Redundant mains plugs

[Uno-Hoo!]

Having lived through the age when every purchase of an electrical product necessitated the immediate additional purchase of a mains plug before you could use it, I now find myself unable to just throw re-useable plugs away.

As a result I have amassed a collection of around 13 or 14 of the damned things. Anyone come up with any books of the '1001 uses for redundant mains plugs' type? !!

I've just taken the plug off an old hair dryer my wife was throwing away. She said, "Why have you done that?" I said, "Well it's got a good 13 amp fuse in it." She replied, "Well take out the fuse and chuck the plug in the bin, it's no use to anyone."

She's quite right of course - but what a waste!

Uno-Hoo!

[Martin]

How refreshing to read that - and realise I'm not alone! I've been doing the same thing for decades - with the trivial concession that more recently I've taken to cutting off the cable rather than go to the trouble of actually unscrewing things. And I can't remember the last time I needed a

13A fuse....

[Palindrome]

A lot of the monitors I get come with both UK and continental mains leads - so spare 13A plugs are very useful to replace the furrin ones and give working leads.

Why I need the leads is that I do a lot of work for charities and they get donated computery stuff - but the donors never include the mains leads...

The donors must have boxes of them in the store but I am always running out and having to buy them..

With moulded on plugs being so common now - 13A rewireable plugs are hard to come by, unfortunately.

So, Mrs UHoo is wrong, they are of use..

[Farmer Giles]

I never throw old plugs away, even if I have replaced them on something because it had an old plug without shrouds on the pins. I always put the old pins in a box and take them to a scrap yard, or to the recycling bins at the council tip, when I have collected a reasonable quantity.

By the way, your hair dryer should have 5 Amp fuse - or possibly 3 Amp, depending on type - not a 13 Amp.

[malc]

I keep them too. I also find that, at the hospital where I work, we end up wiith piles of IEC leads. I suspect that they are kept when equipment is scrapped but we usually seem to end up with a box of 20 or 30 of the buggers. It got to the stage a few weeks back where I had to throw some away. Those who know me would realise what a wrench that was.

[Rob graham]

Your hair will dry more quickly if you use a 13 amp fuse.

Rob graham

[keith_765]

There's got to be a scrap value in those brass pins. I can remember the BBC children's programme Blue Peter asking kids to send them in for recycling. They did the same for redundant keys.

[the_constructor]

I got a back of about 50 in the loft. Might be able to sell them on ebay in

20 years time as relics of a golden age

[the_constructor]

Now keys are another thing I collect, sad really, but only a few weeks ago my neighbour was locked out of her house due to boyfriend taking keys with him. I routed through my box and low and behold, found one to fit.

[Andrea Collins]

(Snip)

Avertise them on Freecycle....