Talk:IEC 60309

Hubbell 125/250 AC
Hubbell makes IEC 60309-2 style connectors that are electrically equivalent to the NEMA 14 125/250 V AC connector (two live wires, one neutral, and one ground) with the ground pin in the 12h position and an orange housing. Is this a non-standard extension, or is this part of the standard? Carolina wren (talk) 21:08, 16 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The 12h connectors are used for isolation transformers - this is part of the standard. The color code has no meaning in this case - the standard would suggest a gray housing for unspecified / non-standard current. So far for the standard but perhaps that gray color was not fancy enough and orange is not in the standard either, so... Guidod (talk) 19:13, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The orange 2P+N+E 12h connector is part of the standard! Unfortunately, IEC 60309 is not freely available, but the Indian version IS/IEC 60309 is available here: IS/IEC 60309 Part 1, IS/IEC 60309 Part 2. Except for a national forword it is identical to the 1999 version of the IEC standard. The note below Table 2 of Part 1 says in countries where series II current ratings are used the colour orange is reserved for 125/250 V a.c. and the colour gray is reserved for 277 V a.c. accessories. Table 104 of Part 2 defines a 4 pin (2P+N+E) connector with the ground pin at 12h for 125/250 V single phase. These two together define an orange 2P+N+E 12h connector for the North American split-phase system. In this context I wonder whether the last sentence of the "3P+N+E, 9h" paragraph of the article ("Since these two modes do not need three phases there is a non-standard yellow four-pin connector available designed for a single-phase 110–120- or 220–240-volt load") is correct. Why would anybody produce or use a non-standard connector when a standard connector specifically defined for this purpose is readily available? Or does this sentence actually refer to the orange connector? But then it should not be called a non-standard yellow connector.--Rein-joe (talk) 13:39, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

Digital museum of plugs and sockets
A potentially interesting source/reference: Digital museum of plugs and sockets. Bouktin (talk) 13:00, 1 October 2012 (UTC)


 * Updated location: http://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/IEC60309_1.html and yes, it's very interesting. It focuses on higher-power and 3-phase connectors, rather than the usual single-phase. 71.41.210.146 (talk) 05:24, 13 December 2015 (UTC)

PE vs E vs G
Also it is confusing that the earth can be named as earth (E), protective earth (PE) and ground (G) in the naming of the plugs, maybe a clarification would help (though I'm not sure to be able to provide it). See also Earthing system. Bouktin (talk) 13:00, 1 October 2012 (UTC)
 * AIUI some electrical standards make a distinction between "protective earths" (earths which are there to protect users against faults) and "functional earths" (earths whose purpose is to make something work, for example an earth for a radio system or an earth for a party line telephone system).
 * It's implied that the earth in a mains connector is a protective earth. So the pedantic "call it protective earth" and the less pedantic just reffer to it as "earth" and let the protective bit be implied by the context.
 * "Earth" verses "ground" is a US english VS british english difference.
 * Plugwash (talk) 00:17, 13 March 2014 (UTC)

What way up should plugs and sockets be mounted?
I'm just building an amateur radio project, and have a PSU that can take a maximum of 24 A @ 230 V AC. Although I don't expect to use the full 4 kW output of the PSU, I decided to put a 32 A plug on the rear of the PSU. Then I wondered what way up should I mount the plug? Should the earth be up or down, left or right? [ Preceeding question added by 109.148.86.63 without signing ]


 * Most IEC 309 plugs and sockets are for the wall end of the cable, with an IEC 309 wall socket outlet and an IEC 309 plug on the cable. But assuming you have one of the slightly harder to get (but fully compliant) device mounted IEC 309 inlets (with visible pins on the device end), the tradition is that if there is a lid on it (common on IEC 309 inlets for outdoor use), the lid should open upwards.  If there is no lid, the earth pin should be at the bottom.  I am saying tradition because I haven't read the official standard yet. Jbohmdk (talk) 18:43, 5 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, the cover is up, but even without a cover, the convention is that the key (the small bump) on the outside of the shroud is down. The earth pin may be anywhere, depending on the variant used. 71.41.210.146 (talk) 22:25, 26 March 2017 (UTC)

BS4343 not now a connector standard
BS4343 has now been repurposed and is a standard for Welding Wire! See https://shop.bsigroup.com/SearchResults/?q=BS4343 Article needs revising to show this — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:8B0:C85:2203:346B:FE2F:4ECB:F95F (talk) 12:15, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
 * British Standard numbers are NOT reused for other subjects! You are confusing "BS 4343" with "EN 4343" which is a European standard also published as an official British Standard "BS EN 4343" by using the original number prefaced by "BS".  "BS 4343" has now been withdrawn because it was replaced by "BE EN 60309" which is the British version of the European Standard "EN 60309", which is, of course, IEC standard 60309.  The article is correct as it stands.  FF-UK (talk) 12:39, 31 January 2018 (UTC)