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

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 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

"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

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

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

Eons earlier in this thread, someone mentioned a plug that fitted both 13A and round pin plugs & it
rang the vaguest of bells as I remember my Dad having one. Just found it - pics here :

"Fitall plug"

www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3486.jpg
www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3487.jpg
www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3488.jpg
www.electricstuff.co.uk/temp/img_3489.jpg

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 |
\================================================= ================/

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

"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

Blueyonder wrote:
"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




I'm still usin' one. Wot's the problem ?

john

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.

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.

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

Mike Harrison wrote:
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.

In my experience these fashion items are dangerous. The transparent
plastic is different than the normal stuff. It gets brittle with age
and the first point of failure is the boss holding the main screw which
keeps the two halves together. That one would have damaged my 9 year
old but for the fact that he always switches off at the socket before
unplugging - something I now force myself to do having seen what can
happen

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

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.

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

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

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 remember them!

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

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

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

In article , Tim S
wrote:

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.

Those were the days, we had a scary extension lead with 5A 2 pin plug at
one end and a BC adapter at the other, very nasty when left lying around
without the BC plug in it. Still not as bad as the extension lead I once
came across with 5A 2 pin male at each end.

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.

Had one of those too with a string switch for the spare way, very useful
for the makeshift photographic darkroom. Red 15W pigmy bulb in the main
socket and normal bulb in the switched one.

While we're on the nostalgia trip, does anyone know why 3 pin plugs of
yesteryear used to have a small hole beside the earth pin?

--
Mike Clarke

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 22:43:42 +0000 someone who may be Tim S
wrote this:-

When I were a lad (70's) we used to have our fairy lights for Christmas
on a BC plug.

I have just put some away for another year. Acceptably safe if used
by those that know what they are doing.

I also have one of the BC two way adapters people have discussed
(rated at 1A BTW) on my desk. I sometimes threaten to put it
somewhere in order to frighten the "safety" mob.


--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

"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 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

"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

Jim Gregory wrote:
[...]

And anyone remember the feature on some Crabtree round-pin plugs? A
turned groove in the earth pin into which would engage some sort of pawl
or dog mechanism linked to the switch in their sockets, the idea being
to make it impossible to remove the plug if the switch was in the ON
position. Something which no doubt originated while DC mains were still
around.

Oh, and pear switches...

--
Andy

On Sat, 07 Jan 2006 23:04:08 GMT, "Jim Gregory"
wrote:

"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

The pitch of the pins between L-N on both 5A and 15A differed slightly
for 2-pin and 3-pin versions, so the plug would actually flex a bit to
enable the plug to go in...

In those days I worked for the GPO and we had official instructions to
not use these plugs for appliances which drew more than 5A or needed
an earth connection.

--
Frank Erskine

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.
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.

This reminds me of a sqwuare pin plug I had not long ago that had odd
shaped pins, not
: __
: |__|

but
: __
: (__)

I dont remember what happened to it, probably got removed when the
plugs were changed to sleeved type.


NT

wrote in message
oups.com...
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.
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.

This reminds me of a sqwuare pin plug I had not long ago that had odd
shaped pins, not
: __
: |__|

but
: __
: (__)

I dont remember what happened to it, probably got removed when the
plugs were changed to sleeved type.


NT

Some specials were used in communal areas of premises, like hallways and
landings in flats, where the landlords allowed power consunption only for
cleaners and maintenance staff .
There was another restricted-use design where all oblong pins are oriented
90degs to the familiar 13A setup.

On Tue, 10 Jan 2006 14:19:28 UTC, "Jim Gregory"
wrote:

There was another restricted-use design where all oblong pins are oriented
90degs to the familiar 13A setup.

was = is

--
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

In article , Jim Gregory
wrote:

There was another restricted-use design where all oblong pins are
oriented 90degs to the familiar 13A setup.

Reminds me of the BC lamp bulbs with 3 locating pins instead of the
usual 2. No doubt to discourage employees from nicking the bulbs' The
extra cost of the specials must have been far more than the cost of a
few bulbs walking off site.

--
Mike Clarke

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

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.

I used to play a guitar in a group in the sixties and I was the
band/group electrician and when I discovered that very same plug, it
took away all problems of the various sockets that I would encounter, at
the booking we got. It made life a lot easier for me :-)

Up to finding it, I had to wire/re-wire plugs at virtually every event.
This meant that the mains cable was getting more and more ragged at each
plug change.

Ah! how dangerously we lived in those days :-)


Dave

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 18:40:57 +0000 (UTC) someone who may be Dave
wrote this:-

Up to finding it, I had to wire/re-wire plugs at virtually every event.
This meant that the mains cable was getting more and more ragged at each
plug change.

Wouldn't it have been easier, if more expensive, to standardise on a
plug and socket for use within the band and then make two sorts of
short adapter leads to go from the other sorts of socket to your
standard?



--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 18:40:57 +0000 (UTC), Dave
wrote:

I used to play a guitar in a group in the sixties and I was the
band/group electrician [...]

Ah! how dangerously we lived in those days :-)

I was having a similar chat in the pub a while back with a couple of old
musos (one surprisingly well known).

"I wonder that more of us didn't get killed on stage, what with all the
dodgy wiring"

'Evolution in action. All the weak ones had been killed off by the
crappy old vans we used to drive to the gigs in'

Having driven some of those vans, I see his point.