# Any electric-wise people?



## Tom (8 Dec 2011)

Anyone here good with electrics? 

I'm looking to change the plugs of my Dennerle lights to UK plugs, and possibly combine them into just one plug. It says 230v on the plug, so does it actually need an adapter or anything? Can I just swap it for a regular plug?

What would I do for fuses? It says 0.155 amp which seems tiny?


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## dw1305 (8 Dec 2011)

Hi all,


> Can I just swap it for a regular plug?


 You can just cut the plug off and wire on a UK 3 pin plug , or you can get a fused adapter for European plugs. 
Assuming it is 2 round pin, you want one of these: <http://www.maplin.co.uk/euro-convertor-white-19246>, you can get them cheaper from other suppliers on EBAY etc.

cheer Darrel


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## Tom (8 Dec 2011)

Thanks Darrel, 

It's a proper chunky plug, which was why I was thinking it might be a converter or something. 

So if I was to wire both lights into one plug, how would this affect it? Would I just double the fuse size?


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## AverageWhiteBloke (8 Dec 2011)

Hmmm I'm no expert but I think the fuse might need to be the same based on if the fuse is rated to trip out at a certain point to protect something else then the rating should be the same regardless of what it's feeding.   :?


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## spyder (8 Dec 2011)

AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> Hmmm I'm no expert but I think the fuse might need to be the same based on if the fuse is rated to trip out at a certain point to protect something else then the rating should be the same regardless of what it's feeding.   :?



This sounds right in theory but you have two appliances drawing double current.

Personally, I would drop in a 3amp. I'm not a qualified electrician but have done enough wiring and stuff in the past.


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## Tom (8 Dec 2011)

OK, thanks. 3 amp in a standard plug sounds easy enough. So why would the euro plug be so bulky? It wouldn't have a starter in there or anything like that would it?


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## AverageWhiteBloke (8 Dec 2011)

Is there any labelling on the plug at all? Possibly saying it does anything.


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## George Farmer (8 Dec 2011)

Tom said:
			
		

> So why would the euro plug be so bulky? It wouldn't have a starter in there or anything like that would it?


Hi Tom,

The plug you're referring to for the lamp is actually a transformer/ballast too, not just a plug. By losing that and replacing with a regular 13amp UK plug you will blow up your light and trip the circuit breakers in your home!

You need a Euro to UK plug adaptor. Don't mess with any wiring!

Cheers,
George


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## AverageWhiteBloke (8 Dec 2011)

And a new single tube full kit is only about £20 you could still use the other or flog it.


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## chilled84 (8 Dec 2011)

George Farmer said:
			
		

> Tom said:
> 
> 
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> ...


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## chilled84 (8 Dec 2011)

good words, please listen to them. Thousands are spent on product design and safety. Just use a conveter plug, and never double wire a single plug.


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## dw1305 (8 Dec 2011)

Hi all,


> It's a proper chunky plug, which was why I was thinking it might be a converter or something.


 No definitely don't cut it off, the standard 230V European plugs are really small and unearthed, because the Europeans  have all electrical appliances double insulated (they have a square inside a square marked on them 


) This is safer than earthing, but even so I still run everything through an RCD.

If it is a "chunky plug" it will be the transformer to step down the current from 230V AC to 12V DC or similar, it should say on the plug what the output amperage and voltage are. I've got a small fluorescent light with a combined 2 pin plug & transformer that I've connected via the type of plug converter in the link, and it is a nice secure union. 

You can still use the European plug converter, but you will need a convertor for each transformer.

cheers Darrel


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## PeteA (8 Dec 2011)

Are we talking an LED type light unit or a T5/T8 tube type light unit.  If it's the later then it's highly unlikely to be a step-down transformer.  However if it doesn't have an earth in the wire then I'd just get EU to UK plug adapter.  You can generally tell because unearthed cable is "flat" and earthed is rounded.


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