pete jackson

Hi, I went to the shops today as we want some plug adapters to take with us to aus so that we have them as soon as we land. On a website it said that they are 3 pin plugs but at the shops it said, Aus and US plug adapters and they were 2 pin! have seen this in 2 different shops now. Can anyone post a picture on this thread to show me what they are like?? Come on get your digital cameras out!!!! Thanks Pete

Pingpongpom

You can use 2 or 3 pin plugs so just get the ones they have in the shops. We couldnt find 3 pin and the 2 pin ones work fine.

MartinLuther

Aus has 3 pin sockets but they can take 2 pin plugs (unearthed) and 3 pin plugs (earthed). Typically travel adaptors are for use with unearthed appliances (it should have a warning about this somewhere) which is why it may only have 2 pins. Be careful as these adaptors often reverse the live and neutral so they can cause problems with appliances that should be earthed.

Here's some info on sockets http://www.accesscomms.com.au/AustMainsPlugVariants.htm

h2oskineil

We used a 2 pin adapter on the tumble dryer, but kept getting a mild electric shock! Changed the plug from UK to an Aussie 3 pin plug and had no problems.
There should be a picture of the Oz plug.

Neil.

Mrs Jackaroo

Hi Pete

Somebodies already beaten me to the pic but just thought I'd give another but of advice! We got our travel adaptors from Ebay and only paid £5.99 for 5 of them. Took a couple of weeks to arrive as they were posted from Hong Kong but they do the trick. They're still selling them on there:-

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-X-AU-Standar...QQcmdZViewItem

HTH

pete jackson

Thanks, now I know! 2 pin will be ok in the short term and then when all our stuff arrives cut the uk plugs off and refit with Aussie ones, Thanks, Pete

nickyjohnt

Hi Pete another thing i would recommend you bring with you is a couple of extension leads with a 4 gang socket, our rental house has only 1 double power point per room. This is the case with alot of houses we have looked at. These would come in very handy for using your computer/printer/scanner/tv /dvd/videos as you only need to change the 1 plug and can use the transformer for your printer and mobile phone chargers and not have to buy new leads.
Good luck

John

Mrs Jackaroo

I'd second that - we brought a few across with us too. For some reason old aussie houses have next to no flamin sockets!!

Vash the Stampede

You may find this hard to believe, but it's the same with old UK houses.

The room I'm currently sitting in has only one single socket - as does the master bedroom.

The lounge has four sockets (as does the kitchen) but the bathroom has none at all.

Mog

If you were getting a electrical shock it means that there was a fault, by using a 3 pin with a earth built in you are just passing the fault to earth and it is still there....you need to get it sorted.

Mog

MartinLuther

Or they may have been experiencing the problem I mentioned above in that some (UK to Aus) travel adaptors reverse the live and neutral pins. It's because the adaptors are designed for non-earthed appliances.

Mrs Jackaroo

No I dont find it hard to believe Vash - you dont need to try and turn this into another competition between Oz and the UK because its not. I dont recall saying that Oz houses dont have many sockets but UK ones do, do you?

And the 'no sockets in the bathroom' is a safety thing - couldnt believe my eyes when I got here and found electric sockets right next to the taps!

The_Pom_From_Aus

may i explain about 2 & 3 pin plugs in Australia. 1st of all i would always use the 3 pin, any appliance with steel MUST be earthed its called class one appliances. then there is class 2 appliances they are basically plastic and no steel that can conduct any current. the design on the Australian 10 amp plugs are a complete different design to the UK, so my advice is get now 10amp plugs and have them fitted by an approved electrician.

Its an offence to do any electrical work without a License even fitting 2 or 3 pin plugs and if anything goes wrong you "WILL" be persecuted, so before you put your self or your kids lives at risk think.???

Tony & Tina

Thanks for that, Just ordered some. Good spot.

Amazulu

Here we go again. In WA you CAN legally change a plug, you just cannot work on fixed wiring. As for other states, I think it's basically an urban myth & if it is law, well there's one law that needs to be broken. This topic crops up on here every couple of months & causes much debate.