In message , Harry Bloomfield
writes
Tim Lamb was thinking very hard :
And quite right too. The switch contacts are designed to break the
current cleanly. The pin contacts may suffer a series of arcs leading
to pitting and degradation. In the worst case heating such that the
Beryllium copper contacts lose their *spring*.

Were the sockets not designed to break the current, then all sockets
would be fitted with switches.

Worst case is domestic staff switching off kettles by lifting the jug
from the base as you might from a kitchen range!

I do that too. They have a switch in the base to swith the supply when
the kettle is lifted. Even if the base switch does eventually fail, by
then the kettle will need to be replaced. They are not expensive these
days.

I'm not sure if you can purchase an unswitched 13 Amp socket these days
and I think the switch on the kettle base is to protect you from exposed
live connections rather than extend the life of the contacts.

However, as you say, these are throwaway items:-)

--
Tim Lamb