Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug really
carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

--


--
John

"john" wrote in message


Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug really
carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves. AND an MK plug with a bult in
switch.
Also we have a very nice earth joint on an old lead sheathed cable where
the 'jubilee clip' {nice...!} was a bit too big so the 'installer' had
taken up the 'slack' with a wooden clothes peg! "Death wish fuses"
where
the fuse wire was designed to be routed along the outside of the
carrier. A 3036 100A fuse complete with a pre-fluxed brazing rod for a
fuse-wire. 3/.029 [no earth conductor] that had been attached to a wall
by the use of nails being
knocked through the 'centre' of it. A 'T' jointed Pyro without glands,
pots or seals [didn't even break the conductors!!! still don't know how
he did it]...and many many more. Must go now as it's time for my
medication!!! g




--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 12:40:15 GMT, "john"
wrote:

Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug really
carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

--

I dont know about Nettle plugs but I'm sure I've bought appliances
recently that obvioulsy had the fuse in a removeable holder as the
plug was fitted but also have the window you speak of so you can see
the fuse rating ..


Stuart





Shift THELEVER to reply.

Grumpy owd man wrote:

[snip]

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves.

Indeed my parents still have a couple of appliances with those very plugs fitted.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 12:40:15 GMT, "john" wrote:

Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug really
carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

--

You can now buy plugs with completely transparent backs - useful for businesses as it simplifies the
regular inspections they have to do.

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 13:46:43 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

Grumpy owd man wrote:

[snip]

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves.

Indeed my parents still have a couple of appliances with those very plugs fitted.

Anyone got a pic?

sponix

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:21:43 +0000, sponix wrote:

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 13:46:43 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

Grumpy owd man wrote:

[snip]

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves.

Indeed my parents still have a couple of appliances with those very plugs fitted.

Anyone got a pic?

Yes -
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3481.jpg

thought it
was a good idea.

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves. AND an MK plug with a bult in
switch.


I fitted a MK plug with switch to a 2 bar electric fire. Seemed a good idea!
]

John

"Mike Harrison" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:21:43 +0000, sponix wrote:

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 13:46:43 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

Grumpy owd man wrote:

[snip]

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves.

Indeed my parents still have a couple of appliances with those very plugs
fitted.

Anyone got a pic?

Yes -
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3481.jpg

I don't remember those - but I can't see a problem. However, the maker
clearly didn't realise that only the end half actually makes contact so the
present design is fine. Perhaps it used to be different though. Any ideas
about the design philosophy of the sleeves in the photo?

John

In message , Mike Harrison
writes
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 12:40:15 GMT, "john" wrote:

Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug really
carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

--

You can now buy plugs with completely transparent backs - useful for
businesses as it simplifies the
regular inspections they have to do.

Really, surely they are supposed to check the security of the
cables/tigthness of screws as well.
--
Chris French

john was thinking very hard :
Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance and
a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug really
carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.



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.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window in
them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it was a
good idea.

The one with an opening as you looked at it from the pins side.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"Grumpy owd man" wrote in message
...
I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves. AND an MK plug with a bult in
switch.

I remember the ones with the switch - poplular in the 70s. They had a neon
built-in too, so you could see they were live, even of the appliance itself
was turned off.

-- JJ

"john" wrote in message
...
...
Yes -
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3481.jpg

I don't remember those - but I can't see a problem. However, the maker
clearly didn't realise that only the end half actually makes contact so
the present design is fine. Perhaps it used to be different though. Any
ideas about the design philosophy of the sleeves in the photo?

Even though contact is only made at the end, it did add both strength to the
entire length, and meant the pin didn't have any narrow (and so lower
resistance) points to it. That resistance thing was a moot point though, as
the connection to the fuse is often the point of lowest resistance anyway,
so it tends to be the live pin that gets hot when supplying 13 amps.

I expect the main reason for that design is that there was not the variety
of plastics around then as there are now, so it was more difficult to make
sleeve on the pins that did not conduct electricty, was not too thick and
was not too brittle. That's my guess, at least.

