lighting circuit.
The 1st product ever made by Matsushita Electric ( now the parent copy of Panasonic and Technics) was a bakelite-housed Y adapter that screwed into the Edison-style light bulb socket in your ceiling and gave you an socket for the bulb as well as an outlet plug for another electrical device.
I love the little doodle that seems to be the universal sign for 'shaver socket'. Although I think more people use them for electric toothbrushes these days? I wish they'd use re-setable(?) fuses, especially in things like electric blow heaters and water heaters. Some water heater thermal fuses are quite expensive.
The first house I remember living in in the US was built in the 1950's and had a shaver outlet on the light over the bathroom sink and mirror. I have no idea if it was isolated. Later I lived in a house built in the 1960's that had a standard outlet near the sink. No GFCI / RCD, safety was on you and the shaver manufacturer. The shaver cord was typically too short to reach the bathtub but of course you could drop it in the sink. Later still I lived in a house that was built in the 1990's and had GFCI's on any outlet near a sink or outdoors. So how do you use a hair dryer in the UK anyway? In the bedroom? Some yank probably came over there and fried that outlet with a hair dryer! Regarding "toothbrushes and lady-toys", what about "manly toys"? Do those run straight off the mains or do they require petrol?
Normally the uk women " toys" are powered by either a 3phase 400w supply or are powered by a a diesel generator which can be noisy around late evening & can upset the neighbours, sometimes as much as 3 blocks away.
The outlet on the light at least the couple I've remove over the years just connected to the lighting circuit. I was reading through the comments to see if anyone else had seen that set up. The ones I saw were in the trontro area
@@edwinw8599 I'm here in the US and grew up in the fifties and sixties it was rather, common to see those chromed bathroom light fixtures with a two prong outlet for shavers
@@edwinw8599 , Electric stoves/ranges sometimes had a similar "courtesy outlet" built into their control panel as well. Years ago, while living with my wife in a rented apartment, there wasn't an electrical outlet for the section of kitchen counter where it would have been particularly usefull, so I added one on the side of the stove's control panel, tapping into half of the stove's 240VAC supply.
The old shaver sockets in my house only accept the 2 pin bs4573 shaver plug, which are the same size as the bottom two pins on a 5amp bs546. I suppose more modern ones have been adapted to allow European and other dimension plugs which leads to this problem
German here, never seen something like that. Always fascinating to see British stuff like that, like the oddities with your hot/cold water accessories.
Might be used in hotels, but we just have normal powerpoints in bathrooms in Australia. That was one of the things I found incredibly annoying living in the UK (along with seperate hot and cold taps!).
@@caseyrevoir I live in a UK house (flat over garage thing) that was built within the last couple of decades and although the kitchen tap is a mixer, the bathroom taps aren't! Hate it with a fiery passion. I often just go to the kitchen to wash my hands. Separate taps might make sense in ancient houses with loft boilers but have no place in new buildings.
Hi Clive. Liked seeing this get taken to bits. In my antique and vintage hobby in the States, I've seen a quite a few older (probably 40's or 50's era) bathroom light fixtures with outlets marked "shaver only." Most of them are wired directly to the incoming live and neutral with no isolation. However, I have seen exactly two of them with similar isolation transformers as yours has. The principle was the same, however the transformer had 120V primary and a single tap secondary for 120V out to the shaver socket. Looking at the back of the fixture, I thought it had two different fluorescent lamp ballasts, which seemed quite odd considering it only had one fluorescent tube. Then I realized how it was wired. I'm pretty sure that here, the shift has been to individual ground fault circuit breaker outlets in the bathroom, to protect from severe shocks. Back when these were seen in the States it was before GFCI outlets were available. I've seen those thermal fuses go on battery charger transformers as well. Often the charger has an auto-reset circuit breaker for the output, to save it from overloading or reverse battery connections. However, if the rectifier diodes fail short, it will cause the transformer to overheat until the thermal fuse opens. I have, admittedly, removed the thermal fuses from these; and replaced it with a conventional inline time-delay fuse rated appropriately. Wouldn't do that with a built-in device such as a shaver outlet, but I have no problems with a wotkshop battery charger being modified in this manner.
2:02 I'm a registered electrician in Australia, never installed one. The Australian wiring rules rely heavily on the use of RCDs (or "Safety Switches") to protect from electrical shock.
The closest comparison we have to something like this here in the US are GFCI outlets that just cut power entirely when tripped by the erroneous electric gubbin going for an invigorating dip in the water
Yes GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter or Ground Fault Current Interrupter, GFCI) ElectroBoom has a fun video on that: m.th-cam.com/video/GlM6PE2kKVY/w-d-xo.html
Here in Canada (and the US), we just have regular 120v/15a outlets in our bathrooms but with GFCI in the outlet. That's used for shavers. Since it's a regular outlet, you can plug anything in it. I even plug my cellphone charger into it when I'm going to the washroom and have a dead battery. I actually dropped my other shaver in water before and it just pops the GFCI.. so it does its job. I even plugged my vaccume into it to vaccume the hallway outside the washroom because there's no outlet in the hallway. Full 15 amp outlet so you can use it like any other outlet in the house.
People do not read, saying shaver only still does not help, because numpty will still plug in pretty much anything. How many 115VAC shavers have been blown up because numpty did not plug it into the 115 side, but instead the 230 side, and it went all smoke and puff while he was shaving. Then blamed the owner of the building for their stupidity.
Most folk wouldn't know what 20w means. Most of these UK sockets had a 'smiley face' logo (that kjnda looked like an old philishave) & were clearly labelled 'Shavers only'.
We used to have shaver sockets in Canada. They were a simpler design, 115 V in, 115V out, and a single, type A socket on the face plate, which had the words, "for shaver only" embossed on it. Nowadays, we just install a GFCI, ground fault circuit interrupter (residual current detector), because people like to use their hair dryers and stuff in the bathroom. But, sometimes you can find a shaver socket in an old house from the 1960s, or so, when they were popular. They were usually switched on the lighting circuit, so they were only live when the light was on.
I've seen these plugs often when cruising or in airplanes. On our last 2 cruises (NCL, Holland America) we had a water pick along. It was a 120vt plug, and on both ships the plug barely fit. Forced in as the prongs were slightly wider and yet it frequently slipped out as contact was made only on the very interior of the plug prong. Could plug it into other outlets in the cabin with out problem. Now what I really would like to know is why British Airways changed there seat electrical systems on their planes. Prior to traveling we checked that our CPAP machines would work at our seats (110/220 rated) yet on the plane they would only work 5 sec. and then blow the circuit. During flight they actually radioed to their facilities to find out why and were told all the plugs and breakers were all 'updated' to lower trip voltages. Any idea why?
Cpap power supply bricks are rated somewhere in the region of 50-90w. My cpap machine, Philips, especially if used with the heated humidifier, can draw 50w. Next time, try without the humidifier & you might be okay.
Just in case anyone was wondering we have these in South Africa they look exactly the same and I’m pretty sure they are exactly the same electrically speaking
Yes, can be found in older homes/hotels/etc in Canada. Just two prong, non-polarized NEMA 1-15R sockets often found in bathrooms above the sink and medicine cabinets. I seem to think they were fused for some reason and/or often connected to the light.
So many here relying on full non-isolated mains sockets in the bathroom behind RCD's or GFCI's. Scary. Those devices are just fine, till they fail to trip because they haven't been tested and no longer protect you. Shaver socket FTW in my opinion.
2 ปีที่แล้ว
I live in Sweden and moved into my apartment in 2004, the last electrical makeover was in mid-90s. My bathroom mirror cabinet has a lighting fixture included on the top, but it does also include a transformer which steps down the voltage from 230 to 115 and connects to an outlet in the bottom of the light fixture. This outlet is intended for shavers. Don't think the transformer has a thermal fuse or anything fancy like that, it just does the voltage step-down.
