Help with Swiss electric wall socket

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
1
Hello,

I recently moved to a new house and not able to figure out how to use the electric wall socket. It has a symbol on it which I am not familiar with and have not seen on other wall sockets.

I am attaching a picture of this. Can someone in the forum can help.

Thanks,

John

2

John,

That symbol indicates that that plug is connected to a wallswitch, so you can plug a lamp in there, for example, and turn it on and off with the switch. The other 2 plugs are permanently on.

3
The top right connection (3 pins) is controlled by the wall switch, usually at the door to the room entrance. You can plug a standing (tall) lamp into this scocket, and switch it on when you walk into the room.

4
Thanks Jagwaugh and Sbrinz. I found the switch that controls the sockets.

5
When I moved here to Zurich , I kept wondering why a few sockets sometimes didn't work and at times , did work. I even wrote it down in the faults list for the Agency.

Figured it out a few days later

6
I managed to find the switch thanks to this thread, but some (most) of my sockets still work strangely. They only seem to work with three pin Swiss plugs, and they shut off when I plug in a two pin plug. So my phone chargers and laptop power supplies don't work with them.

I thought I could trick it by buying a three pin extender, but even through the extender, it cuts off power when I plug in something with two pins.

Do you know what this might be, and is there a way to use a two pin plug with such a socket?

7
Whaat? That's super weird. I highly doubt it's because of a 2 plug vs 3 plug.

Some charges (iPhone, macbook) ship with 2 plug connectors. Even the ones you buy in Switzerland.

The only thing I could imagine is the wires are done incorrectly? Ie. the middle, grounding pin, is not actually the middle one?

You could try borrowing a power strip from your neighbor or your workplace, see if that does anything. Otherwise I would call an electrician.

8
Don't know why this happens. But you might want to try to buy a socket strip and see if your two pin plugs work in that way?

9
Which 2 holes out of the 3 possibles do you plug your cell phone charger into ?

Maybe try another combination.

Edit: avoiding the earth is usually the best choice for a 2 pin plug.

10
Unless the plug is broken or a "lucky" catch from another continent one can only use it as intended.

11
It is technically possible to connect 2-pin plugs across the socket outlets. Although in principle that should work, it may be that the socket outlet has been incorrectly wired and that the live and neutral haven't been wired consistently.

So make sure your 2-pin plug is plugged into one of the 3-pin socket outlets. Also make sure the 2-pin plug is fully inserted.

12
Yeah, make sure you plug it like in me.anon's image. I've seen people plugging it across the sockets.

13
So, the electrician solved the problem in the end. When the previous tenant moved out and removed their lamp, they reconnected the wrong wires at the ceiling. And the sockets were connected to the light switch through the ceiling.

It was not about being three or two pins, but how much current the device took. The "three pin device" was my extender, even a very small current could power its led, and it flew under the radar. But when I plugged in a phone charger or something bigger, the touch protection activated, and cut the power.