-- JJ

Mark Carver wrote:

Grumpy owd man wrote:

[snip]

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves.


Indeed my parents still have a couple of appliances with those very
plugs fitted.

Don't think I have ever seen one of those... but presumably they would
still be preferable to the many unsleaved plugs still in circulation.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:30:20 GMT, Mike Harrison
wrote:

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:21:43 +0000, sponix wrote:

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 13:46:43 +0000, Mark Carver
wrote:

Grumpy owd man wrote:

[snip]

I can better that [I think]. In our museum of the odd and outright
dangerous [stuff we have brought in off jobs or condemned] we have
An original sleeved MK Plug complete with ivory plastic spring loaded
retractable live and neutral pin sleeves.

Indeed my parents still have a couple of appliances with those very plugs fitted.

Anyone got a pic?

Yes -
http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3481.jpg

Never seen one of those before-how ingenious!

sponix

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 14:46:06 GMT, "john"
wrote:

I don't remember those - but I can't see a problem. However, the maker
clearly didn't realise that only the end half actually makes contact

Dunno whether that was true with the original sockets though.

sponix

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!

sponix

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

In article ,
sponix 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.

I've got one. Would you like some pics?

--
*Okay, who stopped the payment on my reality check? *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

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

I've got a similar universal plug with screw terminals. It was very
useful when doing stage lighting with a 13A socket on the other end.

The other old thing that has come in handy and is probably banned now is
a 2:1 bayonet light socket adaptor with one of the sockets switched.

Chris

--
Spamtrap in use
To email replace 127.0.0.1 with blueyonder dot co dot uk

"john" wrote in message
...
Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug
really carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

----
John

I am sure other makes incorporated a recessed fuse cradle underneath held in
by a removable
clip showing in its window the fuse's colour/rating value.
The plug improved considerably when makers also added.....
a) non-return, tension-funelled nylon, barbed, cable grip inside entry
(MK?)
b) L and N pins insulator-gaitered near body, about 15 years ago for safety
(it is now
standard but conductor x-section is therefore smaller)
c) loop puller on some red plugs - for rheumatic /geriatric hands
d) translucent top with "live" neon indicator option
The -worst- thing is..... over 75% of their ignorant users only ever fit a
13A fuse
instead of the lowest possible rating for the load!! If all plugs in use
were
drawing 12A, the National Generators + reserve would be vastly overloaded
and would not cope!!
Now were there some more enhancements /ideas?....please fill in....
e)
f)
g)

d) translucent top with "live" neon indicator option
The -worst- thing is..... over 75% of their ignorant users only ever fit a
13A fuse instead of the lowest possible rating for the load!! If all
plugs in use were drawing 12A, the National Generators + reserve would be
vastly overloaded and would not cope!!

I suppose the correct fuse for the purpose is a good enough justification
for the factory fitted plug. I never understood why they didn't include a
fuse in the price - and let the customer select the size for the purpose -
instead of them always having a 13A fitted.

I recall our Hoover used to have a two pin plug - to do the bedrooms we had
a bayonet adaptor that had a 2 pin socket in it. It was a brown Bakelite
thing about 2 inches long. The plug had to be a tight fit or it kept falling
out.

Thinking back to the original note about getting home and fitting a new
plug - how often did we end up stuffing the wires into the socket because we
didn't remember to buy a plug? Learning to open the shutters was essential
early learning.


John

On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 20:18:07 UTC, "john" wrote:

I suppose the correct fuse for the purpose is a good enough justification
for the factory fitted plug. I never understood why they didn't include a
fuse in the price - and let the customer select the size for the purpose -
instead of them always having a 13A fitted.

In good shops (and even Woolies, AFAIR) you used to be able to buy them
with various ratings of fuse fitted.

--
The information contained in this post is copyright the
poster, and specifically may not be published in, or used by
Avenue Supplies, http://avenuesupplies.co.uk

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 18:54:27 GMT, Chris Hodges
wrote:

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

I've got a similar universal plug with screw terminals. It was very
useful when doing stage lighting with a 13A socket on the other end.

