Round pin era electrics are back

[meow2222]

I'm happy to say. But no BS approval, you're on your own there

NT

[Graham.]

Round pins never went away.

[meow2222]

The items linked to sure did

NT

[Bill]

In message , [e-mail] writes

Depending on which way you plug it in the threaded part could be live if the light was powered on. Somehow it doesn't seem particularly safe.

[meow2222]

yep. Its ok if the live metal's shrouded.

NT

[Bill]

In message , [e-mail] writes

How does the shrouding work then? The threaded aperture certainly looks big enough to get a finger in, if you fumble while changing a bulb.

At least with the more modern 2 pin fittings they were only connected when a bulb was inserted.

[Lobster]

[e-mail] grunted in news: [e-mail]:

What are we meant to be looking at, specifically? You linked to precisely

118 miscellaneous "bulb adapters" on Amazon

[meow2222]

Enough shrounding means the metal outer cap on an ES bulb isnt touchable when screwed in. Of course a finger has access to live metal on an empty holder, same as true with most BC holders. Its not BS, understand what youre buying.

NT

[Another John]

Here's a better link, at John Lewis. I stumbled across this the other day when looking for something else.

**WHY** are round pins being re-introduced? I simply do not understand it. I thought they were phased out in the 70s for safety reasons (i.e. back when, if something was declared "unsafe", it really feckin' WAS unsafe!).

John

[Andy Burns]

No, see above, they never went away. The 2 amp round 3-pin are sometimes (I hesitate to say often) used for dedicated lighting outlets, and the larger ones for theatre lighting, my grandparents' bungalow remained round-pin until they died.

[Another John]

[omitted - eedjit, John] Here :

Andy Burns wrote:

Well I have NEVER seen round pins, anywhere, since the early 80s when the last ones were disappearing. Except for in our local pub, buried in the countryside, which has not had a makeover (thank god) since ... the 60s? 50s?

J.

[charles]

Nothing to do with safety. The Ring Mail circuit which used fused plugs was introduced because of a copper shortage. Round pins are still used in the UK in theatres which are very safety concious places.

[Stephen]

Amongst all those adapters I found this....

Yes you read that right... a GU10 to MR16 adapter....

Hope there is power conversion circuitry in the adapter itself or shoving 240V at up to 6A into a MR16 bulb is either likely to pop the fuse/MCB or destroy the bulb.....

[Mathew Newton]

I think there must be some confusion here. The OP's subject mentioned 'round pin electrics' yet linked to a page of bulb adaptors.

As you say, the round pin plugs linked certainly never went away. They've been present in the Screwfix catalogue et al for as long as I can remember. I always use them for lounge lighting to enable wall-switch control of table/side lamps.

Mathew

[Tim Watts]

On Friday 06 December 2013 08:28 Another John wrote in uk.d-i-y:

Intrinsically they are no less safe than a 13A plug when used according to design.

They do not have fuses (usually), so they need to be installed on a circuit designed for that - ie not a 32A ring.

They used to not have shrouded pins, but they do now. 13A plugs did not have shrouded pins either, but they do now.

Round pin are commonly used where you want to plug a table or floor lamp into a lighting circuit (eg where the circuit is controlled by a wall switch).

[Andy Burns]

you can get fused or unfused versions of 2A/5A/15A, but apparently you're not allowed to use larger than a 5A fuse in the fused 15A versions.

[Another John]

Wow: what an exemplary answer Tim: thank you very much!

John

[charles]

and in the theatre where you don't want a fuse in some inaccessible position above the stage or audience.

[Tim Watts]

On Friday 06 December 2013 09:39 Andy Burns wrote in uk.d-i-y:

I knew I'd seen something somewhere about that...

That does seem to make no sense whatsoever...

>

[The Other Mike]

Disappointingly no ready made adaptors to enable the simultaneous connection of an iron and a kettle using BS 546 plugs to a B22 lamp fitting although I suppose I could roll my own using one of these