Unfused 13A plugtop "kettle" lead (UK)

In the 60s we had a flat with 2a, 5a and 13a sockets. At work we used

15a sockets and my parent's home built in 1947 had 2a and 5a sockets with flat power connctions and a round earth pin

If you can find the parts.

I have a bayonet cap flex adaptor in the shed. We usedto run a 1kw cooking ring off it plugged into a light socket --

"Evil always goes where the power is" (Buffy)

In article , AlanG writes

Hmmm... 3amps or so... Not too bad!

The switches date back to much earlier sockets on DC supplies, where you had to switch off the current before pulling out the plug, as just pulling out the plug alone doesn't stop DC from flowing (you get a nice long arc;-). BS1363 sockets were never designed for DC operation, but the switch had become expected by then, so it's stayed. You can buy and fit sockets without switches if you want to. There's certainly no regulatory reason for them.

BS546 round pin plugs and sockets are still manufacturered, and still permitted by the wiring regs. Even B&Q sell them. In some other countries, they are still in very widespread use.

Although I haven't seen one for a while, you can get plugs with switches on too.

It never seems sensible, to me at least, to yank a plug from its socket with 12A flowing through it.

Yes for the 15A and 5A sockets, although 5A sockets were not that common -- mostly come via the adaptors you remember. The 2A ones were on the lighting circuit.

That's why ring circuits replaced radial circuits. It was a recognition that people needed a lot more sockets, but didn't need them to all supply 15A at the same time.

Products like this do exist, but they've never caught on for widespread use, so you could summise that for most people the inconvenience of different socket types outweighs any advantage of smaller sockets.

That does sound like something to think about.

One of the downsides of US is the large number of low-wattage items. For example, in my bedroom I have to use an adapter to plug in the 1) alarm clock, 2) portable phone 3) reading lamp and 4) portable fan. Now, I've added up the current draw of all these devices (the fan is the largest at

120W) and it's less than 3A (I even used a 'kill-a-watt' on the fan and reading lamp).

But I swear it *looks* like one of those electrical safety posters you see that says, "DON'T DO THIS". A total of a measly 3A, but the wall outlet looks like a disaster waiting to happen! *I* know the circuit isn't overloaded (only one other lamp on the whole 20A branch circuit feeding the bedroom).

But try explaining to your wife/kids why they can *not* plug the laundry iron, hair dryer and curling iron into a similar setup in the bathroom. To most people, "a plug is a plug" and if it's safe to put four into an adapter next to the nightstand in bedroom, then it's safe anywhere.

Or if very-low current plugs came with some way to provide for additional very-low current plugs, then ban the generic adapter.

daestrom

Andrew:

I've lived in the USA for more than 48 years and I've never, ever heard an American complain "My God, I hate my standard of living because I can't plug in a 2400 watt vacuum cleaner or I can't run the extra large waffle iron". Do you think that perhaps maybe we are missing something and we don't know just how good it could be?

I don't meet very many American tourists coming back for the UK, saying "Those Brits have it so much better then we... with their fast-heating deep fryers, ring circuits, whole house RDC's, color codes of bizarre duplicity, electric showers, lack of switches where they should be, pull chains and isolation transformers in the bathrooms..."

Most Americans would find switches on their appliance outlets a bit weird. Shouldn't these things be on and ready 24/7?

And I must also say for the record that I've been in many US homes that have special 20A 240 plugs for higher power appliances such as heaters. There is a special NEMA plug for this... But the truth is, for 99% of the applications don't need it.

Beachcomber

I don't think that can be right. I recall having round pin 15 amp plugs in the house when I was a child. None of them had switches. Switches came in when the 15 amp plugs were replaced by square pin 13 amp plugs IIRC.

More a question that you don't miss what you've never had, I think.

A few do. Most would not notice in a short holiday visit. The bigger "suck" on a vacuum cleaner is a distinct advantage. Most other advantages can be gained by different means. Similarly, a UK housewife living in the US soon wonders how she ever coped without the ubiquitous garbage disposal unit IME. (Yes, you can get them here, but they are not that common yet).

Palindr?me wrote: ....

I notified the retailer on Friday - they claim 48 hours to respond, but I've heard nothing after 49 hours plus a weekend. I've just sent a talk-to-me-within-24-hours-or-I-tell-Trading-Standards email. I assume I won't hear anything, although they are a reputable company -- so, which TS do I contact: my own (Essex) or their local one?

(It seems all 13A plugs have to be fused and carry the appropriate BS marking. This one has neither - presumably like the OP's)

Was when we were first married. 60s and a big housing shortage. We lived in one room in a multi occupancy slum hoping for a council flat. Twin VIR put in in the 30s.

Your own local trading standards office.

BillB

My parent first house had only 5A two pin plugs (two in the living room), if you wanted to connect anything elsewhere in the house you had to use a light socket from the ceiling. I used to have a double adaptor in mine so I could have my radio on and listen to Radio Luxemburg when I was at school in the 50s.

BillB

. We should remember that much of the world uses 230 volt at 50Hz, not what we North Americans (Canada /US) think is standard. and that wiring requirements and plugs and sockets vary. Even some parts of the Caribbean use 230 volt etc!

Neither system is inferior; in fact it's a wonder that the UK ring main system has not been adopted in some NA instances.

I did infact wire some circuits that way in our first house (1960) and also used split outlets thus more than doubling the capacity of several circuits, with an eye towards, then, future electric heating. Have since built another house which is wired using the straightforward simple 'brute force' North American codes and materials.

BTW some parts of the world still, sensibly drive on the left. makes a great deal of sense since the majority of humans are right handed!

Lot's of 15A sockets had switches, but just like today's 13A sockets, unswitched ones were available too.

"Some parts" being "most of"! (There's a heck of a lot of the Carribean South of the US Virgins, all using 240V AFAIK)

Quite a few US yachts I came across had a 240V to 120V transformer that the owner believed would solve the problem. But they overlooked the fact that many US appliances won't work at 50Hz even if the voltage is OK. Replacing battery chargers earned me a few bucks - many US battery chargers overheat and burn out if run with a 50Hz supply. The reverse was not as much of a problem (a transformer designed to operate at 50Hz will work fine at 60Hz)

That was in the 1970's. Probably not as much of an issue today with so many power supplies being switchmode.

The old UK 15A used sockets that did not have shutters, the same plug is also now the current standard in South Africa, but the socket has been modified to have shutter. The 15A plug is bigger that the current UK 13A and was original connected as part of a radial circuit in the UK with a fuse per plug. They were rare in domestic applications as the standard distribution box did not have capacity to accept them

BillB

The 15th or 16th edition wiring regs introduced the requirement for sockets in domestic premises to be shuttered. Obviously, the old round pin sockets way predate that, but they are all now available shuttered in order to comply. Shutters are not required sockets in non-domestic situations (unless the relevant British Standard requires them, as in the case of 13A sockets)..

Hum, this isn't correct. Each socket had a separate fuse in the fuseboard. In those days, one or two sockets per room was the norm, and fuseboards were sized for this. There was no fuse in the plug. (Fused round pin plugs are available today, but they aren't, and never were the 'norm'.)