Plugs & Sockets
 

I know there is probably an answer to this in the forum somewhere, but I cannot find one yet.

Obviously the electrical plugs in OZ are different to the UK.
My plan was to take the TV, Sonos, computers Coffee machine (a MUST) ect with me, chop the uk plugs off and hard wire OZ plugs if I cant find a replacement lead (I dont like the idea of using travel for a prolonged period of time)

I have been told that I would have to be a registered electrician to by a plug - can someone confirm if that is the case?

I can buy OZ plugs via e-bay in the UK (made in china, but then so is everything)

thanks for your help

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

You will be able to buy plugs in Bunnings or similar. It's usually worth having a few UK power boards (4 gang extension leads or more) and switch the plug on these for some locations - eg TV, DVD, games consoles, etc. A lack of power points seems quite common.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Changing of plugs by electricians is a topic that usually gets a good discussion going. In Queensland it is technically illegal to change your own plugs and IF there was a fire the insurance company may get picky about it.

Quite common for Aussie houses to have a minimum of powerpoints. I have a two bedroom unit, which has a total of SIX, three of those in the kitchen. I have friends whose houses are like mine, full of spaghetti from leads and multi-plug powerboards both UK and Aus. Bring plenty!

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Agree with this sentiment from Sparkles. We brought over several UK surge-protected boards that we already had and changed the individual plugs on those to Aussie ones; thus we were able to continue to use UK plugged appliances. It also took the stress and hassle out of having to convert everything when you first arrive. I wouldn't recommend using travel adaptors for any length of time - they are certainly not intended for such use. Also, I'd suggest you wait until you get here before buying the plugs from a reputable vendor such as Bunnings / Masters / Mitre10, etc. - at least you will know the plug conforms to the AU/NZ standard.

I have gradually converted many of these plugs now to AU plugs, but I have left those on appliances that I wanted surge-protection for (Fridge / Freezer / TV / Computer / DVD recorder, etc.) You will probably also have some chargers / adaptors that have built-in UK plugs that you won't be able to change without buying the Australian equivalent.

As to legality, I don't believe it is illegal here in Victoria to fit plugs to domestic appliances, although I understand it varies from state to state as mentioned above

On a separate tangent, if you have unlocked UK mobile phones, they should work here in Australia. Take the opportunity to get them unlocked before you leave the UK and you should be able to get up and running with a local SIM as soon as you arrive

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

And adding to that, if your phone is locked you can get the unlock code for free from the phone company rather than pay for it to be unlocked :)

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

We've got a three bed rental and a total of 9 outlets - 1 in each bedroom, lounge hall and bathroom and 3 in the kitchen. And of course, the hallway one is the opposite side to the phone point so no way to avoid cables crossing the hall for the router :thumbdown:

We still have the majority of our stuff with UK plugs (and I have some UK sockets that came over in the container by accident :lol:)

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

The new 3 bed house we just built has 27 double power outlets and 5 CAT6 network points. Maybe I went a bit OTT!

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

We haven't changed any plugs. We brought UK power boards for the TV /DVD, home cinema and the home computer /printer etc, which just need an adaptor each. We bought new kettle and toaster, you probably don't want to wait until your container arrives for a cup of tea. And other stuff we just used with an adaptor until they needed replacing anyway.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Here we go round the roundabout

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Well it might seem old to you after eleven years of BE. But some people are still moving for the first time.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

General rule of thumb: always ensure you have more sockets than plugs.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Not something I've thought much about, but it's true! Houses I've lived in previously were similarly deficient in the power point department. When I moved into Scouse's house, I wondered why it had 22 double power points, with another 2 in the garage and 1 in the patio! Clued up Poms building in Oz :)

I do remember one house I had built, yonks ago. A baldy few powerpoints, any additional were 'extras' with a mad price attached.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Hi All
Thanks for the replies - I guess this topic comes up very often.
Does anyone know if a standard UK wall socket is interchangeable (ie are the fixing screws the same distance apart)?
that (in my opinion) would be the safest and easiest option until enough appliances die.
Looks like on the advice to bring lots of extension leads anyway - my kitchen has 8 double sockets,and sometimes that isnt enough!