The other old thing that has come in handy and is probably banned now is
a 2:1 bayonet light socket adaptor with one of the sockets switched.

I think bayonet adaptors are banned full stop.

I have a bayonet plug that my mum used eons ago to power her vacuum
cleaner (!) It's marked "Empire made"!

I now use it for Xmas lights.

sponix

Some old electrical fittings he

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

sponix

In article ,
sponix writes:
Some old electrical fittings he

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

Very interesting page.
Some of the dates are wrong though -- 13A plug was introduced
in 1946, and BS546 round pin plugs go back well before WWII.
Also, there were 4, not 2 ratings of BS546 plugs; 2A, 5A, 15A,
30A (which you would not find in the home, but was used in
industry).

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article ,
writes:

Some misinformation on the clix plug, It did have a flex grip similar to that
in a bayonet lampholder. I think I still have one somewhere. It was very
useful.

That is my recollection regards the flex grip too.
I did have one which was paired with a BC adaptor
(as shown a couple of pictures below), which had
a short length of string coupling the two together,
so although you could unplug it, they didn't fall
apart more than a couple of inches. I assumed this
was for switching off the associated appliance
(perhaps an iron or table lamp) without the
appliance cord falling away from the lampholder.

--
Andrew Gabriel

explained on 07/01/2006 :
On 7 Jan,
sponix wrote:

Some old electrical fittings he

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

Some misinformation on the clix plug, It did have a flex grip similar to that
in a bayonet lampholder. I think I still have one somewhere. It was very
useful.

It did - The flex came in through the hole in the cover and was gripped
by a conical peg on the base. The problem was that the top had to serve
the dual function of both gripping the flex and applying pressure onto
the brass pins to make a good connection - it didn't always suceed. The
brass pins were rather like a fat split pin, with the flex through the
hole trapped as you tightened the cover.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Now were there some more enhancements /ideas?....please fill in....
e) Little indicator 'arrow' which was fitted beneath the cover screw. This was rotated to indicate the fuse rating

f) MK terminal screws with the captive rotating washer

and, not an enhancement but I had A universal plug top which had pins
which dropped down and you decided which ones you wanted to use. It
covered 2A, 3A, 5A, 15A, 13A 2 pin and 3 pin and it was fused!

Whilst on my nostalgia trip...who remembers Revo cookers? These had a
transformer to boost the voltage for the high speed [higher voltage??]
Rapid Ring. We used to sell these transformers to the local Water Board
for use in thawing-out frozen pipes! Tell that to the youngsters
nowadays and,...




--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
...
john was thinking very hard :
Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug
really carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.



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.


Remember wiring those in the late '60s. They rattled. Lots of loose pin
parts held in check by a perforated template, and you tapped on its shell to
loosen the three (or two) pins for the gauge you needed! Then you
"unscrewed" them outward, locked them with a 3-way lever! But had no fuse!!
They was marketed for running portable equipment when you were visiting
various premises but were unsure what wall socket types to find at the
destin. So catered for 3 or 4 common formats.
BS1363 13A oblong pin sockets took off reasonably quickly in industrial and
business premises, but stretched over three decades to become universal
domestically in UK.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a
window in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always
thought it was a good idea.

The one with an opening as you looked at it from the pins side.

--

Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 20:36:56 +0000, sponix wrote:

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

Very good

My Mum had the Pifco Princess hairdryer - slightly different version that
that shown - longer nozzel and a very well made pink patterned proper box
with slide-up lid for storing the dryer and all the bits.

The plastic stand shown is unmistakeable and the little black and red
toggel switches.

I wish things still came in well made boxes that you could actually store
the thing in!

Tim

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 20:36:56 +0000, sponix wrote:

Some old electrical fittings he

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

sponix

Hmm - I feel old. I remember most of those!

