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Old 21st Feb 2019, 3:59 pm   #21
Brigham
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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Originally Posted by ms660 View Post
Looking into a Bulgin 3 pin chassis mounted plug (ie: 3 male pins) from the customers side with the location notch at the bottom the Live pin is on the right and the Neutral pin is on the left in a photo of the one I'm looking at.

Lawrence.
Which is, of course, the 'wrong way round'.
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Old 21st Feb 2019, 4:07 pm   #22
ms660
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

Not so far as Bulgin was concerned....Here's a link to the photo I was referring to....which might or might not be allowed, I've include it for ID purposes only:

https://www.ebid.net/ie/for-sale/bul...-165048858.htm

Lawrence.
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Old 21st Feb 2019, 5:06 pm   #23
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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Originally Posted by Brigham View Post
... Which is, of course, the 'wrong way round'.
Of course if having live and neutral the left/right 'wrong way round' really troubles anyone's OCD then there's an easy way to fix that .

Cheers,

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Old 21st Feb 2019, 6:51 pm   #24
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

We used those Bulgin connectors on a 550 Volts DC supply where I used to work, they were good never gave us any trouble. Despite what health and safety say they should be fine on a 250 VAC supply
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Old 21st Feb 2019, 7:30 pm   #25
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Default Re: Old bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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Originally Posted by snowman_al View Post
Take Care, unfortunately there are errors in the Plug and Socket Museum's pictures.
Picture 9 is wrong, L and N are the other way round. Picture 10 shows the correct wiring for the chassis mounted 'socket', not the 'plug'.
And the 5 Amp plug in picture 2 is wrong, the L and N are reversed again if looking at the plug face. (It is actually the layout for the chassis 'socket in picture 1.)
Thanks for the warning - I was just about to put the iron on! Picture 10 shows the free socket and chassis plug that I am using, with connections as expected. It's Picture 9 that they have got the wrong way round, as that mates with the plug in Picture 10
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Old 21st Feb 2019, 8:30 pm   #26
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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We used those Bulgin connectors ... Despite what health and safety say they should be fine ...
The connectors might be absolutely fine. Fact is though that 'health and safety' are also concerned for the toddler who may touch the contacts with his/her little fingers. They could be a lot less fine.

Cheers,

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Old 21st Feb 2019, 8:57 pm   #27
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

For ID only, here's another one, with earth up top the Live pin is on the right and the Neutral pin is on the left when viewed from the pin side:

https://picclick.fr/Bulgin-3-Way-Cha...037860207.html

Lawrence.
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Old 22nd Feb 2019, 12:59 am   #28
JohnBG8JMB
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

TOTALLY unsafe.
In 1971, the company started exporting radio paging systems to the USA. We went to the trouble of getting 110V transformers and USA mains plugs. The US product guy said ' caint use that, not UL approved. "What's wrong with it? [the Bulgin large 3 pin] It's OK in the UK".. He unscrewed the Bulgin plug, took the wires out, put them back, did up the plug and plugged the mains lead into the 110V. When the flash and bang subsided, we said 'I see what you mean' and changed to a USA UL approved wired in mains lead.

Comment was made- "Yah caint make things foolproof cause fools are so damned ingenious...all our stuff runs off 24VACDC then you only got to get 1 power unit approved once"

So yes, Bulgin were unsafe, even by the standards of the time. Wouldn't have passed BS 415, either.

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Old 19th Jul 2019, 8:40 am   #29
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

These Bulgin 3 pin plugs and sockets (and the 2 pin variant) regularly appear for sale on eBay at upwards of £40 plus per set (plug and socket), someone must be using them. Back in 1997/8 they were only £1.50 each (£3 per set) in the Maplin catalogue.
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Old 19th Jul 2019, 1:58 pm   #30
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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These Bulgin 3 pin plugs and sockets (and the 2 pin variant) regularly appear for sale on eBay at upwards of £40 plus per set (plug and socket), someone must be using them ...
One answer in post #3 further up this thread. They were also used on a lot of audio items e.g. Leak amplifiers, Quad electrostatic loudspeakers etc, which are still in use.

