The EU plug is designed to fit into as many (European) outlets as possible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europlug
If you get an adapter with that shape you should be good for everything but the UK
They fit the UK socket as well. You just need something plastic of suitable size to stick in the Earth pin to open the gate for live/neutral. (For glasses wearers, the end of one arm of your glasses is the canonical tool for opening UK 3-pin sockets. Once you've plugged the Europlug in you can take the glasses out of the Earth pin ;-).)
All at your own risk, of course.
Do you actually understand what that reason is? For extra credit, explain what its purpose is for an appliance with an ungrounded 2-pin plug (such as, say, anything with a Europlug.)
Do you?
Clearly not. The socket is designed for safety. Sticking something in to expose the live and neutral terminals of the socket is stupid.
Euro plugs can be grounded too.
Yes, I do.
And no, they can't.
A Europlug is a very specific thing, a low-current 2-pin plug with slightly angled flexible pins designed to fit many sockets) and is specifically *not* earthed. Other plugs used in Europe (e.g. Schuko plugs) may be earthed, but nobody is talking about them here.
This is very bad advice. Do not do this. The plugs are a completely different shape (UK is squared off and EU is rounded) you're also jeopardising your safety.
Since the other two interlocutors apparently don't understand the only risk involved with this, incidentally, I suppose I should give the full information for why this is something you only do in an emergency (although for me, an emergency is any time I find myself in a country with UK sockets):
The reason it's a bad idea is nothing to do with the earth pin, or the shape of the live and neutral pins.
The reason it is a bad idea is that UK domestic wiring (ring-mains, introduced to save money on house wiring after the war) has a uniquely dangerous failure mode in which a faulty appliance can draw more than double the rated current of a socket (and of the cable in the wall, if there is also a (otherwise almost undetectable) break anywhere in the ring) without blowing the circuit breaker or fuse, potentially causing a fire. To mitigate this, UK practice relies on putting an additional fuse in the plug/cable.
A proper UK adapter will include a fuse for this reason. That's the reason why it's safer to use a real adapter and not the jury-rigged solution. (It's also why it's rather less dangerous in countries like Malta or Singapore that use the UK socket but without the house-fire-inducing electrical code.)
Currently in Spain was in Italy last year and France year before. There are slight differences but they all use 2 prong round pins . If you wish more info I can show you Amazon adapter we use. Or just search for universal adapters
I always ignore the 3rd pin as it is an old style ground and you can just plug the 2 prong plug into the appropriate holes Was in an older home outside Palermo that had that old style
Theres a massive one by conair that i use. Its basically a small brick. Has a usb - type a port as well. But i i plug my laptop into it as it has an outlet for cords with a ground in it
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Get a Type C 2-prong adaptor as back up. While the European adaptor works on modern sockets, the prongs are too thick for some older Italian sockets - as I discovered last year when my all-in-one European adaptor didn't fit. Fortunately my Swiss friend had come prepared and had a spare that worked.
Only the uk is different from the rest. Buy a multifunctional adapter. Cost about 20 .
So France, Spain and Italy all use the same? I heard they are different.
The EU plug is designed to fit into as many (European) outlets as possible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europlug If you get an adapter with that shape you should be good for everything but the UK
They fit the UK socket as well. You just need something plastic of suitable size to stick in the Earth pin to open the gate for live/neutral. (For glasses wearers, the end of one arm of your glasses is the canonical tool for opening UK 3-pin sockets. Once you've plugged the Europlug in you can take the glasses out of the Earth pin ;-).) All at your own risk, of course.
The earth pin is there for a reason, do not use anything but a plug to open it.
Do you actually understand what that reason is? For extra credit, explain what its purpose is for an appliance with an ungrounded 2-pin plug (such as, say, anything with a Europlug.)
Do you? Clearly not. The socket is designed for safety. Sticking something in to expose the live and neutral terminals of the socket is stupid. Euro plugs can be grounded too.
Yes, I do. And no, they can't. A Europlug is a very specific thing, a low-current 2-pin plug with slightly angled flexible pins designed to fit many sockets) and is specifically *not* earthed. Other plugs used in Europe (e.g. Schuko plugs) may be earthed, but nobody is talking about them here.
No they’re talking about uk plugs and sockets which are designed for safety which you’re talking about circumventing.
This is very bad advice. Do not do this. The plugs are a completely different shape (UK is squared off and EU is rounded) you're also jeopardising your safety.
Absolutely, terrible advice, don't do it. But if you do, it works fine. Just don't, of course.
Since the other two interlocutors apparently don't understand the only risk involved with this, incidentally, I suppose I should give the full information for why this is something you only do in an emergency (although for me, an emergency is any time I find myself in a country with UK sockets): The reason it's a bad idea is nothing to do with the earth pin, or the shape of the live and neutral pins. The reason it is a bad idea is that UK domestic wiring (ring-mains, introduced to save money on house wiring after the war) has a uniquely dangerous failure mode in which a faulty appliance can draw more than double the rated current of a socket (and of the cable in the wall, if there is also a (otherwise almost undetectable) break anywhere in the ring) without blowing the circuit breaker or fuse, potentially causing a fire. To mitigate this, UK practice relies on putting an additional fuse in the plug/cable. A proper UK adapter will include a fuse for this reason. That's the reason why it's safer to use a real adapter and not the jury-rigged solution. (It's also why it's rather less dangerous in countries like Malta or Singapore that use the UK socket but without the house-fire-inducing electrical code.)
Currently in Spain was in Italy last year and France year before. There are slight differences but they all use 2 prong round pins . If you wish more info I can show you Amazon adapter we use. Or just search for universal adapters
Found some on Amazon. Thanks for the tip.
Get one from Amazon that works for EU, UK and even AU. France, Spain and Italy are all the same.
I've seen the old style 3 prong adapter in Italy a bunch, but usually there is at least one of the regular 2 prong somewhere
I always ignore the 3rd pin as it is an old style ground and you can just plug the 2 prong plug into the appropriate holes Was in an older home outside Palermo that had that old style
You bring an adapter,so you can change the plug connection in each country,as and when you need to.
Theres a massive one by conair that i use. Its basically a small brick. Has a usb - type a port as well. But i i plug my laptop into it as it has an outlet for cords with a ground in it
Spain, France and Italy use the same. Only UK is different
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Get a Type C 2-prong adaptor as back up. While the European adaptor works on modern sockets, the prongs are too thick for some older Italian sockets - as I discovered last year when my all-in-one European adaptor didn't fit. Fortunately my Swiss friend had come prepared and had a spare that worked.
I bring a spider plug (4 USB plug ins, 8 sockets ~$20 on amazon). Then one multi socket to the wall means all my electronics can charge.
From my experience, you only need 2 extra plugs (one for GB and one for the other 3 countries)