Extremely common in Sweden to find 100VA 115V-only transformer sockets in bathrooms during the 1960:s up until the 1990:s. Now they are usually replaced by GFCI protected standard type F but you can still find transformer outlets in older bathrooms.
Here in Germany we are hard core. Not only do we run full 240V@16A to the bath room, but at least technically bath rooms aren't even classified as a "damp location", so many older installations will not have an RCD either.
We do not have such a beast in Australia and none of the Australian manufacturers have had a product like that in my time in the trade. All circuits in Australia are now required to be RCD protected but there are also strict limitations for the location of outlets in bathrooms etc. in AS/NZS 3000. That standard is our wiring rules publication.
These used to be standard in NZ houses (near identical design), I still have one in my house as the bathroom hasn't been upgraded since it was built in 1978. In the 90s, they switched to using GFCI outlets in bathrooms, and from the mid-2000s they just install normal outlets in bathrooms and rely on a whole-house GFCI back at the fuse board.
In the US GFCI outlets are used when they're within a certain distance of a sink or bath/shower. So, for example, my house has a GFCI outlet in the bathroom, and there's a GFCI outlet in the kitchen as well, which is ganged with another one on the other side of the sink.
Yeah these used to be in some New Zealand houses. The previous house I used to live in was build mid 70’s and had one. Now living in a newer house built in the 90’s and that has a normal wall socket protected by an RCD breaker.
We do not have them in Finland. Normal power sockets are allowed (a certain distance from the sink/shower). I think the socket must have a splash cover. You can use your hairdryer in a bathroom and most people have their washing machine in the bathroom also.
Had one of these in my house when i was kid. use to plug my radio in to it when in the shower and my mom would plug her curling iron never though much of it other then it got hot. Looks like it could be a decent little isolation transformer.
Isolation transformer type bathroom sockets for low power devices such as shavers were quite common here in Canada, although they were 120 volt only. They've been largely superceded now by GFCI sockets which can accomodate more appliances (hairdryers, etc.).
I use a beard trimmer about every 2 weeks so plug in an extension cable that trails into the bathroom and then plug the trimmer into that. I doubt the battery has ever held a full charge since I bought it.
Ive only ever seen these in UK. In the US we use 110v GFCI outlets for this purpose. I never actually thought these were there for safety, its cool to learn the intent behind their use.
We just have GFCIs in the states. Outlet has an internal breaker that turns off the outlet it's self when say you drop something in water. So it's safe to stick your hand in grab the thing and then push the reset button to turn the breaker and outlet back on
In the US, bathroom outlets are GFCI protected, but not isolated. The only examples I can think of that are isolated are the doorbell supply and the thermostat supply, but those are also low voltage.
We used to have shaver outlets here in North America, they were non polarized 120v outlets using a transformer to isolate it from mains. Most times that I've seen they are also switched by the switch for the bathroom light. They were typically only rated for under 300 watts or so I believe. They were installed in a double wide box. Hardware stores here sell kits with a GFCI and box adapter so you can swap it out for a GFCI outlet provided you have a ground wire.
I have seen them in hotels in various contries, but in the Netherlands never in a home. I have worked at the electronics department of a company where we had the entire workbench behind a 3 kW isolating transformer. Scopes, soldering irons, everyting. It was done because we also had to test and repair live equipment. Felt very save, and was always fun to show to people who didn't know about it 😁.
@@hagen-p that in fact isn’t a euro plug. It’s a British plug that predates the current three pin one. The pins are fatter and parallel compared to euro plugs. So won’t fit into a European plug socket.
@@lukedoherty8062 Interesting. I have charged a phone with a charger in one of these in the past (an old phone, with an 1 amp 5 V charger), so an Euro plug definitely fits into the socket my in-laws have. And the electric toothbrush plug is also definitely an Euro one. But now I know why the odd shape. Thanks!
@@hagen-p euro plugs fit the shaver outlet but the British toothbrush plugs don’t fit European sockets. I found that out the hard way with my toothbrush charger in Portugal. But I’d you google you can see the slight difference.
In the UK we use mainly 3pin square plugs so a 2 pin bathroom socket can not be used. If you buy a UK hair dryer it comes with a 3 pin plug. This is where international travel comes and upsets the apple cart. Foreign electronic with 2 pin plugs.
Some older homes ave them but Newer homes they seem to put 10A RCD Protected socket in nz but are electrical. Stranards seem to be rather weak a lot of houses still have rewireable fuse fuse box and it still perfectly legal to put a new to old fuse box
Way back in the day (late 50s), a lot of US medicine cabinets and bathroom sink lamps had two-slot non polarized 120v outlets tied directly into house wiring. Generally these were for electric shavers, but could carry hair dryers and electric toothbrush charging bases too. People were expected to be very careful not to let these appliances drop into water.
I Denmark you can find a shaver socket in some old bathrooms, but they are rare, sine RCD’s have been mandatory since the 60’s. But if you want an outlet for shaving closer to a wet environment (a sink) than normally allowed by code, you would need a shaver socket.
the socket in US bathrooms are the same type as the rest of the house, although gfci is standard now. my house is old enough it still have non-gfci outlets in the bathroom, I'll change them at some point. I'll probably get one for the kitchen sink outlet too
In the US, there is an outlet in nearly every bathroom, near the sink, even public toilets. Modern construction uses a standard 15-20 amp duplex GFI outlet. Older places have a non GFI duplex outlet, grounded in the more recent, but 2 prong non grounded in much older installs. Many old bathroom light fixtures came with a 2 or 3 prong socket built in, in which case there might not be a wall outlet. It's not hard to find all of the above still in use.
I was wondering, through this, why Clive was making no effort to actually repair this... Then I realised that he is the last person in the world that would actually be interested in using the shaver socket !
Not just that! Is he qualified to repair and certify elecrical installations?
@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 Of course he is. However, NOT qualified to have a shave OR certify that look.
@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 He spent a good many years as a professional electrician. He even used to do Glasgow's Christmas lights. He's done videos about some of the things he ran into, like live chassis that shouldn't have been live. It's also part of why he looks at the waterproofing of outdoor stuff so critically: He got the short end of the stick when that didn't work properly on the Glasgow Christmas lights.
@@evensgrey Thanks for that, as there are "so called" experts on youtube, one must beware ofof what they say!
Clive is a qualified electrician. I believe he did an industrial apprenticeship in a steelworks in Glasgow. There are also videos on here of him working on the Edinburgh military tattoo.
This makes me feel nostalgic. They just have GFCI outlets in US bathrooms. The pull-string lights in UK bathrooms throw me when I go back nowadays, I spend a good 30 secs pawing the walls.
and a redundant gfci/rcd on the cord on bath room appliances.
@@KingOfKYA Yo, dawg, I heard you like GFCIs, so I put a GFCI in your toothbrush so you can protect while you protect!
...I'll show myself out...
@@KingOfKYA That is for the inevitability of someone not having a GFCI in their bathroom.
@@KingOfKYA redundancy is good, especially when it prevents electrocution.
What really throws me about UK bathrooms is the fuzz they make about electrical safety with the pull-strings and isolation transformers in shaver sockets. Then, at the same time, they have a freaking 18 kW, 3-phase 400V, tankless water heater INSIDE the shower cabinet. They call it "electric shower" (google it, I'm not kidding).
My college dorm in the United States had them. Additionally it had a dedicated razor blade slot (that just dropped the blades into the wall cavity, I guess they figured they would just replace the building when they filled up) And ashtrays built into all the furniture.
