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Old 21st Apr 2012, 9:35 pm   #152
Lucien Nunes
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 2,508
Default Re: Another unusual plug and some other questions

Quote:
plus an anonymous 2pin example.
Something tells me that is not a suppressor but a series resistor for operating a 110V shaver from 240V, although which shaver I cannot recall.

15A BS546 is becoming somewhat marginalised in theatre lighting but still there. There was a time when I expected 16A BS4343 / EN60309 to take over quickly and completely, however the rapid increase in the use of intelligent lighting fixtures that must not be run from a dimmer has encouraged the use of 16A for 'hard power', while 15A survives for dimmed circuits.

Although there are still UK brands of 15A plug and socket such as MK and Duraplug, these suppliers do not offer multiway adaptors. For a long time, 'Snapper' brand adaptors by Lumex have been imported from South Africa as a suitable alternative. Because these are made to South African (SABS) standard 164, they are rated at 16A although they are mechanically interchangeable with BS546 15A.

Due to long established usage, the generic term 'grelco' survives, from Grelco, the archetypal but long defunct British brand. So if you ask a theatre electrician for a 15A grelco, he will probably hand you a 16A Snapper. Lumex also make a 3-way Snapper which by extension is termed a 'trelco'. Snapper is also becoming genericised to mean adaptor since it was for a long time the only widely available brand. Obviously Lumex make other products such as plugs under the Snapper name but we don't find many here, due to the continued availability of Permaplug, Duraplug etc.

Lucien
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