Still have one of the MK plugs with no sheathing on the LN pins
(out of reach of the kids). Excepting the sheathing, or lack of, the damn
thing is still more robust and better made that many of the cheap new
plugs you can buy now. MK always were my favourite for a decently made
plug.

Tim

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 20:34:17 +0000, sponix wrote:

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 18:54:27 GMT, Chris Hodges
wrote:

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

I've got a similar universal plug with screw terminals. It was very
useful when doing stage lighting with a 13A socket on the other end.

The other old thing that has come in handy and is probably banned now is
a 2:1 bayonet light socket adaptor with one of the sockets switched.

I think bayonet adaptors are banned full stop.

I have a bayonet plug that my mum used eons ago to power her vacuum
cleaner (!) It's marked "Empire made"!

I now use it for Xmas lights.

sponix

When I were a lad (70's) we used to have our fairy lights for Christmas
on a BC plug. Usually into a spare table lamp on the ground, but sometimes
IIRC off a BC 2 way adaptor on an in-use table lamp.

Ah the memories. The BC 2 way was also used on our landing - had a night
bulb and a regular bulb, Dad would turn off the full power bulb leaving
the night light on.

Tim

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 16:40:03 +0000, sponix wrote:


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

Those were available in the mid 80's - popular at University. Horribly
made - wasn't uncommon for the top to come off in your hand whilst still
plugged in.

Tim

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 22:13:53 +0000, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

explained on 07/01/2006 :
On 7 Jan,
sponix wrote:

Some old electrical fittings he

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

Some misinformation on the clix plug, It did have a flex grip similar to that
in a bayonet lampholder. I think I still have one somewhere. It was very
useful.

It did - The flex came in through the hole in the cover and was gripped
by a conical peg on the base. The problem was that the top had to serve
the dual function of both gripping the flex and applying pressure onto
the brass pins to make a good connection - it didn't always suceed. The
brass pins were rather like a fat split pin, with the flex through the
hole trapped as you tightened the cover.

I remember. Quite ingenious, if a little unconvincing.

Has anyone noticed that we mostly managed to avoid killing ourselves
with unsleeved plugs, clix, light switches that hand unscrewed to reveal
the gubbins, bar fires etc etc.

Tim

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 22:31:46 GMT, "Jim Gregory"
wrote:



Remember wiring those in the late '60s. They rattled. Lots of loose pin
parts held in check by a perforated template, and you tapped on its shell to
loosen the three (or two) pins for the gauge you needed! Then you
"unscrewed" them outward, locked them with a 3-way lever! But had no fuse!!
They was marketed for running portable equipment when you were visiting
various premises but were unsure what wall socket types to find at the
destin. So catered for 3 or 4 common formats.

That was the "Fit-All" plug, made in Northern Ireland, IIRC. Actually
it *did* have a fuse, but ISTR it was totally inside the plug, so
you had to dismantle the lot to get at the fuse.
Because of its vast size it often wouldn't fit into sockets mounted
close to the floor, as most were in those days!

--
Frank Erskine

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 20:00:05 +0000, Jim Gregory wrote:

"john" wrote in message
...
Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years. I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug
really carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought it
was a good idea.

----
John

I am sure other makes incorporated a recessed fuse cradle underneath held in
by a removable
clip showing in its window the fuse's colour/rating value.
The plug improved considerably when makers also added.....
a) non-return, tension-funelled nylon, barbed, cable grip inside entry
(MK?)

MK - but theirs wasn't barbed - quite smooth in fact. No good if you had
arthritic fingers - as a child I had a hell of a job getting a 13A flex
into these, but could manage every other aspect of fittign the plug just
fine.


b) L and N pins insulator-gaitered near body, about 15 years ago for
safety (it is now
standard but conductor x-section is therefore smaller) c) loop puller
on some red plugs - for rheumatic /geriatric hands d) translucent top
with "live" neon indicator option The -worst- thing is..... over 75% of
their ignorant users only ever fit a 13A fuse
instead of the lowest possible rating for the load!! If all plugs in use
were
drawing 12A, the National Generators + reserve would be vastly
overloaded and would not cope!!
Now were there some more enhancements /ideas?....please fill in....


e) Pins and convincing fuse holder that didn't fall out when the top was
off (MK and poss others)

f) MK's mushroom screw twerminals - wrap the wire
around the stud and screw a female threaded screw down with floating grip
washer - better surface area of contact.

h) And MK again - equal length of cores when fitting.