Free cavity wall insulation?
The razor blade disposal thing seems to be unique to the US - frequently encountered when renovating older houses. Presumably any pathogens on the blades would be long dead... PRESUMABLY :)
@@LewinEdwards I still see the slots in new medicine cabinets from time to time, but I suspect the lack of labeling means almost no one knows what they are for anymore.
In the US you most likely had a normal single outlet built into the medicine cabinet or a newer GFCI.
@@zachazlett it was the dual round plug like in Europe and said shavers only. It was really odd for California. I'm sure it made sense in 1960 when it was built. They clearly were aiming the housing towards clean shaven chain smoking future aerospace engineers. (It was an all guys technical school at the time).
In my experience, these sorts of isolated "shaver" outlets are fairly common in many older installations in the US too (particularly in hotels, etc). Nowadays I think they're mostly being replaced by GFCI outlets instead, though (which are probably cheaper and I believe also now mandated by code in all bathroom installations in most states).
I always thought the shaver socket in hotels was to serve British clients.
Mandated by NEC in outdoors, laundry rooms, kitchens, bathrooms and garages
@@MilesCallisto The kitchen only requires the ones serving a countertop to be gfci protected. Also, any outlet within 6' of the sink. It wouldn't surprise me if that changes in the code update though.
Yeah, every outlet in my house is GFCI. It seems a bit overkill, but hey better safe than sorry.
Some commenters are suggesting it could have been overloaded by a toothbrush charger. No - these only use a watt or two at maximum, and typically less than half a watt once the toothbrush is charged. There is no way this would ever overheat a 20VA transformer, or even warm it much above ambient temperature. Vendors pushing special "electric toothbrush compatible" sockets are selling you alarmist snake oil.
Yeah, they'll also want to sell you Audiophile grade ethernet cables at the same time...
It's not merely a VA issue, I believe the problem is the harmonics caused by the switching power supplies. Harmonics cause increased iron losses, eddy current losses, hysteresis loss, etc. It's well known with industrial loads and utility transformers, so those are monitored and limited.
@@straightpipediesel : If your electric shaver's harmonics are killing any rationally sized transformer, then you should probably stop using it to cut through trees.
@@absalomdraconis We're talking about electric toothbrushes here. They additional complication is that they use a inductive charger that operates at 20-100 kHz. I wouldn't be surprised if they drove the transmitter coil off line voltage.
I (continental European) remember being in a UK hotel room with my laptop, having to finish a presentation for the next day. I had forgotten to bring my UK travel adaptor, but the Schuko plug from the laptop charger could be jammed into the shaver socket in the bathroom with some effort. This worked just fine, at least well enough to keep the laptop battery from depleting. Only problem was the pain in my behind after sitting on the loo with my laptop, doing Powerpoint till 1 AM.
I suppose a laptop charger consumes a lot more power than even the wildest electrical toothbrush ever will.
It really lives up to the warning "no user servicable parts"
Yea they were somewhat common here in NZ homes, usually run off of a lighting circuit in the bathroom to provide isolated supply just like in the UK.
Now days bathrooms are fitted with regular sockets and protected by RCD/GFCI at the main switch board.
Although when upgrading a bathroom in an older home it is not uncommon to simply fit a socket with a built in RCD/GFCI in the place of the old shaver socket, but only there is push back on an upgrade from a fuse board to a switchboard.
I think I would prefer the old fashion way of doing things, when new, electronics are good but over time I would not trust them. With the transformer the failure is the electronic thermal fuse, which should have been made replaceable, just like fuses in plugs.
Pretty sure there very different lol
Yep my grandma's old house has one of those outlets with a 240v outlet and a 120v outlet which is missing the ground prong for some reason. I haven't seen many here in New Zealand homes though
yea ive seen many of these shaver sockets in places ive lived, but yea my current place has a mains socket with GFCI
New Zealand btw
@@LoganT547 no ground prong as its an isolating transformer, meaning there is no direct path back to ground stopping you from getting a grounded electric shock, dont recommend touching both live and neutral at the same time though, you'll still get a zing
Used to see these a lot in houses built in the 1960s and 1970s in Canada.
Square metal plate with a single ungrounded 120 VAC outlet marked "RAZOR ONLY", employing an isolation transformer.
Where I live in Canada, they weren't immediately replaced by GFCI receptacles... that came later (late 1980s/early 1990s)... for about ten years (1977 - 1987 ?) a conventional 120V, 15A duplex receptacle was right next to the bathroom sink, eagerly awaiting for something to be submerged while powered. Local codes require GFCIs now, but there is a ten year window between the safety of the "RAZOR ONLY" isolation transformer and the GFCI receptacle.
Interesting, was this a pre ground fault outlet safety option?
@@mpbgp I think my edit might answer you.
@@LakeNipissing Forward thinking Canada. In the US, it was it. Just put a convenience outlet right by the sink.
Our old house built in 1980 came with regular outlet in the bathroom, however they were attached to a GFI breaker in the main panel. As GFCIs outlets came into vogue (and became more reasonably priced) you general found the GFCI in the bathroom proper and daisy chained to other bathroom or devices that required that protection by code. So those regular outlet in early 80s were likely protected, but at the panel instead. This of course is in Canada. CSA seemed to do there homework back in the day, they don’t do as much testing these days, but are on top of the codes as they have written most of them.
@@mpbgp is it really a problem? I've never heard of anybody dropping anything in the tub and reaching in after it
hair driers and the like have had built in gfci for as long as I remember, and one of the first things taught in school is household safety
I've seen them in motel bathrooms in Australia but they have never been installed in residential bathrooms here. They were only installed in motels to provide travelers 115v for the shavers I assume .
Back in the days when the only portable powered appliance one carried was a shaver :)
@@simonneep8413 A time that is hard to remember.
Yeah, hotels, motels, trains, airports, that's about it and mostly for foreign devices rather than electrical protection.
Though I did go looking for one recently to install in my bathroom so I could nix the ghetto adapter I'm currently using to plug my Japanese purchased electric shaver in (it's a universal input jobbie but obviously has a Japanese plug).
for the people learning English, "for there" should be "for their" ...
@@Bobo-ox7fj There, there, now. Don't be confused by their confusion there. (Apologies to non-English speakers.)
The house I grew up in over here in NZ ( built 1975 ) had one of those. Not so common these days, seems to be standard outlets with RCD's in bathrooms now, or RCD back at the fusebox.
RCD at the breaker box usually I think
The house I grew up in in Canada, which was also built in the late 70's had a shaver socket in one bathroom (and a regular socket not too far from the sink in the main bathrroom - so go figure). You don't see them anymore - all GFCI (RCD for you limey types) plugs now.
my place the RCD is in a socket in the bathroom, and the other sockets are piggybacked off that. So they are all on the single RCD
@@gorak9000 Here in the States my 32 year old home has the bathroom circuit (two bathrooms on the same circuit) protected with a GFCI in one of the bathrooms. I have verified that when it trips both bathrooms have their power outlets become "nonfunctional" until someone resets the GFCI. To my knowledge they aren't required by code in Michigan (which has only seen minimal updates since the 1950's) but for $20 I would rather have one than not. Mine came with the house installed but they aren't that much harder to install than a regular three prong outlet. A friend of mine built a house himself and even though his kitchen was all on two circuits he installed multiple GFCI outlets on the wall behind his sink (all on one circuit) and counter when he only needed one. Since Michigan's electrical code is silent on the use of GFCIs the inspector let it slide.
