sponix wrote:
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 16:36:54 +0000, sponix wrote:
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 15:13:43 GMT, "Harry Bloomfield"
wrote:

I have somewhere in my 'museum' a weird and wonderful adaptor plug
which required no tools to fit to the cable, other than a means to
strip the cable. The wires connected by a spring clip arrangement and
once fitted (the really clever part) it could be plugged into a 5amp,
15amp or 13amp socket with or without earth pin. You just selected the
particular pin type you needed and locked them in to place.

I have/had one of those somewhere!

Thought: No I didn't.

What I had was a mains plug that could be fitted without tools.

It had a primitive wirestripper in the base and the two halves were
held together with a 1/4 turn 'screw' that it could be ondone with a
coin. The top half was a sliding fit on the bottom half.

The wires were connected via metal 'clips' and the strain relief was a
self adjusting plastic affair.

If I find it I'll post some pics.

sponix

I think those ones were a relatively modern attempt to make plug
fitting easier for idiots. They never caught on of course. ISTVR using
one once.

The Nettles with the hole to see the fuse were common in the 80s, and
not sure but I think 70s too, and there are still lots in use.

MK plugs with a hole by the earth pin were common for a very long time,
and I dont recall any genuinely satisfactory explanation for that extra
hole.

Its hard to find 13A plugs that are really out there, but in the
2A/5A/15A family there are some godawful creations. Wooden mains plugs
that change dimensions with RH and burn well are positively reassuring
compared to a 2 way 5A adaptor I once had. The metal tubes in this came
right to the surface, so just touching the adaptor with hands would fry
the user.


NT