On 09 Aug 2005 21:52:20 GMT,it is alleged that
(Andrew Gabriel) spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

In article t,
Chip writes:
On 09 Aug 2005 20:21:59 GMT,it is alleged that
(Andrew Gabriel) spake thusly in uk.d-i-y:

Not to mention the 6 months in prison and 5000 fine for anyone
importing them into the UK.

The world *finally* went crazy. 6months and a fine for a plug?

It's aimed at stopping importers from importing non-compliant
goods. It seems to work -- it's sufficiently rare to come
across a non-conforming 13A plug in the UK that most people
have never seen one at all.

The main market for non-conforming 13A plugs were cheap goods
made in China for Hong Kong residents to buy when visiting and
take home to Hong Kong. However, the Hong Kong authorities
have started becoming more strict with this insisting on full
BS1363 compliance, and it may be the market for non-conforming
13A plugs becomes too small to remain viable.

It was interesting to see how expensive that non-conforming
cordset was -- more expensive than conforming ones in the UK.

I am hoping the fine is for 'importing and offering for sale' rather
than aimed at the hapless tourist who obtains one while overseas for
whatever reason. (I think this is probably the case.)

I do recall coming across a batch of these in 1991 or 92, while doing
safety tests on new IT equipment. They turned up with a batch of
printers from the middle east (I believe iraq uses BS1363 /style/
outlets). Possibly due to 'oh, iraq is now the bad guy, we have to
offload these cords somewhere'. The cord was BASEC approved, and the
IEC connector was fine, so we fitted MK toughplugs, 5A fuses, and
billed for it. Also noted is the lack of sleeving on the prongs, and
likely non-electrical grade metal used for the pins.


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Third, don't marry to excess.
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