@@mharris5047 That's not how it works - Michigan doesn't get to set their own rules - they only get to add rules on top of the NEC which go beyond what the NEC calls for. GFCI's have been required for YEARS anywhere close to a water source. All kitchens / bathrooms / outdoor plugs must be GFCIs. A relatively new thing is all bedroom or living room plugs must be AFCI now too - too many people running extension cords for lamps under carpets leading to fires. Pretty much the only plug you'll find in a modern house that isn't GFCI or AFCI is a special single plug outlet in the garage for a deep freezer if you have such a circuit - the nuisance tripping of a GFCI or AFCI on a freezer leading to spoiling of the food was allowed an exception. There might be a similar exception for the plug behind your fridge in the kitchen too, but I'd check the code book on that one... (and yes, it's fine to have one GFCI plug with a bunch of regular plugs after the GFCI - if wired correctly, the one GFCI plug protects all of them - that's standard practice to have one GFCI plug on the circuit, and a bunch of regular plugs after it - sometimes they put a sticker on the plate notifying you that it's GFCI protected, so if the plug isn't working, you know you have to go find the GFCI somewhere to reset it)
Ah, this explains an experience I had in a hotel in France … the only outlet in the room was such a socket in the bathroom. My laptop needed recharging, but the charging would stop every so often and then resume a while later, The thermal fuze!
These things are common in hotels for their 230/115V capabilities I guess, but in France you will not find them in normal houses (I mean at home). We have GFCIs instead (mandatory on the bathroom circuit).
The thermal fuses aren't like automatically resetting circuit breakers that resume the connection when the device cools off ---- they blow just once and that's it, the fuse is open, permanently. That hotel outlet may have had a different type of protection built in, like a bi-metallic strip used as a thermal-overload disconnect.
At least it was a self-resetting one - and not permanent, (imagine asking the hotel manager “why are there no sockets in my room - I’ve overheated the shaver socket in the bathroom trying to change my laptop and the socket is now dead 😳)
@ Peter Thejll
What year did you go to that hotel ?
I'm French and am very surprised that a hotel will only provide guests with a shaver outlet.
But if it was in the 70s or something like that I would be less surprised on the other end.
Seriously, even cheapo hotels like Formule 1 or Première Classe or Fasthôtel do come up with actual outlets in the room for you to plug your cell phone or laptop at least.
I know because I slept in one of the latter maybe 15 years ago and outlets were present in the room.
There's always more sockets around somewhere - unplug any of the 3 or 4 lamps or the TV and or associated boxes which prevent you from seeing the naughty channels
NL: We used to have these in some houses, very rare though. Back when it was the only allowed outlet. Nowadays however, it is allowed to have splash shielded outlets, behind RCD, and a minimum height and distance from the sink, so these became even more rare.
In Spain it's alarmingly common to have a common-or-garden Schuko socket right next to the sink - ready for a hair dryer, etc. Fortunately almost all houses have at least one RCD in the consumer unit covering all circuits.
That's just the way it's done in Spain by law. They don't have GFCIs but earthed sockets and a general 30 mA RCD protection in the breaker panel. The same goes for the rest of Euro countries.
In Argentina(south America) we only have 220/230v outlets, all the same thing, no extra protection in the bathroom. If you have a good electrical installation in your house there is nothing to worry about. There are wery few accidents, and all are because old installation.
Yes, definitely used to be found in New Zealand. My older house has one still. Now modern bathrooms have sockets with RCDs I think.
RCD ?? Not in UK :)
@@adredy haha you can technically have a single socket in a bathroom 😜 just has to be 3M from Zone 1 😮 recently added to the regs
@@combatclifton 3m from zone 1 in average UK house built 100 years ago is probably in middle of neighbor's living room XDDD
Yep my grandma's house has one. I haven't seen many at all in New Zealand though, they seem quite rare nowadays
These will power a radio.
I just completed my first major soldering job, a clock kit. And, thanks to Big Clive I got all the components seated well, most notably the 60 LEDs. It is remarkable how fast you build your skill.
I'm so glad you came up with this video as it's literally the first time I ever get to see the back of a shaver socket and its actual transformer.
And as far as other countries go, we do (Or at least _did_ ) have shaver sockets in France as well, although the last and up to this day only time I've seen one in a private home bathroom was back in 2007 or 2008.
It was a Legrand branded one that was of course taking two spaces or a two-gang box (I don't know how to call it in English) but it was single-voltage (I don't remember if it was 220 or 230 volts but mains was and still is definitely 230 here) and looked like a standard French socket but with no earth pin.
The entire front was plastic and there was "For shavers only" marked, both in French and English.
From what I read in a French book that basically teaches DIYers how to safely do electrical work in their house, shaver sockets come with a isolation transformer but in order not to be too expensive, the power is usually limited to somewhere between 30 and 50 VA if I remember correctly.
And since then I assumed for a very long time that the actual transformer might be located very far from the socket, maybe in the consumer unit, or in some box somewhere I don't know, if not deep inside the wall.
But in reality it's much simpler as you've just shown in this video.
And also I didn't know about the switch either.
Shaver sockets seem to have fallen out of fashion at least in France by now, even though you can still find them online and I didn't see anywhere that they were banned or anything.
But there is another place in France where shaver sockets and indeed dual-voltage ones like you've just shown are still definitely a thing: Trains !
I'm only talking about regional and sometimes even commuter trains called TER in France, although the most recent ones (Called Régiolis and Regio2n) don't have sockets in the toilets anymore, "older" trains roughly built from the 90s to the mid 2010s do indeed have dual-voltage shaver sockets in their toilets, and in fact the "face" with the plug holes looks pretty much the same as the one in this video, with the EXACT same shaver pictogram.
But they again have all-plastic fronts (Or faces or whatever...) that look like Legrand Mosaic.
They are common here in New Zealand particulary in old houses but less with new construction.
They are mostly being replaced by RCD plugs but they do lact the multi-volatge capabilitys of the transformer.
Its like those cheap 100 watt travel power converter that go from 120v -> 240v or 240v -> 120v. You always get people plugging in a 1800 watt hair dryer and wondering why the thing went up in smoke!
Small wonder. They are running that poor thing at 18 times its rated current! In fairness to them, if it has a NEMA 1-15 receptacle on it, I too would expect the device to be able to handle the full 15 amps through it.
@@scratchpad7954 These devices have a label that specifically states the maximum output power. Its too bad a lot of people dont bother reading any labels... I've seen so many things broken by user error because instructions were not read...
It's not quite the same. Cheap travel convertors use auto-transformers where the secondary and primary are a single winding. Shaver adaptors like this have a fully isolated secondary. Problems arise because the UK standard shaver socket has to allow other sized plugs such as the US, AU and EU variants. The UK one is actually different so you cannot plug a UK shaver into non-isolated outlets in Europe.
My wife used the hair dryer in the caravan. Then the fuse in the inverter was blown.
Since then there are only towels to do it.
Most devices only require 12 volts. The 230 volts are only for small loads with no 12 volt input.
@@Okurka. I like those people. They make for some very entertaining videos and stories!
We have these in Australia.
In the bathrooms of trains, train stations and airports.
One's I have looked at have a PTC which acts as a resettable fuse, so a single overload doesn't condemn the unit as scrap.
I was wondering about that... is the fuse in the unit Clive tore down really a one-shot fuse and not a resettable device that got destroyed by too many (or one massive) overload(s)? Or IOW is this really a device that is permanently buggered by a single overload?
@@sootikins good question; a one-event thermal fuse is usually a small shiny metallic cylinder the size of a half watt or one watt resistor, but the one on the video looks like a tiny ceramic capacitor. Probably a one-time device, regardless.
In Canada, any outlet near the sink has a Ground-Fault Interruptor, basically another term for RCD device. This device predated them here, and you'll still find them, especially in older houses.
