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Grounded outlets?

OK, I've been to Europe before. I know they (generally) use electrical outlets with the two, round plugs. I have the adapter plug ( US-style, two flat plugs go in one side, the adapter's two round plugs go in the wall...). Been there, done that.

Our collection of electronic gadgets has been growing in recent years (this year we're adding a GPS to our multiple cameras, etc.), and in the past we've been confronted by a shortage of available outlets for all our gadgets: especially in older hotels, we've often found that there's one (double) outlet in the room, and the lamp is plugged in to one part of it, leaving only a single plug available for our multiple items. The solution? A mini power-strip (like the one your computer is plugged into, only compact and made specifically for travel). I've got the "Outlets To Go-4" unit from Monster Power. This is a great unit, worked like a charm on our trip last year to Indonesia and Thailand. It's nice and compact, and provides 4 outlets (and yes, all our electronics are 110-220 friendly, so no issues with the electricity itself).

One potential issue, though: the power strip uses a grounded plug (like other US grounded plugs, it's got two flat prongs with one round one below). Our European adapter plug accepts two flat plugs.

The grounded plug on the power strip does go into the adapter plug, and it should fit into a European socket (the third, round, prong - the one that does the grounding - just doesn't go into anything, but it doesn't block anything either).

I'm wondering if there are grounded-US to grounded-European plug adapters available?

Or should I just not worry about it (and hope I don't cause a fire...)?

Posted by
1003 posts

If I am understanding your question correctly, is this what you are looking for? Or something else?

Posted by
19284 posts

Unfortunately, almost every country in Europe has a different style of grounding plug.

The Megellan plugs: Type 'D' is the modified Schuko plug which will work in Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Type 'S' will work in Switzerland. Type 'I' works in Italy (do I see a code here?).

The Eagle Creek page does not show the front of the plug. I can't tell if it is correct.

Posted by
6813 posts

I'll be in Portugal, Spain, and France (as well as Morocco).

I can certainly just ignore the third (grounded) prong from the US-style side -- it doesn't get in the way, and I've certainly done something similar here at home more than a few times (i.e. I think we probably all have one of those grounded-3-prong adapter to 2-prong plugs somewhere in our homes, and mine hasn't burned down yet...).

Posted by
19284 posts

For a comprehensive look at European and World receptacle and plug configuration, see here.

It looks like Spain and Portugal both use the same configuration for their outlets as Germany - two round pins, grounding on the top and bottom of the plug. France and Morocco use the French receptacle, the same round pins and cylindrical recess as Germany, but grounding through a pin sticking out of the receptacle. The modified Schuko plug accepts both methods of grounding.

Posted by
8124 posts

Just as big a problem though, grounded outlets in Europe still seem to be rare (OK, maybe in the cheap places I stay they are) The only places it seemed I saw them were in newer construction. You may still want to be prepared to use a non-grounded outlet.