IMO MK innovated a lot with the 13A plug and did come up with good robust
designs.

"Frank Erskine" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 22:31:46 GMT, "Jim Gregory"
wrote:



Remember wiring those in the late '60s. They rattled. Lots of loose pin
parts held in check by a perforated template, and you tapped on its shell
to
loosen the three (or two) pins for the gauge you needed! Then you
"unscrewed" them outward, locked them with a 3-way lever! But had no
fuse!!
They was marketed for running portable equipment when you were visiting
various premises but were unsure what wall socket types to find at the
destin. So catered for 3 or 4 common formats.

That was the "Fit-All" plug, made in Northern Ireland, IIRC. Actually
it *did* have a fuse, but ISTR it was totally inside the plug, so
you had to dismantle the lot to get at the fuse.
Because of its vast size it often wouldn't fit into sockets mounted
close to the floor, as most were in those days!

--
Frank Erskine
You're right. Ah, the hidden fuse in the FitAll - it all comes back to me
now, as well as those pesky surface sockets that were sited too close to the
carpet. Once or twice had to re-install them rotated by 90 deg - to be able
to accommodate an awkward plug!
Jim

sponix wrote

Some old electrical fittings he

http://www.74simon.co.uk/plugs.html

Very intersting, but what a wierd site if you click on the home page; but
all the bingo links seem to get back to the real world.

Might have been nice to read about the bingo
--

mike

"Tim S" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 20:00:05 +0000, Jim Gregory wrote:

"john" wrote in message
...
Rummaging through my electrical stuff and realised I could throw away
the
many 13 amp plugs I had removed from defunct appliances over the years.
I
recalled the excitement of years ago of getting home with a new
appliance
and a brand new MK Plug and taking care and pride in fitting the plug
really carefully. Now of course everything comes with a fitted plug.

Does anyone recall the plugs made by "Nettle" - they used to have a
window
in them so that you could see the colour of the fuse. I always thought
it
was a good idea.

----
John

I am sure other makes incorporated a recessed fuse cradle underneath held
in
by a removable
clip showing in its window the fuse's colour/rating value.
The plug improved considerably when makers also added.....
a) non-return, tension-funelled nylon, barbed, cable grip inside entry
(MK?)

MK - but theirs wasn't barbed - quite smooth in fact. No good if you had
arthritic fingers - as a child I had a hell of a job getting a 13A flex
into these, but could manage every other aspect of fittign the plug just
fine.

Sorry, thought it was! But it tightened on the cable if pulled by a lay
person to protect terminations.

b) L and N pins insulator-gaitered near body, about 15 years ago for
safety (it is now
standard but conductor x-section is therefore smaller)
c) loop puller
on some red plugs - for rheumatic /geriatric hands
d) translucent top
with "live" neon indicator option The -worst- thing is..... over 75% of
their ignorant users only ever fit a 13A fuse
instead of the lowest possible rating for the load!! If all plugs in use
were
drawing 12A, the National Generators + reserve would be vastly
overloaded and would not cope!!
Now were there some more enhancements /ideas?....please fill in....


e) Pins and convincing fuse holder that didn't fall out when the top was
off (MK and poss others)

f) MK's mushroom screw twerminals - wrap the wire
around the stud and screw a female threaded screw down with floating grip
washer - better surface area of contact.

h) And MK again - equal length of cores when fitting.

IMO MK innovated a lot with the 13A plug and did come up with good robust
designs.


Point of interest
Who made (or still makes) the low-profile 13A plug? - Tidy, only half the
horribility of a normal plug, I believe it was also available in a luminous
pastel-green.