I remember seeing these at campgrounds, rest stops and hotels when I was much younger in Canada. They didn't support 240v as we only have 120v to the end point. (240v to the panels and high load accessories).
I just had to replace a thermal fuse in an expensive toaster oven. It's such a shame that a $2 part can bring down a $400 device that otherwise is perfectly fine. The fuse just wore out or something, it wasn't even hot when it died.
Great video Clive!
I've only ever seen shaver sockets in the UK and in hotels. Australia uses normal power sockets in bathrooms - hope the RCD is good!
Netherlands has 20va shaver sockets too. Well, used to, anyway. Under modern rules you can just use a standard earthed outlet which is of course gfci protected just like the rest of the house. We don’t put 110v sections in though.
Exactly as said. Used to. I remember I learned about this for the regulations exam (NEN1010 IIRC) but never seen one in a domestic situation.
Iv seen them in Aus normally in hotels but not common and generally look very old.
@@lukelahnstein Was gonna say exactly that, I dunno who even owns shavers with those weird plugs since they're only used in hotels.
@@uckfayooglegay9982 think they are meant to be a universal socket
Never seen those here in Germany... we just have normal SchuKo-Sockets in the area of the sink, and everything is protected by an RCD.
I've seen those a few times in German hotels and one of my parents' bathrooms has one like this. They're quite rare in Germany though.
Years ago, light fixtures near / over bathroom sinks here in the USA had shaver plugs but they were just regular plugs that you could in theory plug anything into. There was also in many cases a local switch to turn the light on or off which mystified six year old me because the switch in the wall controlled the lights...
2:11 the US doesn't have any sort of isolated outlet like this, but we put GFCI''s (basically, dual-winding solenoids with one winding for each power prong, mechanically linked to cut power if the currents ever differ) in outlets near water.
My grandfather has one in his house here in the US, i even want to say that its not a full 120v but i cannot recall.
He did however have a slot under the outlet, he told me that its for shaving razor blades and it just dumped out in to the wall.
And what if you accidentally drop something valuable in the razor blade slot ? 🤔
@@psirvent8 Such slots are so narrow that it would be almost impossible.
thanks for reminding me of these. I've thought for quite some time about the differences between our (US) and your electrical systems and the different way in which they address the same needs...
THESE. are the ONE thing we don't, to my knowledge, have *ANY* equivalent of. We just put a GFCI (RCD) on the any outlet near the sink and call it a day. Until some fractional-witpower half-phase individual comes along with their UK shaver and decides to try to shave in the shower with it plugged into an extension cord whose male end has been castrated and jammed into the electric dryer socket.
We used to have those in the Netherlands too (mostly in the 80’s but there are still some around today, and I can indeed confirm that they rarely work)
Brilliant as always! "I've changed the lettering there slightly " 🤣🤣
Here in states we have GFCI (RCD) in the bathrooms with full 15 or 20 amp current available however the ground faults are limited to 5mA.
I have a GFCI in my bathroom and was confused why my outlet tester wasn't tripping it since one of the indicator bulbs is powered from live to ground to confirm the ground is working. Turns out those things need 5mA to ground to trip and after a little googling the little neon bulbs only used about 2mA.
A more common thing today is to have a battery powered shaver, some of the better brands are even waterproof, which helps to avoid the dangers. The really dangerous items are hair dryers, curling irons, and other electronics.
I can say, as a resident of Australia, I have never seen anything like this, just the standard 240v outlet for us.
I’ve seen them here in Australia, mainly just in the bigger motels in the capital cities
@@andrew051968 yes just in major motels in common travel areas.
As a resident of Australia I can say I have seen many
, but in the Mother Land from where I originated from 😉
Your wiring code permits non-isolated 240v outlets in a bathroom?
@@ferrumignis There’s an RCD in the meter box.
I've never actually heard of that at all until now! Here (USA) we just have a GFCI protected outlet for you to plug in your shaver, hairdrier, electric toothbrush, etc. That said, the shavers and similar things I've had all have a wall-wart and low voltage going into the shaver body.
I've heard that's then only part of an USA home that has protection, whereas Australia and New Zealand for all outlets and lighting we use RCD's before the MCB's and our voltage is 230-240V @ 50Hz, average 240V 10A power outlets are 2400W, doing the math 120V 20A = 2400W lower the voltage safer it is NO, all the same wattage it is the combination of volts and Amps that can kill! FACT!
Jonathan: The amps are directly based on the voltage if current runs through your body because the resistance of your body is consistent. Don't post things online if you don't know what you're talking about. Idiot. Or does a car battery that gives hundred of amps on a short circuit kills you?
@@jonathonshanecrawford1840 specific circuits that may be near wet areas usually are GFCI. Bathrooms, garage, kitchen countertops,. Etc. No real reason to have them other places...and even when they exist it doesn't do much unless you happen to be grounded. Had an aquarium heater leak and malfunction and never tripped the GFCI adapter I added even as it partly melted the power strip because there is no path to ground. I assume a hypothetical hairdrier in the bathtub would have similar issue not tripping as the tub is typically fiberglass and the drain PVC pipe so it would still be a balanced in/out between the hot and neutral...but I don't plan to test that theory...
@@matthewmiller6068 Yes if there is an internal electrical fault the MCB should trip! Please don't test that theory! However, say if one had a electric blanket and one sweats (water) could result a "ground fault" condition - thus zap - without RCD/GFCI, although if the GPO's are wired correctly, should be no problem Black wire inserted to the N and the Green wire to the E for each GPO great, other wise if wired incorrectly, and tow different device (metal chassis) pluged in could result a "Earth fault" condition thus tripping the RCD/GDCI - e.g. in the livingroom -DVD & VCR (metal chassis)!
You don't have to be grounded (feet to earth) to receive an electric shock two hands is enough! and could kill!
@@matthewmiller6068 Some people (Americans claim the lower the voltage the safer it is - BS - 120v @ 20A = 2400W as to 240V @ 10A = 2400W even the the HT transmission lines the current may be low while the voltage is high e.g. 110,000V by the time it arrives at one's home the current increases. Tell that to the Americans! No offence intended!
Here's a thought, AC power - does the eletrons flow back and forth like a two-way road or in one direction like a one-way road? Or is it the frequency that goes up and down. I believe its the latter! There are too many TH-cam video that confuse people!
Here in Australia they are only in motels to cater for American travellers with devices rated at 110v but 2/3rds of the world use 240v
I've lived in a couple of houses where grounds were novelties. I imagine with all the special outlets and switches there UK schools must have a class in how to plug things in.
I confess I thought "FOOKED" was an actual brand name, perhaps sold on eBay.
I'm secretly waiting for the first "FUBAR" branded items to appear on Amazon. Given the inflation of crappy brand names from China (to go along with the crappy products), it can't be long.
Some places in Canada have dedicated outlets for things like razors and hair dryers. Usually in hotels, but sometimes, and very rarely, you can find them in homes. From what I can remember the devices are usually fixed to the outlet. No unplugging then or throwing them in the bath
Common in Swedish hotels. Exists in some Swedish homes, most built in the 70-80's. I have one like it built into my upstairs bathroom light fixture. In the fixture in the downstairs bathroom I've retofitted a GFC beacuse that outlet was straight to mains and the house is so old that there are few grounded outlets let alone a GFC in the fusebox.
Same before when we moved into where my parents live there was one of these in the bathroom with only 110 V output. Appearently most shavers at the time was 110 V to make them less hazardous for bathroom use since there were no battery powered shavers at this time (70s-80s) so they ran right of the plug.
