Quality of different brands (MK, Crabtree, Volex & Marbo)

[Distorted Vision]

I'm looking at buying various switches and sockets and was wondering about the quality of different brands. I am very familar with MK but have only really heard of Crabtree, Volex and Marbo. I normally buy MK because I know they are good quality but we do not like the styling ot the Logic Plus range. So I was wondering about the other brands. I know they are all Electrium brands which are owned by Siemens. So I was wondering if there was really a difference between them. The reason I ask is that I've got a credit note from B&Q and they only Marbo in the items I want. Otherwise I would have to go to my local Edmumdson's or Screwfix for Crabtree or Volex.

Many thanks for your help.

[meow2222]

Ashley & Crabtree are the best imho. MK trail well behind. The cheap makes I dont really know.

NT

[Tim S]

Distorted Vision coughed up some electrons that declared:

GET seems good - I've tried their Ultimate plastic sockets and the terminals are decent, and the styling more sleek than MK Logic Plus.

Cheers

Tim

[Distorted Vision]

Many thanks. I didn't realise that Crabtree was better than MK. I've always thought they were the best.

Tim, can you please tell me where I can buy GET?

[PeterC]

Out of interest, why does MK trail - it always seems to be pushed as Good Quality? I've just used a Crabtree pull-switch and it's well made.

The leccies at work liked Wylex but not Volex, but that was 20 years ago so might be different now.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

In general anything bought from a reputable source will be ok in normal use. So it really comes down to taste. I'm quite partial to these:-

[Steve Walker]

I've got Volex (9000 range) pretty well throughout the house - free samples :) and all have been fine for fifteen years now.

SteveW

[Tim S]

Distorted Vision coughed up some electrons that declared:

TLC, if you have a branch.

or

[Tim S]

Dave Plowman (News) coughed up some electrons that declared:

Although stay away from B&Q generic plates. I tried one and the terminals were utter rubbish - stick 3 wires in and half the time one would fall out after tightening.

Unless Dave meant to cover this when he said "reputable source" :->>>

[meow2222]

Ashley & Crabtree I've always found reliable, well thought out, very robust, and with good attention to detail. FWIW Ashley also innovated a much better live pin contact protection system than MK's, but MK's sleeved pin approach won the day.

MK I've had an acceptable but significant failure rate with, and they've realeased various ideas without sufficient testing that have proven to be problems. 2 examples are

- sleeved pin plugs, which when we first had them consistently overheated and melted on sustained 13A loads.

- press-in cordgrips, which failed to do one of the basic jobs of a cordgrip, to prevent cable terminations moving about, resulting in an increase in connection problems, which are of course a fire risk.

MK were the first large company to produce safety sockets (multi- kontakt), but that was a long time ago, and their designs have caused more issues than I would like.

Wylex are famous for their old fuseboxes, which were backward on safety levels in the 80s. Volex I have too little experience with to say anything useful.

At the scary end of the scale, anyone remember clix plugs, or even worse those insulation piercing plugs?

NT

[PeterC]

When molded plugs came out, Barclays in Northampton had several from MK that were incorrectly wired (I've never liked those plugs as I can't see inside).

[Andrew Gabriel]

I've always found MK to be the best (never had burnout with high current loads, and their parts are exceptionally well designed for ease of fitting, for which they've constantly lead in the industry). This applies to the things they design and make, but the parts like CU's which they buy in, I've not been so impressed with recently (they used to be better ~20 years ago). I've had similar comments about Crabtree quality from others with enough experence to make valid comments (but not personal experience as I personally tend not to like the aethetics of their ranges for my use).

Had several Ashley and Volex fail with high current loads (they tend to be what gets used when a builder buys cheapest), and had GET simply wear out and fall apart rather quickly.

Of course, people can only tell you about the quality of parts purchased some years ago, and that may not apply to something you buy tomorrow. YMMV...

[PeterC]

What are Superswitch like on quality? I've fitted a 2-gang 2-way switchplate nad it seeme alright. Also nicely rounded, so no sharp corners, and quiet but perhaps a bit 'light'-feeling on operation.

[Tim S]

Andrew Gabriel coughed up some electrons that declared:

Hi Andrew - I'd be interested in some info on this. Was your observation based on the odd one or a lot?

Just before I go and place a large order at TLC you see...

Cheers

Tim

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Distorted Vision saying something like:

I've been using Click sockets and switches, which are in imo every bit as good as MK and half the price.

local wholesaler has been pushing the Curva range to good effect.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

If only they weren't so ugly. ;-) Their grid switch range looks like Lucas circa '70 found on Marinas...

[John]

> My local wholesaler has been pushing the Curva range to good effect. All products tend to change as manufacturing innovations influence the design (DFM / DFA - Design for Manufacture / Assembly). Also buyers might go to alternative sources of manufacture or change materials.

Surely a factor to consider is whether matching items will be around when you do some changes and if the range offers all the fitments you need (What - no Intermediate Switch)

[Andrew Gabriel]

Based on high failure rate in a small sample (I've used very little of their stuff).

Their gridswitch equivalent fits 3 switches into a 1 gang plate, so I use them when I want to do that. The switches fall to bits after a few years (and I'm only using them to switch 12V 1mA input to a home automation system, so that's a mechanical failure, not electrical). I've also replaced a socket in someone else's house where the switch had fallen to bits (in a different way).

So the sample is probably too small to be significant, but at least concerning.

[Rob]

About half the Volex plug sockets in my house have faulty switches - stuck in the on or off position. And the other half feel as if they're going that way. Almost certainly less than 10 years old.

Rob

[Mike]

How did they come up with a better "live pin contact protection system" than sleeved pins?

I've never ever had a problem with the press in cordgrip, nor with overheating using MK plugs in use across many hundreds of appliances in industrial applications. Most were low wattage appliances but there were many 2 or 3kW electric heaters and very large office fans - with four on the go it was not far off standing behinds a Lancaster.

Anything that came in for repair or test more or less automatically got a new MK plug fitted - they were so popular we even had a large batch produced with our own logo on the cover to try and prevent 'wastage' - it didn't work as a bit of scotchbrite removed it :)