Folding 3 pin plug

Heh :)

I don't mind UK plus on the end of flexes - the majority of things with mains flexes seem to be reasonably bulky anyway, so imply a bit of storage space when moving them anywhere.

What I don't like are the mains adapters where the power pins are built in; in the US the spindly[1] little pins typically fold up into the adapter so it's nice and slimline and will fit into a pocket etc. - but I don't recall seeing anything like this in the UK (presumably because the pins are so chunky, and - AFAIK - they have to have an earth pin even if it is fake)

Pros and cons in both systems, I suppose.

cheers

Jules

In message , chunkyoldcortina wrote

Maybe a good idea but presumably only suitable for OEM and moulded on plugs/cables.

One potential problem that I can see is that it has moving parts. The contact between the wire and the prongs have rotating switch type contacts. With use these may become high(er) resistance and get hot during use.

BTW, how did it do so much damage to the socket that it is plugged into?

Something odd about that link. Browser window goes unresponsive and Task manager reports internet explorer cpu usage maxed out.

I remember the Fit-All plug I had on my soldering iron in the

Somewhere, I have still got a 13A plug with a very thin body. Well designed too, I think it's made of nylon.

That's not damage that's a sh**ty metalclad socket covered in muck in a workshop. Hardly a H & S aware place so the plug shape looked like the least of their problems

Unlikely for the low-power loads that this is aimed at, but rotating or moving contacts are not trivial to get to work reliably.

As soon as you decide you don't need all 13 amps, a few more options become available.

..but why doesn't their clever multi-plug adapter also have folding pins...?

oving contacts are not

Is there any need for wiping contacts? Why not crimp the flex ends direct to the pin tops

NT

AFAYK? Have you never thought about what those fake earth pins actually do?

MBQ

The picture doesn't show that. Is the main body shown rorating relative to the prongs on the video? Otherwise, it's just the two wings that rotate.

MBQ

I couldn't tell from the video whether it had wiping contacts, or whether the wires were permanently attached to the pins.

If the latter, the wires would have to twist and/or bend every time the pins were rotated - so the danger of fatigue damage may be even worse than the risk of contact resistance.

Doh! I've put my glasses on now.

MBQ

Do all sockets have the little sliding mechanism for covering the L/N contacts when not in use, then? I thought I'd come across lots without, but it's not exactly something I've ever paid much attention to :-)

To stop you cascading them?

You have seen lots of faulty sockets? Or maybe they are MK ones that don't need an earth pin to operate the shutters.

All UK 13A sockets have shutters, but there are two types. One type uses the Earth pin to push a ramp and open the shutters downwards on the live and neutral (Volex, etc.) and the other uses ramps on the shutter so that as the plug is inserted the live pin tries to push the shutter one way and the neutral pushes the other (one up one down), so that the shutter rotates, clearing both entries (MK).

SteveW

The message from "Graham." contains these words:

Correct. I have a few of them still, too. Excellent in every way. Robust, easy to wire, strong, extremely compact. They even look good.

What is it with these furriners? Why can't they just accept that our system is the best & that the rest of the world should change to it instead of their wafty Mickey Mouse systems?

On Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:28:02 GMT, "The Medway Handyman" had this to say:

Hear hear!

In fact why should they change at all? Let them stick to their rubbish plugs...

I was quite happy with the 15A round-pin plugs we used to have. Why did we have to change?

The best thing about the BS1363 plug is that the cable comes out at a right angle, so leaves neatly flush with the wall, not striaght out from the wall getting in the way of everything near it. I'm fed up with the number of phone or network sockets I have to replace because some furniture has brushed against it and snapped all the gubbins.

It also means that it is impossible to extract the plug by pulling on the cable, so you're forced to extract it correctly by pulling the plug body. The abomination that is the Euro-plug and similar just screams out to people to be pulled out by the cable, resulting the in the cable fracturing at some point.

-- JGH