If its possible to do safely, how about a demonstration of it overloaded with the thermal fuse shorted?
crank it until it pops
Burning transformers smell godawful, I wouldn't even do it for science outside. Whatever the smell gets on takes days or sometimes weeks to get off.
Asking myself: what would ElectroBoom do?🤔😁💥
@@Okurka. Meanwhile, on Recommended list to the right: Bigclive - Shorting out a fully charged cheap lithium jump starter (It didn't end well)...
@@Okurka. "I ain't 'avin' it!"
Being familiar with building design and code from an earlier job, the standard here in the US is for wet locations to simply have a GFCI protected outlet. Given that most shavers today are battery powered, its kind of a moot point as the main danger from the outlet is usually from hair driers which can draw close to 2kW. Too much to practically isolate. But with the proliferation of smart phones one nice standard to have would be for sockets that have USB outlets designed for wet locations that are water resistant, isolated and protected from ground faults and leakage.
I did upgrade to an Eaton GFCI with USB, Lowe's. Wife can cook hair, chat and use the USB powered makeup mirror.
UK is all RCD protected now so much the same.
But this kind of protection has been around for many decades, long before GFCI and RCD.
@@palharley Does she make hair pies? :)
The whole world doesn't immediately go out and buy new outlets every time a new standard or technology comes out.
@@elemar5 I can say that you can plug lots of USB powered items in the outlet.
20VA? Very nice for a plate (anode) supply for a vacuum tube preamp, nixie clock etc. I'd be glad to get a few of those sockets :)
I think I've seen one in the Netherlands, but definitely not here in Poland.
This thing is soooo nicely fooked.
they were used in the US for a short time, I have been to some old hardware stores that specialize in vintage house parts and have seen them NOS on the shelf, they were replaced by GFCIs beginning in the 70s
I've seen these in New Zealand (there's one in my parents' bathroom) but I've never seen them used, or even any device with a plug that fits them
I've mainly seen them in the UK. Not in the rest of Europe. Have used them to power my laptop, when I haven't brought an adapter for the UK plug.
They are quite common in the Netherlands (or "Holland" to to the rest of the world ;-) ), but only 230V AC.
I (mis-)used one in a Swiss hotel to try and charge my laptop - or rather tried to use it as an overload protection kicked in after a few seconds, reset after a few more seconds and so on ... so there must be some with a self-resetting protection.
Yes Australian and New Zealand do have shaver outlets, we have two types: one with built in RCD (can't be used with the consumer unit with RCD's) and same type but plastic plate, and our voltage is 230-250 Volts @ 50Hz
Most tourist related bathrooms here in Belgium have these: Hotels, trains, expo buildings...
But I wouldn't be surprised they get phased out since almost no-one use them in an age of battery powered electric razors.
Yes for facial hair most just use battery operated shavers, but for headshaving, I still use a wired set. Although, when I travel, I don't shave my head as I do that before I leave... So I'm good for a week or two 😜
What about those times when the battery runs out just as you're shaving?
@@AaronSmart.online My facial shaver uses a switching power supply for charging. 100-240v input. I would just use an adapter I would already have on hand for my cellphone charger (Which is also a switching power supply).
Something else to note. A lot of people use them for charging toothbrushes. Which is not good for them. There not designed for permanent load and can overheat
USA here, never heard of such an outlet/device. Our modern bathroom outlets are GFCI protected.
Before GFCI they existed and where somewhat common, especially in hotels. The cover plate would say "Razor only". Naturally someone would plug in a hair dryer and burn them out. They usually fit a 4" square box (the one that's a little smaller than the commonplace 4-11/16" square range plug box.)
Our modern houses are RCD protected for all outlets, lighting circuits. GFCI is essentially the same as RCD. Slightly older installations will have one or two RCDS protecting the entire installation while newer knees have individual RCDs in the consumer unit (electrical panel) for each circuit. Some even have AFDDs (arc fault detection device).
@@klausdudas yeah exactly what I was thinking, absolute life saver having every plug be protected.
@@klausdudas We put them where there is a risk of electric shock.
I remember seeing one of these in London when I visited and was quite surprised to see a dedicated socket for shaving!
It makes more sense that it has other uses, but now I know what it was and how it works :)
Many many years ago, before I was born, my dad plugged his US shaver in to an outlet in the UK. It did not survive. He would have loved to have had a 110v socket.
I've always been fascinated with how these sockets found their way onto everything from plane to train bathrooms, YEARS before USB or outlets for charging phones. What is the demand for beard trimming in tiny airline toilets???
Beards? Er, oh, yeah, beards.
GFCI sockets are building code in areas close to running water in North America (Kitchen, bathroom, outside). All the mixed volages and plugs is unique to Britain. Arc-fault plugs are required in bedrooms where I live to prevent fires when people crush the plugs behind furniture.
We used to have bathroom outlets like that in Canada. You can still find them in 80's houses and older. But these days we use ground fault interrupter outlets instead.
I wouldn't take that chance! RCD and GFCI are just fine, till they fail to protect you.
@@dlarge6502 The advantage of the GFCI/RCD outlets is that they're mandated to be anywhere that might be near a water source. ALL of your bathroom and kitchen outlets are individually GFCI/RCD protected.
In the case of the shaver outlet, it's safer to have a whole isolation transformer protecting you, but that's only one one outlet. The other outlets are only protected by the GFCI/RCD at the main breaker box... or possibly the one massive RCD for the whole house.
@@dlarge6502 Isolation transformers don't seem that safe to me either.
When this American visited Britain many years ago, I brought my Braun shaver with me, but forgot to bring an adapter and was very happy to learn that my American style plug would fit in the 115 volt shaver socket over the sink. It worked just fine although it sounded funny because it was made for 60Hz electricity.
The last two weeks worth of content from Clive has been exemplary. The stuff about batteries, chargers and power supplies in general. wrt batteries then I consider them like estranged wives/gfs : They're unreliable, they let you down when you least anticipate it, they don't perform to any given standard, they got hot/catch fire when you least expect it, anything you use use to test them gives incorrect results and yet you spend most of your life surrounded by them because [apparently] you can't survive without them ; it seems. Why haven't we managed to come up with something better yet????? (batteries ; that is).
Evening Clive, they are not a domestic device here in Straya, we have general purpose outlets (10Amp RCD protected), in our bathrooms for your drying and or shaving pleasure.
That said, accommodation houses often have a combination plate that houses the 100va isolated dual voltage sockets at one end, and a standard GPO at the other.
In the US, my family's old vacation home built in the 1960s has the receptacles in the bathroom on a light switch. A bit of research suggests that this was done back then because the isolation transformers in shaver sockets could cause radio interference. There's just 2 ordinary outlets there now, but it's an interesting artifact. Any electric razor I've used has always been battery operated.
Mine is rechargeable/mains and my bathroom lamp has such a socket, which is typically used to run or charge the shaver.
There is no such thing as a "shaver socket" in the US nor has there ever been.
If it actually has a transformer, the switch is to save power when it's not in use. More likely it does not have a transformer and the switch is just there so you can safely leave something connected and turn off the power when it is not in use.
@@KeithJewell There is no transformer. US bathrooms have "native" 115v, and always have.
@@ryanroberts1104 yes there is, only you use them all around the house and run all your 120v home appliances through them using ‘finding NEMO’ plugs 😀
Howdy Clive, long time comment lurker and fan from Australia here.
As Glen Miller mentioned, they were once a far more common sight, but you still see ones in private residence on a rare occasion, generally apartments or the like; However they are still extensively used in our hotels/motels and other paid short-term accommodation.
They seemed to become far less popular here once battery powered dock/cradle style shavers (that couldn't be used whilst charging), became the norm over here along with RCDs being in practically every home.
All the best, and keep up the good videos!