As another sideline - is fibre broadband available? we have got used to the speed - downloaded a 4gb film in 20mins yesterday!:eek:

KJC

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Don't even think of it.

Changing sockets would definitely come under the closed shop of "needs an electrician" here - and none of them would do it.

Get 4 way extensions and swap over the plug on those for the (inferior) Oz version.

Oh and be aware that OZ wiring is also worse and the maximum you can draw from a socket is 10Amps (not 13) so don't bring anything with a high UK power draw.

As far as fibre broadband - its a painful topic. Australia was to have a proper fibre network (fibre to the home) and part of it has been rolled out. However the right wing nutters got in and screwed it up (under Murdoch orders it seems). So now not only has the rollout stopped, but their aim is "fibre to the node" which equates to the UK kind of fibre broadband - but which will be horrible with the naff Telstra copper. The hope is the far right loons will get kicked out in a few years and the thing righted, but damage will have been done.

However, in the meantime be careful about where you pitch up - some locations you can't even get ADSL because Telstra is even less competent than BT and don't have enough ports. Add it to you list of things to check before you rent/buy.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

That's the cleverest plan, IMO. Not only do you save yourself the hassle of having to change all the plugs but you also get surge protection built in - important for the unpredictable weather we often experience here :thumbsup:

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

State-dependent.

In VIC you can change your own plugs. I think in QLD you can't.

BB

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Yes, don't do this. I doubt you would find an electrician that would be willing to fit UK sockets, despite them being far superior.



Yes, don't get your hopes up that you will be getting good internet speeds. I live in inner city Sydney, and get a massive 3.1 mbps. :(



Yes, no problems in NSW - you just can't do it in a workplace without a proficiency training course.


S

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

How long do you plan to stay in Australia? Unless you are only here for a short time it makes sense to change the plugs on the equipment rather than using extension boards brought from the UK. After all, you may well buy some new appliances whilst you are here - if all your power points are full of UK extension boards you're stuffed!

Yes, in Qld any such work legally has to be performed by an electrician - but the only time doing it yourself would be a concern is if your faulty wiring caused a fire - if there was a fire caused by something else your insurer couldn't refuse to pay out because of an illegally fitted plug.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Surge protection is fine but does not allow for brownouts (low voltage) or single-phasing (loss of phase)

We had a brownout earlier on this year that fried our PC (Western Power paid my claim without any argument)

To avoid this problem, I bought a UPS - which also protects against surge

That bad electrical storm a few weeks ago took out the power lines at the top of our street. The UPS kicked in and shut down the PC as planned. There was the added benefit of continued wifi and internet as I have the router and modem connected to it too. When power was restored after 4 hours, it single-phased and there were brownouts with intermittent cuts into the night. The UPS handled them all with ease

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Get a UPS

Another big electrical storm going on at the moment. A think the telephone and power lines got hit as both the internet and power dropped out but the UPS kicked in and did its job

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Brownouts never damage properly designed electronics. An international design standard that has existed long before the PC even existed.

Brownouts can be potentially harmful to motorized appliances. But normal voltage to PCs is even voltage so low that incandescent bulbs dim to 40% intensity. If voltage drops lower, electronics simply power off - without damage.

Some brownouts can be preceeded by a surge that would well exceed 1000 volts. Then the utility hardware would cut off power or a brownout would follow.

No protector adjacent to a computer claims to protect from that type of anomaly. Informed consumers install something completely different (unfortunately also called a surge protector) that makes such transients irrelevant. So irrelevant that the homeowner does not even know a surge existed. These proven 'whole house' protectors come from companies with better integrity including Novaris, Clipsal, and ABB. And (like all protectors) is only effective when connected low impedance (ie 'less than 3 meters') to a single point earth ground.

BTW, a pure sine wave UPS can output 400 volt square waves with a spike of up to 500 volts on the 230 volt power cord. Due to superior surge protection already inside electronics, this 'UPS in battery backup mode' power is ideal. But may be harmful to motorized appliances.

