3-pin mains sockets 1920s?

[Herald1360]

I came across this (see attached) at Haddon Hall near Bakewell. The place was restored in the '20s so I suspect it may date from around then, though it could be later of course.

Anyone recognise it?

[hannahs radios]

Is it still live? I wonder is it a radio outlet or similar? Doesn't really look like a mains socket to me

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
To me it looks suspiciously like a standard 2 amp socket that's upside down. I've occasionally seen sockets with the switch above or below the socket instead of at the side.
The photo shows a 2 amp Crabtree 'Fireside' switchsocket with a tilted outlet, presumably intended to be fitted into a skirting board whilst allowing the flex to clear the floor.
Cheers, Pete.

[russell_w_b]

It's rather like my metalclad Crabtree socket from 1940. Both porcelain switch and socket can be mounted either way up within the box, so the arrangement is flexible. It just so happens that in your socket, the switch is mounted beneath and the fascia is fixed to the pattern required.

The switch and socket could be used with a different fascia simply by adjusting either to suit.

[russell_w_b]

Here's what I mean...

[Boater Sam]

Looks like the close pin spacing of the Dorman Smith 13A fused plug.

[julie_m]

I remember seeing a very similar brass faceplate with a chunky toggle switch and a 15 amp socket, in a corridor on the first floor of the old Debenham's department store in Derby. That was mounted with the long side horizontal.

I don't know if it was still there when the store had a temporary second lease of life as "Silly Sid's", because that venture only occupied the ground floor.

[Herald1360]

The two live socket holes are about 5/16" dia. Definitely nearer 15A size than 2A. The spacing is similar to 5A but with thicker pins. I wondered about Dorman Smith but in a Tudor house restored in the 1920s?

There's no marking of any sort on the faceplate and there were no plugs to be seen- I suspect they were out of use.

[hannahs radios]

I wonder if it's some non standard socket maybe for some odd voltage or frequency or even DC?

[AC/HL]

No reason why it would be any of the current standards. They may have had their own generating plant back then

[Herald1360]

Quite!

I've never seen anything like it before. It's looking like no-one else has, either

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
It may be worth chatting up the staff at Haddon Hall (National Trust?) in case there's a plug kicking around in their store rooms or workshops, or even a drawer somewhere?
Cheers, Pete.

[Herald1360]

The house is privately owned, just open to the public, so I doubt that option is open.


I may have another pic with an identifiable socket in shot- I'll see whether I can come up with some useful dimensions.

[Refugee]

There is a web site where you can contact the expert owner for an ID.
http://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Overview.html

[Lucien Nunes]

There were some non-standard gauges back then, this one might be the original MK proprietary 3-pin design which had pins closer and IIRC nearer equilateral than BS gauge for the same rating. They used a mutilated earth pin for a mechanical interlock and I think I can see something in the earth contact tube. If you have a high-res original, take a close look at the internal structure of the contacts. If the tube is partially slotted circumferentially in a number of places, this is the original Multy-Kontact design from which MK got its name, and it is MK gauge. It won't be DS.

[Herald1360]

Here is a cropped view of the socket bit if this is any help

[emeritus]

In teh cropped view the crescent-shaped mark on the casing between 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock of the lower socket suggest that this may at one time have had a shroud like the upper two. While the screw heads and tubes of the upper two contacts are clearly visible, there are no corresponding items to be seen inside the lower socket. I have never come across anything like this.

[Lucien Nunes]

Just visible are the slots in the tube walls that form the 'fingers' of George Arnold's patented Multy-Kontact socket. The concept was to improve contact reliability with solid pins without increasing insertion force, by making the pin pass and deflect the separate fingers sequentially.

Therefore I suggest this is an MK proprietary gauge, interlocked 15A socket, for which someone might be able to provide a catalogue entry. I think the Sunco of around 1930 lists both MK and BSS gauge products from MK.

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by emeritus

In teh cropped view the crescent-shaped mark on the casing between 1 o'clock and 3 o'clock of the lower socket suggest that this may at one time have had a shroud like the upper two. While the screw heads and tubes of the upper two contacts are clearly visible, there are no corresponding items to be seen inside the lower socket. I have never come across anything like this.

Good spot, there.......

I hadn't noticed but the pic below shows them in place.

[D.Finney]

Didn't there used to be 10 amp round pin plugs? looked same as the 5 amp version but bigger all round.