This brought back memories of my uncle having an adapter that allowed him to power his electric razor from the light fitting - grand Idea except for slight issue of then not having any light to see what you were doing...
Same with my grandparents and ironing clothes, you could only iron in daylight. All because originally sockets were metered at a higher rate than lighting. Replace the lighting fuse with a nail and the iron works on the lighting circuit.
The 1st product ever made by Matsushita Electric ( now the parent copy of Panasonic and Technics) was a bakelite-housed Y adapter that screwed into the Edison-style light bulb socket in your ceiling and gave you an socket for the bulb as well as an outlet plug for another electrical device.
@@MartinE63 I remember my Granny had an iron plugged in to the light socket, 60's Belfast.
For that you are supposed to use the splitter adapter which gives two bayonet sockets (usually at funny angles) from the one it's plugged in to!
I love the little doodle that seems to be the universal sign for 'shaver socket'. Although I think more people use them for electric toothbrushes these days?
I wish they'd use re-setable(?) fuses, especially in things like electric blow heaters and water heaters. Some water heater thermal fuses are quite expensive.
The first house I remember living in in the US was built in the 1950's and had a shaver outlet on the light over the bathroom sink and mirror. I have no idea if it was isolated. Later I lived in a house built in the 1960's that had a standard outlet near the sink. No GFCI / RCD, safety was on you and the shaver manufacturer. The shaver cord was typically too short to reach the bathtub but of course you could drop it in the sink. Later still I lived in a house that was built in the 1990's and had GFCI's on any outlet near a sink or outdoors.
So how do you use a hair dryer in the UK anyway? In the bedroom? Some yank probably came over there and fried that outlet with a hair dryer!
Regarding "toothbrushes and lady-toys", what about "manly toys"? Do those run straight off the mains or do they require petrol?
Yes the lumberjack toys use petrol.
Normally the uk women " toys" are powered by either a 3phase 400w supply or are powered by a a diesel generator which can be noisy around late evening & can upset the neighbours, sometimes as much as 3 blocks away.
The outlet on the light at least the couple I've remove over the years just connected to the lighting circuit. I was reading through the comments to see if anyone else had seen that set up. The ones I saw were in the trontro area
@@edwinw8599 I'm here in the US and grew up in the fifties and sixties it was rather, common to see those chromed bathroom light fixtures with a two prong outlet for shavers
@@edwinw8599 , Electric stoves/ranges sometimes had a similar "courtesy outlet" built into their control panel as well. Years ago, while living with my wife in a rented apartment, there wasn't an electrical outlet for the section of kitchen counter where it would have been particularly usefull, so I added one on the side of the stove's control panel, tapping into half of the stove's 240VAC supply.
The old shaver sockets in my house only accept the 2 pin bs4573 shaver plug, which are the same size as the bottom two pins on a 5amp bs546. I suppose more modern ones have been adapted to allow European and other dimension plugs which leads to this problem
We have them in Australian hotels, but I have never seen a shaver that connects to one
German here, never seen something like that.
Always fascinating to see British stuff like that, like the oddities with your hot/cold water accessories.
Might be used in hotels, but we just have normal powerpoints in bathrooms in Australia. That was one of the things I found incredibly annoying living in the UK (along with seperate hot and cold taps!).
The separate faucet is to save lives as well. th-cam.com/video/HfHgUu_8KgA/w-d-xo.html
@@caseyrevoir I live in a UK house (flat over garage thing) that was built within the last couple of decades and although the kitchen tap is a mixer, the bathroom taps aren't! Hate it with a fiery passion. I often just go to the kitchen to wash my hands. Separate taps might make sense in ancient houses with loft boilers but have no place in new buildings.
@@spinner4148
It's really a non-issue.
@@skylined5534 not when you have eczema on your hands that's worsened by using the wrong temperature to wash them.
Hi Clive. Liked seeing this get taken to bits.
In my antique and vintage hobby in the States, I've seen a quite a few older (probably 40's or 50's era) bathroom light fixtures with outlets marked "shaver only." Most of them are wired directly to the incoming live and neutral with no isolation. However, I have seen exactly two of them with similar isolation transformers as yours has. The principle was the same, however the transformer had 120V primary and a single tap secondary for 120V out to the shaver socket.
Looking at the back of the fixture, I thought it had two different fluorescent lamp ballasts, which seemed quite odd considering it only had one fluorescent tube. Then I realized how it was wired.
I'm pretty sure that here, the shift has been to individual ground fault circuit breaker outlets in the bathroom, to protect from severe shocks. Back when these were seen in the States it was before GFCI outlets were available.
I've seen those thermal fuses go on battery charger transformers as well. Often the charger has an auto-reset circuit breaker for the output, to save it from overloading or reverse battery connections. However, if the rectifier diodes fail short, it will cause the transformer to overheat until the thermal fuse opens. I have, admittedly, removed the thermal fuses from these; and replaced it with a conventional inline time-delay fuse rated appropriately. Wouldn't do that with a built-in device such as a shaver outlet, but I have no problems with a wotkshop battery charger being modified in this manner.
We had them until RCD's became a requirement in houses and then they disappeared. I'm not sure I ever even installed one
2:02
I'm a registered electrician in Australia, never installed one.
The Australian wiring rules rely heavily on the use of RCDs (or "Safety Switches") to protect from electrical shock.
The closest comparison we have to something like this here in the US are GFCI outlets that just cut power entirely when tripped by the erroneous electric gubbin going for an invigorating dip in the water
Yes GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter or Ground Fault Current Interrupter, GFCI) ElectroBoom has a fun video on that: m.th-cam.com/video/GlM6PE2kKVY/w-d-xo.html
Their UK equivalent is the RCD or residual current device, which works in the exact same way as a GFCI.
@@stevecann3394 Yup... except "RCD" is a totally ridiculous name and the 'Murican name is "better in every way"! (Clarkson voice)
@@dregenius I dont think either name is particularly good on its own, but both together describe it well. GFRCD would be a good name for it
@@dregenius BCBO Forever.
Here in Canada (and the US), we just have regular 120v/15a outlets in our bathrooms but with GFCI in the outlet. That's used for shavers. Since it's a regular outlet, you can plug anything in it. I even plug my cellphone charger into it when I'm going to the washroom and have a dead battery. I actually dropped my other shaver in water before and it just pops the GFCI.. so it does its job. I even plugged my vaccume into it to vaccume the hallway outside the washroom because there's no outlet in the hallway. Full 15 amp outlet so you can use it like any other outlet in the house.
#NoShaveNotEVER! 🐻
That said - I suspect requiring "20W [or whatever] Maximum" on the faceplate would have saved a lot of grief over the years.
People do not read, saying shaver only still does not help, because numpty will still plug in pretty much anything. How many 115VAC shavers have been blown up because numpty did not plug it into the 115 side, but instead the 230 side, and it went all smoke and puff while he was shaving. Then blamed the owner of the building for their stupidity.
Most folk wouldn't know what 20w means. Most of these UK sockets had a 'smiley face' logo (that kjnda looked like an old philishave) & were clearly labelled 'Shavers only'.
We used to have shaver sockets in Canada. They were a simpler design, 115 V in, 115V out, and a single, type A socket on the face plate, which had the words, "for shaver only" embossed on it. Nowadays, we just install a GFCI, ground fault circuit interrupter (residual current detector), because people like to use their hair dryers and stuff in the bathroom. But, sometimes you can find a shaver socket in an old house from the 1960s, or so, when they were popular. They were usually switched on the lighting circuit, so they were only live when the light was on.