A UPS also does not claim to avert that above discussed surge. Since the surge is done in microseconds. And a UPS takes milliseconds to respond to any changes.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

The TV won't work in Australia unless you buy a local set top box.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Not true - some older TV's wont work without a set top box but newer one's should be fine.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

You are wrong. Australian DVB-T uses VHF and UHF tuning at a 7MHz bandwidth. UK uses UHF only at 8MHz bandwidth. Also the spot channel allocations are different, Australia uses non standard channels.

It is the bandwidth which is the killer.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

So have things changed in the last 3-4 years then?:confused: Cos its not a common question now but a few years back lots of expats were getting TVs to work by just retuning?
I'm no expert on this, far from it, but I know a lot of people were posting on here and getting assistance with retuning which got their UK tVs to work ok :)

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Don't think that is true anymore. Certainly my TV has an Australian selection (only cheap Asda TV not some high end buy) and is running fine with no set top box. Of the 4 TV's we bought, 2 connected direct to aerial (one 2 years old, and one a little older), one is used for games and DVD's only but I suspect it wouldn't work being around 8 years old, and one requires a set top box (also around 7 or 8 years old)

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Interesting. The cheap supermarket TVs are more likely to have an Australian selection. The high end known brands are the main problem. Panasonic in particular are hobbled to only work in one country. Some UK ones won't even work in Ireland.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Only the newest had the option to set to Australia - the other is set to Germany which also seems to work

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

So if you take your gear across the border, then change the plugs, is it legal to take it back to QLD?

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

I would say that without question that any electrical work done out of state would need to be re-certified by a locally accredited and licenced electrician, to ensure that it conforms with the new state's regulations...


S

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

In all states there are laws relating to who can perform the various building trades. No-one polices them, and to judge from the sale of plugs, sockets, light fittings, plumbing goods, etc from Bunnings and other hardware stores, a large proportion of the population just ignore them.
The only time doing it yourself will be a legal problem is if your dodgy work results in a fire or flood and your insurance company fails to pay out because of that.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Bunnings is nothing. You should see what you can buy off the shelf at Masters - distribution boards, 3-phase RCDs, breakers and welding outlets plus more. The kind of stuff that could only previously be bought at a specialised electrical supplier

I'm impressed

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

And' I'd say that any work you had done by a state accredited and licensed electrician needs to get checked over by yourself - the quality of their work is seldom the best.

States would do better to give procedures and support to individuals and recognise that they are going to DIY - because tradies are too dodgy, too unreliable, and too expensive.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

I was being sarcastic :)

But yes, they do need to realise that people with skills will crack on and get stuff done. Unfortunately, as with speed limits and road rules, everything is legislated to the lowest common denominator so anybody with half a brain cell is held back by the halfwits that didn't pay attention.

Rewiring a plug is part of secondary education in the UK - here I don't think they even teach the basics of electricity - I meet so many people who simply have no idea of how it works or how to be safe around it.


S

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

My son did some basic electrical theory this year (year 6)

I was quite impressed with what they had to do

I was taught to rewire a plug at school

The UK has a more pragmatic approach to this. Under Part P, a home-owner can add to existing light and power circuits as long as they are not making final connections at the DB, although work in wet areas (kitchens and bathrooms) is not allowed

A lot of domestic electrical work is straightforward and common sense and I would urge anyone who can read and use basic hand tools to do the work themselves

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

In NSW it's a 'found committing' offence i.e. the authorities actually have to catch you red handed in the process of performing it yourself, so I would think that you would have to be pretty stupid to call ahead and tell them that you were doing it.

My GF has no idea about electricity though - she religiously goes around and switches power sockets to off if there's nothing in them - she believes that they could cause a fire if left switched on with nothing plugged in. I have pointed out many times that the EU and USA don't actually have switches on their sockets, but she still won't believe me :(


S

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

That's the kind of person who shouldn't be doing electrical work!

I actually spoke to someone once who turned their sockets off to 'stop the electric leaking out'! :blink:

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

I turn the unused ones off to stop dust collecting on top of the switch.

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

What a domestic goddess :sneaky::lol:

Re: Plugs & Sockets
 

Well that makes one of us :lol: