Modifying electrical appliance plugs from Thailand to UK

[lomuamart]

This is probably a daft question but..
Am going back to the UK for a visit next week and am considering buying two rice cookers as presents.
These will, I guess, have the two pronged plugs for use here so before I buy I want to make sure that I can get an adapter plug so they can be used in the three pin sockets in the UK.
I don't mind whether I buy the adapter here or in the UK.
Anyone know whether this is possible?

[Dannie Boy]

This is probably a daft question but..
Am going back to the UK for a visit next week and am considering buying two rice cookers as presents.
These will, I guess, have the two pronged plugs for use here so before I buy I want to make sure that I can get an adapter plug so they can be used in the three pin sockets in the UK.
I don't mind whether I buy the adapter here or in the UK.
Anyone know whether this is possible?

I'm not an electrician, but almost certainly you can take off or cut the 2 pin plug off and rewire into a standard UK 3 pin plug.

[Bristolian]

Yes very possible. I would buy the 3 pin UK plugs in the UK and simply replace the existing plugs. I would not use an adaptor although this is also possible.

[Big Boy]

Agos in the UK used to do a rice cooker (already correctly wired), which used to be as cheap as Thailand.

[Ginjaninja]

I'm with B.B. on that one however....
If there is only two wires then you connect them to live and neutral. In theory the earth/ground is not required because the rice cooker is double-insulated, i.e made of plastic and there is no risk of electric shock in the event of a fault. This is why certain items in the U.K. have plastic ground prongs on a U.K. plug. It's only function is to open the receptacle on the wall and offers no electrical purpose.
If there are three wires then the ground wire will be connected to the ground prong.
GN.

[Lung Per]

Buy your rice cooker in the U.K. They are available from most Chinese and Far-Eastern shops and already wired for the U.K. Also, saves you a lot of space in your luggage.

[chopsticks]

Definitely best to buy in UK as they should be manufactured to comply with the more stringent UK and European safety requirements, also you can return to the retailer under guarantee if faulty or just unsuitable.
Most metal-enclosed appliances, such as rice-cookers, are not double-insulated and require an earth connection which is often missing on the models sold in SE Asia.

[caller]

Agree with the buy in the UK brigade, they are widely available and as cheap or as pricey as you want. Got mine (chosen by a Thai) from Wing Yip in 2006 for about £25 and still going strong.

Edit - as mentioned above, Argos has a few, this one gets good reviews at £16.

http://www.argos.co.uk/m/static/Product ... 025105.htm

[margaretcarnes]

I would also agree with buying a rice cooker in the UK Lomu. It simply isn't worth carting them back here these days.
I do have a Thai kettle I fetched to the UK from Thailand - you can't get those over here - and I use it with an adaptor and it's fine.
Any integrally fitted plug, ie the moulded to the cable plug, as on my kettle and rice cookers etc, IMO should not be cut off and changed. For the simple reason that if the appliance did happen to cause a fire here in the UK it could void any subsequent insurance claim.
Moulded plugs are there for a purpose, and adaptors bought in the UK are certified fit for purpose.

[Bristolian]

I agree that it is probably more simple to buy the rice cooker in the UK and probably there will be little price difference from those sold in Thailand.

The rice cooker, if buying a reputable brand, will show on the box and usually on the base of the product a small square within a square symbol which indicates that it is double insulated and does not require a ground/earth connection. If there is an earth wire, of course it should be connected.

Moulded leads and plugs were introduced as they reduce the manufacturing costs. You can buy these moulded assemblies as spares. It is not illegal to remove a damaged or broken plug from a moulded assembly and replace it with a plug, that you wire yourself. You should ensure that you fit a suitably rated fuse.

As a mater of interest, the UK has quite a big problem with adaptor plugs, moulded leads and plugs which are often counterfeit and often do not comply to current regulations. There are a number of UK governmental sites that expose this as a problem. So much for higher safety from products purchased in the UK

[Nereus]

The rice cooker, if buying a reputable brand, will show on the box and usually on the base of the product a small square within a square symbol which indicates that it is double insulated and does not require a ground/earth connection. If there is an earth wire, of course it should be connected.

Yes that is correct, very good advice, except that an earth/ground wire should not be fitted to any double insulated appliance. If the appliance is certified as double insulated it will only have a 2 conductor cable without a ground wire. (Do not confuse this with what is sold here with 2 conductor leads!)

Most double insulated appliances are small portable items such as electric hand tools. I doubt that you will find a rice cooker that is double insulated, especialy in Asia.

[Ginjaninja]

Most double insulated appliances are small portable items such as electric hand tools. I doubt that you will find a rice cooker that is double insulated, especialy in Asia.

And yet they probably have no ground conductor. Another reason why best to buy in the U.K.
GN.

[lomuamart]

It looks like a UK buy then.
Thanks for all the advice. As can be seen, I'm no electrician.