Someone told me that there is a cheap device for allowing bayonet light bulbs to fit into screw sockets (although I have not seen this).
Is there the opposite device, ie something one can put in a bayonet socket which will allow screw bulbs to be put in?
Like this?
These sorts of adaptors all vanished in the early 1970's when it became a legal requirement for all plugs/sockets/adapators/etc to conform to relevant British Standards, and none of the manufacturers thought it worthwhile to contribute relevant sections to the british standards for these edge cases.
In the UK, it's a requirement for screw sockets to be polarised, and BC aren't, so it's not clear how such an adaptor could be made which conforms anyway.
These adaptors can still be found in other countries whose wiring is based on UK wiring, such as Hong Kong. A few years ago I managed to buy some BC plugs which had been illegally imported to the UK. Prior to the 1970's, these were easily obtainable.
One downside of these not quite compliant electrical accessories is that not all of them work with each other. Most do.
NT
On Wed, 4 Nov 2009 12:19:36 +0000 (UTC) someone who may be snipped-for-privacy@cucumber.demon.co.uk (Andrew Gabriel) wrote this:-
Others have given some on-line sources. I have seen them in a few shops, certainly in the 1990s and I suspect since.
Why the f*ck do bulbs *need* to be polarised ?
Bulbs don't. But ES sockets in the UK have to be connected so the outer ring (screw) is connected to neutral and the inner stud is connected to live, so you have to stick your finger all the way into the socket to get zapped.
A BC lampholder to ES bulb adapter would fail regulations because there would always be a 50% chance of the ring being live, which is more easily touched whilst changing a bulb.
Owain
which
They don't but quite a lot of kit you could plug in is polarity sensitive, even if it's just a single pole switch and fusing.
What? You've never seen a BC to flex connector or the individually switched twin BC adpaters that enabled a bulb to be used in one socket and a BC plug in the other?
extremely easy.... if you use one, best check you get it so the ring's neutral.
NT
Not only that, but (AFAIK) we're not allowed ES sockets anyway, but only a modified ES so that the main screw-thread is non-conductive and the contact is only made through shielded fingers at the side, part- way down.
If you try to buy all-brass ES fittings (even ones with earthed bodies) they have a visible insulating ring projecting at the top. Bit of a problem for restoring old (US) light fittings.
Not sure whether to about the nanny state or the state of US electrical bits.
Owain
Do you know a source for those BC to flex jobbies, Dave?
Ebay's your only bet, apparently manufacturers didn't bother to get them kitemarked when regulations changed, therefore they can no longer be sold.
In article , Owain writes
Not only that but many ES sockets, even when occupied, leave a few threads of the bulb accessible. Combine that with an earthed fitting and a shocking time can be had by all.
In article , Andy Burns writes
of those.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Andy Burns saying something like:
socket but a light fitting. I use a flying two-way lead from the adapter with a plug-in RCD on the socket, just to be relatively sure of things.
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