Trying to find a German to Czech Adapter

[adam-aussie-vac]

Hey guys, I’m trying to find an adapter that goes in between my German plug and Czech Washing machine, I don’t want to Cut the original plug off, for authenticity reasons, I did find an adapter But the website only sends it to Belgium and France, I’ve tried having a look around for places that ship in between my address in Australia and France, I’ve had no luck so far, if worse comes to worse I’ll try and jerry rig something using two adapters, so for example an adapter that goes in between Europe and Denmark and another adapter that goes in between Denmark and France/Czech Republic

 

[bradfordwhite]

red is hot, I hope

But which is neutral and which ground?

 

[foraloysius]

German plug?

Do you have a German plug or a German receptacle/socket/outlet? The one in the picture is to plug in a French plug into a German (Schuko) receptacle.

BTW, here's an overview of voltages, plugs and receptacles all over the world.

https://www.worldstandards.eu/electricity/plug-voltage-by-country/

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Great news I found one

The reason why I had to buy this adapter was My Czech washing machine and spin dryer had Czech /French plugsWhich were incompatible with the rest of the plugs used in the European market so now it means that everything is properly grounded

 

[iej]

It must be a very old plug. There aren’t very many still around (in France and Belgium anyway) that aren’t the hybrid type which fits either Schuko or the Belgian/French outlet. The only exceptions being some rewireable plugs.

Incidentally, that standard originated in Belgium, even though everyone calls it French. The old French grounded plugs were 3 pin. Seems it was adopted by Poland and Czech Republic, Slovakia (then Czechoslovakia), as it avoided paying royalties for ‘Schuko’ and is theoretically polarised.

That plug / socket system seems to have been developed by Vynckier in Belgium, a company that still makes extremely good electrical equipment and is now part of GE.

It’s defined as CEE 7/5 (Socket) and CEE 7/6 plug.

There are only three CEE 7 plug types sold these days and they fit both “French” and “Schuko” outlets.

CEE 7/7 - Grounded 16 amp
CEE 7/16 - Flat ungrounded “Europlug” for small appliances up to 2.5 amps
CEE 7/17 - round non grounded 16 amp plug (common on things like vacuum cleaners and hairdryers etc)

CEE 7/16 is also compatible with the country specific outlets in Denmark, Switzerland and Italy as well as old obsolete types. It will basically fit anything in continental Europe as well as a lot of outlets in Israel, even Chinese 2 pin sockets tend to fit it.

The rectangular 3-pin system used in the U.K. and Ireland is the only one that isn’t compatible.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Yeah, it is Quite an old plug,

But I do have a washing machine that was made in the Czech Republic destined for Germany so that has a Shuko plug So I won’t have to worry about anything with that one, plus with that adapter I could use one of them European socket switch things, just that way I don’t have to constantly unplug it

 

[sudsmaster]

Me, I might have just removed the original power cord from wherever it attaches inside the machine, and made a new one to match whatever outlets are in your laundry area. And of course saved the original power cord in case you ever want to provide it as evidence of authenticity.

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

Nah

I only replace a power cord if it is it and what I consider poor condition, that is when the installation starts becoming brittle or is cracking, and generally I would try to find the same colour of cord if possible and that’s what I did with my Perobot As the original cable had looked like it had it, when I get back into work, I’m gonna see if I can try and get the motor repaired as well as the two clutch pulleys As they should only work in certain directions, and I can’t replace them with standard please as that would mean that the spin can spins during the wash cycle and vice versa,

 

[iej]

See if you can get a proper 16 amp French socket outlet.
Google something like Legrand prise à terre 16 amp ampère. They’ve a range called “plexo” which would be very suitable for laundry room use and is surface mounted.

They even have flat ones where the socket recess is covered until you push a plug in.

French outlets are polarised, have total finger protection and are fully child proof with shuttering. They’re actually a better design than Schuko in my opinion and will accept the vast majority of European grounded plugs, except very old Schuko.



Obviously, no idea what Aussie regs or insurers would have to say about using non-Aussie spec fittings.

We are not allowed to do anything than like-for-like swap outs and add sockets to existing circuits in Ireland. Anything involving anything complicated, opening the distribution board / adding circuits etc falls into “restricted works” so you have to have an EC (electrical contractor) and a completion certificate... The days of DIY are gone.
[this post was last edited: 4/6/2022-18:21]

 

[tomturbomatic]

Have you checked with bel ami?

 

[adam-aussie-vac]

I honestly have never heard of them, so no

 

[iej]

CEE 7 -> UK/Ireland BS1363

This is the approved system for permanently converting CEE 7 plugs to the type used in the UK, Ireland and several other places.

There were versions made for Aussi and US plugs but I’ve never seen one sold - it’s a far less likely to be encountered requirement I guess.

They completely enclose the continental European plug in a slightly oversized BS1363 plug, complete with internal fuse.

For the smaller, flat Europlug it’s not much bulkier than a normal UK/Ireland plug, so works petty well and is often found on appliances sold with the converter plug fitted.

With full Schuko it still works fine but it’s a little bulky. I’ve seen it on Fischer and Paykel fridges sold here though and it’s becoming more common in Ireland because of Brexit messing up supply chains, so more of our appliances are coming from continental European supply lines, as the UK is no longer in the European Single
Market. Mostly doesn’t impact anything though as few appliances are made there, just shipped through, so can be ordered with UK/IE type plugs anyway.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

This sort of stuff draws me in but I don't dare start or I'll spend hours........

#9

I'm only aware of one company called Bel Ami and they deal with entirely different types of plugs and sockets...

 

[iej]

A well known company of electrical contractors …