Can I put a UK 3 pin plug on a dishwasher I brought over from South Africa, or use an adapter?
4 Answers
Given that most dishwashers draw a fair bit of current, I suggest changing the plug rather than using an adaptor. Most adaptors are only rated to 1 or 2 amps and finding a bigger one would be harder than fitting a plug. Dishwashers are also often plugged in under the counter with a switch above -- that may not allow room for an adaptor.
The 5A and 15A 3-round-pin plugs used in South Africa were the standard in Britain until the fused 13A plug was introduced. You can still buy the sockets here, though they're not intended/permitted for general purpose use.
Change it to a UK plug and you're done.
Both South Africa and UK use 230V 50 Hz power. It's all the same stuff.
Your washer will be 13/15A and you can fit a UK 13A plug just fine. Use the standard 13A fuse in the plug, unless the washer's instructions say to fuse it lower. Presumably they also sell that model in the UK.
Now in the 120V 60Hz world (roughly North America) there is one plug standard, "NEMA 1/5". But for some reason, the 230/50 world balkanized (literally) with a dizzying variety of plug/socket styles. They differ by nothing but shape, and a few safety features like polarization, ground and fusing... but the UK socket is the best-of-breed in all those respects. So you should not feel bashful about using it.
Standard electrical outlets in both Britain and South Africa supply 230V at 50Hz. There's a fair chance your dishwasher would adjust and work on 120V/60Hz power, too if you were bring it to someplace like the U.S. or Canada. That's not guaranteed, but manufacturers tend to like to sell their goods into more than one country.
Regardless, electricity in Britain is just like the electricity in South Africa, so if you can find the right plug adapter (type M to type G) you'll be fine.
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1pIf the dishwasher is a "low efficiency" model, which has a big heater—either for heating the water or drying the dishes—then if it is possible, it might require moving some wires on a connection block inside the device. Even then, it probably won't heat as well on 120 v as it would on 240 or 208 v. A high efficiency device probably will work on 120 .. 240, probably without having to configure anything.– wallykJun 28, 2015 at 21:13
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1Sure; but going from South Africa to the UK, standard wall outlet power is 230V/50Hz in both places, so a simple adapter plug would do the job and the dishwasher won't see anything different. Jun 28, 2015 at 21:41
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@wallyk I was just poking around a bit and it occurred to me I might have sounded a little dismissive in my response to your comment. That definitely wasn't intended, if it came across that way. ;-) Jul 2, 2015 at 21:15
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No worries, Craig. You were quite correct and I probably didn't convey that I was focusing on the issue of a transition to 120 volts. Changing the pin configuration is a piece of cake in comparison.– wallykJul 2, 2015 at 21:46
As long as there is a live ground and earth cable in the wire then yes you can use a three pin plug