Cheers,

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Old 19th Jul 2019, 9:38 pm   #31
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

I suppose the main market for these is the UK, otherwise, given these prices, an enterprising far eastern manufacturer would manufacture clones. AFAIR Bulgin introduced these around 1936: extract from their 1936-7 catalogue attached, where they are described as being "A new irreversible connector...", and "absolutely shock-proof". The annular ridge that serves as a finger grip was also designed to provide a safety feature by ensuring that, where connection was made by plugging in via a suitably-sized hole in the back panel, the mains had to be disconnected before the panel could be removed.
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 8:57 am   #32
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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I suppose the main market for these is the UK, otherwise, given these prices, an enterprising far eastern manufacturer would manufacture clones ...
The price is quite high but the volume of the market is small - I'd be surprised if it was as big as a couple of hundred trailing sockets per year. Even at £50 each that would generate just £10,000 per year to cover everything. It's not worth setting up phenolic moulding machines, making the brass bits, stamping out the composite cable grips (remember them ?), assembling, packaging and shipping if that's all you're selling.

Cheers,

GJ
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 1:50 pm   #33
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

The photograph shows a new Bulgin PX0631 miniature socket (£4.11 including postage) plugged into a 69 year old curve tracer with CRT. There was no confusion about which is live because L and N are moulded in adjacent to the terminals.

Three core 0.5mm2 H03VV-F (2183Y) light use flexible PVC cable is readily available and with an outside diameter of about 4.8mm fits perfectly.

David
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 2:04 pm   #34
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

"..the composite cable grips (remember them ?"

Yes, I do - on the ones I had, what you humorously call "cable grips" just consisted of a composite washer, around which you were presumably expected to loop the three inner conductors - no clamp at all for the outer sheathing of the cable. Given the insertion/retraction force needed for the plugs, a strong accidental yank on the cable would have just stripped the entire mains cable out of the plug, with bare 230V ends flailing around all over the place. I don't know if mine were typical, or if I somehow got a dodgy/incomplete batch (or just didn't understand how to use them), but I was never at all happy with them.

Mike
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 2:18 pm   #35
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

the last generation of 'large' bulgin flex socket had a proper 13a-plug-style cord grip and a 2-screw lid, though i haven't seen those for sale recently either.

Most of the older brittle bakelite ones I saw (current ones are made with bendy plastic) had a few turns of insulation tape holding the back cover on
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 4:19 pm   #36
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

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Originally Posted by GrimJosef View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by emeritus View Post
I suppose the main market for these is the UK, otherwise, given these prices, an enterprising far eastern manufacturer would manufacture clones ...
The price is quite high but the volume of the market is small - I'd be surprised if it was as big as a couple of hundred trailing sockets per year. Even at £50 each that would generate just £10,000 per year to cover everything. It's not worth setting up phenolic moulding machines, making the brass bits, stamping out the composite cable grips (remember them ?), assembling, packaging and shipping if that's all you're selling.

Cheers,

GJ
I suspect that not many get sold at those sort of prices. Just eBay 'jockeys' trying it on.
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 7:41 pm   #37
GrimJosef
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

They don't go for £50. But we don't have to suspect - if you check under 'Advanced Search - Sold listings' you'll find enough that have actually sold for £25 and upwards just for the trailing socket and £30 and upwards if they have a cable and 13A plug attached.

Cheers,

GJ
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Old 20th Jul 2019, 10:09 pm   #38
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Default Re: Old Bulgin 3 pin mains socket/plugs

And to think that, before joining this forum, I gave a work colleague a NOS plug and socket for free. I think he was going to use it to replace the IEC socket that his vintage guitar amplifier had been fitted with, so it went to a good home: I had no use for it myself at the time. He did describe them as "unobtainium".
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