Round pin plugs/sockets

[bruce_phipps]

Just moved into a 1970s house. It seems to have a lot of the original electrics still installed.

The gas CH boiler is connected to the mains by means of a 3-pin plug with *round* pins going into a 3-round pin socket. There is a separate fused on/off switch for the boiler adjacent to this socket.

Should I swap the round-pin plug and socket for a modern "bayonet" type or doesn't it matter?

On a related point, the mains fuse unit is old but seems OK. Should I replace it with the modern type that "pop out" when a fuse blows?

Bruce

[Harry Bloomfield]

bruce [e-mail] expressed precisely :

This was propably deliberate, to prevent someone using the boiler supply socket for a normal appliance.

[brugnospamsia]

You sure this isn't an 1950s (or earlier) house ?

If there are round pin sockets I would be worrying about the wiring - unless maybe the previous owner was a die-hard individualist and preferred round pin sockets - I've heard tell they may well be technically superior to square pins. Is it just the one socket ?

[Ed Sirett]

This is quite a common feature of boiler installations of that period. The idea is that that boiler can be isolated but the plug can't/won't be used for anything else. It will/should be fused at 3A (the other switch) and controlled by the timers/programmers and 'stats.

Semi enclosed rewireable fuse holders can often be directly replaced with MCBs, (but you must get the right type and maker to fit your fuse box).

[Lurch]

On 3 Jan 2005 10:24:04 -0800, bruce [e-mail] strung together this:

Nothing wrong with that as long as it's all safe.

A what type? There's nothing wrong with a round pin plug and socket, as long as they're safe.

No, you should leave it alone and call an electrician. Fuses don't pop out, they blow.

[Lee]

Diazed (sp?) fuses do, sort of, maybe the OP was thinking about these these ;)

Lee

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Round pin sockets weren't original in the '70s. Except those nasty D&S 13 amp types which used a fuse as one of the pins. The present 13 amp plugs came in just after WW2 on new builds.

Could be the round pin plug for the CH is to prevent anyone plugging in anything else - it's still common practice for table lamps on a lighting circuit that would blow with a 13 amp load.

[Lurch]

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 19:55:13 +0000, Lee strung together this:

Hmm, bit far fetched that thought!

[Andrew Chesters]

Come on guys, give the OP a break!! He means 'replace the fuses with modern _circuit breakers_ that pop out, I'm sure. I wouldn't have thought that you would _need_ to replace them, but there may well be a case for doing so.

[Dave Gibson]

..the same reason as 22 isn't pronounced tooty too and 33 isn't pronounced threety three?

Dave

[Stephen Dawson]

Shame he can't do that now, Part P has arrived !!

[Andrew Chesters]

Replacing fuses with the plug-in type breakers _must_ be minor works, surely?

[Owain]

"Lurch" wrote | >Diazed (sp?) fuses do, sort of, maybe the OP was thinking about these | >these ;) | Hmm, bit far fetched that thought!

AIUI they were very common in Ireland. I know this is UK diy but we're all in the common market now.

Owain

[BigWallop]

Did the same person who put the "OO" at the end of Shampoo, put the "ITE" at the end Sh...........?

[Lurch]

On Mon, 03 Jan 2005 21:18:44 GMT, Andrew Chesters strung together this:

Problem is, the OP sounds very much like someone who shouldn't be doing electrical works so what's the point?

[BigWallop]

These round pin plugs are still obtainable, and are more commonly used on things that you don't want anything else to be simply plugged in to that outlet.

The boiler in your case could have this set up to make sure it's completely isolated from the power supply when being serviced. This would now be more commonly done using a double pole switch with the cable connected directly into it.

If you do have any doubts about the safety of the wiring, then contact your local electricity supplier and ask for it to be tested. They'll make a small charge but it's worth having the peace of mind knowing the whole house isn't going to heat up through the cables in the walls. They may also find that the mains supply cable needs upgraded from the street if the house hasn't been touched in all that time.

If it ain't broked, don't repair it.

[Andrew Chesters]

I'm surprised that you wrote that! Do they send out electricians in your area? I have heard from semi-reliable sources that they are more likely to send a salesman who has been trained to suck his teeth and say "Who fitted that for you?" or "I haven't seen one like that before?" or some such s**te. Then tell you the whole lot needs rewiring at ££CHING!

[BigWallop]

I have to deal with Leccy Suppliers an awful lot all over the country, and they all still seem have a test request system in operation. You have work done, you send off a postcard or letter to them with the details on it, they send someone "qualified" around to test it and re-seal where needed.

You might be thinking of the Gas Companies on this one.

[Andrew Chesters]

I was thinking more of a general "wiring inspection" type, than an "after works" check.

[Lurch]

On Mon, 3 Jan 2005 21:20:30 -0000, "Owain" strung together this:

I've never wired anything up across there! I've seen them in control panels from Europe and that's about it.