I've seen these plugs often when cruising or in airplanes. On our last 2 cruises (NCL, Holland America) we had a water pick along. It was a 120vt plug, and on both ships the plug barely fit. Forced in as the prongs were slightly wider and yet it frequently slipped out as contact was made only on the very interior of the plug prong. Could plug it into other outlets in the cabin with out problem.
Now what I really would like to know is why British Airways changed there seat electrical systems on their planes. Prior to traveling we checked that our CPAP machines would work at our seats (110/220 rated) yet on the plane they would only work 5 sec. and then blow the circuit. During flight they actually radioed to their facilities to find out why and were told all the plugs and breakers were all 'updated' to lower trip voltages. Any idea why?
Probably to take strain off older plane wiring.
Cpap power supply bricks are rated somewhere in the region of 50-90w. My cpap machine, Philips, especially if used with the heated humidifier, can draw 50w. Next time, try without the humidifier & you might be okay.
Just in case anyone was wondering we have these in South Africa they look exactly the same and I’m pretty sure they are exactly the same electrically speaking
Yes, can be found in older homes/hotels/etc in Canada. Just two prong, non-polarized NEMA 1-15R sockets often found in bathrooms above the sink and medicine cabinets. I seem to think they were fused for some reason and/or often connected to the light.
So many here relying on full non-isolated mains sockets in the bathroom behind RCD's or GFCI's. Scary. Those devices are just fine, till they fail to trip because they haven't been tested and no longer protect you.
Shaver socket FTW in my opinion.
I live in Sweden and moved into my apartment in 2004, the last electrical makeover was in mid-90s. My bathroom mirror cabinet has a lighting fixture included on the top, but it does also include a transformer which steps down the voltage from 230 to 115 and connects to an outlet in the bottom of the light fixture. This outlet is intended for shavers. Don't think the transformer has a thermal fuse or anything fancy like that, it just does the voltage step-down.
Extremely common in Sweden to find 100VA 115V-only transformer sockets in bathrooms during the 1960:s up until the 1990:s. Now they are usually replaced by GFCI protected standard type F but you can still find transformer outlets in older bathrooms.
Here in Germany we are hard core. Not only do we run full 240V@16A to the bath room, but at least technically bath rooms aren't even classified as a "damp location", so many older installations will not have an RCD either.
We do not have such a beast in Australia and none of the Australian manufacturers have had a product like that in my time in the trade. All circuits in Australia are now required to be RCD protected but there are also strict limitations for the location of outlets in bathrooms etc. in AS/NZS 3000. That standard is our wiring rules publication.
These used to be standard in NZ houses (near identical design), I still have one in my house as the bathroom hasn't been upgraded since it was built in 1978. In the 90s, they switched to using GFCI outlets in bathrooms, and from the mid-2000s they just install normal outlets in bathrooms and rely on a whole-house GFCI back at the fuse board.
In the US GFCI outlets are used when they're within a certain distance of a sink or bath/shower. So, for example, my house has a GFCI outlet in the bathroom, and there's a GFCI outlet in the kitchen as well, which is ganged with another one on the other side of the sink.
*All* the sockets in the UK are also GFCI now, including these, the UK has paranoid levels of electrical safety ...
Yeah these used to be in some New Zealand houses. The previous house I used to live in was build mid 70’s and had one.
Now living in a newer house built in the 90’s and that has a normal wall socket protected by an RCD breaker.
We do not have them in Finland. Normal power sockets are allowed (a certain distance from the sink/shower). I think the socket must have a splash cover.
You can use your hairdryer in a bathroom and most people have their washing machine in the bathroom also.
Had one of these in my house when i was kid. use to plug my radio in to it when in the shower and my mom would plug her curling iron never though much of it other then it got hot.
Looks like it could be a decent little isolation transformer.
Isolation transformer type bathroom sockets for low power devices such as shavers were quite common here in Canada, although they were 120 volt only. They've been largely superceded now by GFCI sockets which can accomodate more appliances (hairdryers, etc.).
I use a beard trimmer about every 2 weeks so plug in an extension cable that trails into the bathroom and then plug the trimmer into that. I doubt the battery has ever held a full charge since I bought it.
Ive only ever seen these in UK. In the US we use 110v GFCI outlets for this purpose. I never actually thought these were there for safety, its cool to learn the intent behind their use.
We just have GFCIs in the states. Outlet has an internal breaker that turns off the outlet it's self when say you drop something in water. So it's safe to stick your hand in grab the thing and then push the reset button to turn the breaker and outlet back on
In the US, bathroom outlets are GFCI protected, but not isolated. The only examples I can think of that are isolated are the doorbell supply and the thermostat supply, but those are also low voltage.
We used to have shaver outlets here in North America, they were non polarized 120v outlets using a transformer to isolate it from mains. Most times that I've seen they are also switched by the switch for the bathroom light. They were typically only rated for under 300 watts or so I believe. They were installed in a double wide box. Hardware stores here sell kits with a GFCI and box adapter so you can swap it out for a GFCI outlet provided you have a ground wire.
I have seen them in hotels in various contries, but in the Netherlands never in a home.
I have worked at the electronics department of a company where we had the entire workbench behind a 3 kW isolating transformer. Scopes, soldering irons, everyting. It was done because we also had to test and repair live equipment. Felt very save, and was always fun to show to people who didn't know about it 😁.
Same for Germany - common in hotels, not in homes.
Maybe because in the UK I have seen electric toothbrushes and shavers sold with the 'euro plug'?
@@hagen-p that in fact isn’t a euro plug. It’s a British plug that predates the current three pin one. The pins are fatter and parallel compared to euro plugs. So won’t fit into a European plug socket.
@@lukedoherty8062 Interesting. I have charged a phone with a charger in one of these in the past (an old phone, with an 1 amp 5 V charger), so an Euro plug definitely fits into the socket my in-laws have. And the electric toothbrush plug is also definitely an Euro one. But now I know why the odd shape. Thanks!
@@hagen-p euro plugs fit the shaver outlet but the British toothbrush plugs don’t fit European sockets. I found that out the hard way with my toothbrush charger in Portugal. But I’d you google you can see the slight difference.
@@lukedoherty8062 Will certainly have a look. Thanks for pointing it out!
In the UK we use mainly 3pin square plugs so a 2 pin bathroom socket can not be used. If you buy a UK hair dryer it comes with a 3 pin plug. This is where international travel comes and upsets the apple cart. Foreign electronic with 2 pin plugs.
Some older homes ave them but Newer homes they seem to put 10A RCD Protected socket in nz but are electrical. Stranards seem to be rather weak a lot of houses still have rewireable fuse fuse box and it still perfectly legal to put a new to old fuse box
Way back in the day (late 50s), a lot of US medicine cabinets and bathroom sink lamps had two-slot non polarized 120v outlets tied directly into house wiring. Generally these were for electric shavers, but could carry hair dryers and electric toothbrush charging bases too. People were expected to be very careful not to let these appliances drop into water.
I Denmark you can find a shaver socket in some old bathrooms, but they are rare, sine RCD’s have been mandatory since the 60’s.
But if you want an outlet for shaving closer to a wet environment (a sink) than normally allowed by code, you would need a shaver socket.
the socket in US bathrooms are the same type as the rest of the house, although gfci is standard now.
my house is old enough it still have non-gfci outlets in the bathroom, I'll change them at some point. I'll probably get one for the kitchen sink outlet too
In the US, there is an outlet in nearly every bathroom, near the sink, even public toilets. Modern construction uses a standard 15-20 amp duplex GFI outlet. Older places have a non GFI duplex outlet, grounded in the more recent, but 2 prong non grounded in much older installs. Many old bathroom light fixtures came with a 2 or 3 prong socket built in, in which case there might not be a wall outlet. It's not hard to find all of the above still in use.