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Old 19th Apr 2018, 6:59 pm   #1
gramophone1
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Default Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

I am just curious, what are the oldest BS1362 plug fuses ?

The reason I ask is because I have a dual capped Alert Fuse, with BS1362 printed on it.

I still use it, works fine. It is really well made, and I checked it over to make sure the fuse wire did not stick out of the end caps. It appears to have what I think is a patent number, it is hard to tell for sure, because the numbers have faded.

Any replies welcome
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 7:32 pm   #2
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Don't they date back to 1947 along with BS1363 plugs?
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 7:50 pm   #3
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

I didn't realise bs1362 went that far back to be honest.

I wonder if the Alert Fuse I have dates from then ?
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 8:06 pm   #4
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Pic of the fuse. Sorry the picture is a bit dark.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 8:52 pm   #5
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Smile Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Hi.
I have a three amp fuse that's blue instead of red. I'm curious as when that dates from.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 10:30 pm   #6
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

At some point, the fuses started carrying the ASTA logo. Maybe that will help to date fuses. I've got some of those alert ones, and also some blue 3A ones! I wonder if they'll be collectable!
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 10:39 pm   #7
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

These days only 3amp and 13amp fuses are recognised or recommended for general domestic or similar use in 13 amp plugs.

Back in the day, there were three standard ratings, 2 amp, 5amp, and 13 amp. These being blue, black, and brown in colour.
I think that I can remember 3 amp fuses being blue at one point.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 10:48 pm   #8
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Hi Kevin

I still use my vintage Alert fuse. As to whether they are collectable, I have no idea.

I keep looking on ebay for another one, as I use them for my mains extension to my hifi system.

Different manufacturer fuses do change the sound, and the vintage Alert fuse, seems best, even though I have no idea why that would be. But the differences are easily heard.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:02 pm   #9
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

I fail to see how different brands of plug fuse can influence sound quality from audio equipment.
It is only a short piece of thin wire in a ceramic tube filled with sand.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:13 pm   #10
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

i have a couple of turquoise blue 3A fuses, I assume they must have become standardised as red some time in the 1960's.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:18 pm   #11
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Neuroscientists tell us that our brains' perception of anything and everything is very strongly influenced by our state of mind and that that includes subconscious influences of which we have no awareness (that's what makes them subconscious) and over which we have very little control. We hear with our brains, so these influences can, as you say, be very easily heard even if we are completely unaware of them otherwise.

One explanation of your experience is that you've come to believe that the fuse is influencing what you hear. That's not unreasonable because our knowledge really can influence what we hear (I'm resisting the temptation to repeat that 20 times, so I'll reiterate just once that our knowledge really can influence what we hear). Your experience might be being affected just as long as you have any indication at all of which fuse is in the plug.

Eliminating this influence is surprisingly difficult. Because it affects life-and-death decisions, not to mention hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of business, in the pharmaceuticals industry the pharma people have come up with a way of eliminating both conscious and subconscious influence. It's called 'statistically significant, double-blind, controlled testing'. It's tedious and labour-intensive. But without it we can't be sure that our hearing, or any of our other responses, aren't being affected by (among other things) what we know.

Of course it could be that your fuse is affecting the sound in some objective measurable way. That would be an explanation too. But then you'd have to worry about whether the circuit breaker in your consumer unit was also affecting the sound. Or the other devices plugged in in your house. Or the devices plugged in in your neighbours' houses. Hi-fi manufacturers go to a good deal of trouble to try to eliminate all of these effects (including the effects of the fuse) because they don't want disappointed customers taking equipment back to the shop and grumbling about it. If we find that the electronic surroundings really are objectively affecting the sound of our kit then we end up having to concede that we've bought something a bit shoddy.

Cheers,

GJ
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:25 pm   #12
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Quote:
Originally Posted by broadgage View Post
These days only 3amp and 13amp fuses are recognised or recommended for general domestic or similar use in 13 amp plugs ...
Recommended yes, I believe, but recognised no. These folks https://www.electricalworld.com/en/C...rs/m-1066.aspx have 1A, 2A, 3A, 5A, 7A, 10A and 13A for sale.

Cheers,

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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:36 pm   #13
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Hi Grimjosef.

You could well be right. Your explanation does make sense to be honest.

When you think about it, a favourite piece of music can be engaging, and enjoyable. Yet other times not.so much, depending on your mood. Same kind of thing I suppose.

I want to trust what I hear, but.could very well be my mind hearing instead.

Interesting all the same . . . .
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:44 pm   #14
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

An early edition of Odhams "Radio Television and Electrical Repairs", when discussing the then-new 13A system, only mentions two ratings: 3A and 13A. Later 7A was added, as indicated by the MK plugs where the screw holding the top in place had an three-position marker that could be set to 3A, 7A or 13A. When we had our first 13A socket installed circa 1960, the pack of spare fuses we got from Woolworths mentioned all the ratings of #12, and also specified their colours. There used to be a panel cut-out from a pack taped to the inside of the tobacco tin mum kept her fuses in, but it is long gone. I do recall that the 10A fuses were yellow.
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Old 19th Apr 2018, 11:45 pm   #15
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Interesting and useful in fact. The flip-side of the argument is that when I said (to summarise) that subjective effects can improve our experience of hearing, I really meant it.

I have a Radford STA15 valve amplifier which I love very much. It was a state-of-the-art instrument in its day and it delivers near-faultless reproduction of the music that's played through it. But to be honest these days I could get the same near-faultless performance from a cheapish black box bought online for a few tens of pounds. Somehow though the music sounds much more pleasing to me when played through the Radford. I don't care if that extra enjoyment is happening between my ears rather than outside them. All that matters is that it really is happening. I only wish I could achieve it with something a bit less pricey, like a fuse, that's all .

Cheers,

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Old 20th Apr 2018, 12:22 am   #16
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Can we stay on topic please.
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 7:48 am   #17
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Quote:
Originally Posted by GrimJosef View Post
These folks https://www.electricalworld.com/en/C...rs/m-1066.aspx have 1A, 2A, 3A, 5A, 7A, 10A and 13A for sale.
I notice that the only ones colour-coded are the 3A at red and the 13A at brown. All the others are black/grey.

Looking through my box of assorted BS1362 fuses, although most are modern, I do have a blue 2A and a few yellow 10A in there along with all the grey and black 1A, 2A, 5A, 7A and 10A and their more colourful 3A/13A companions.

As an aside, I also have some BS1361 blue 15A fuses and a red 30A one - they're fatter and were meant for use in consumer units.
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 9:26 am   #18
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Smile Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

Hi,
When I worked in power generation, our station used Reyrolle type 110 volt plugs (possibly made by Hubbell) which used two of those BS1361 blue fuses. One in each side of the 55-0-55 volt supply.
I also had an MK 13 amp plug which had a red pointer indicator under the cover screw. The idea was to indicate what fuse lurked within; 3, 7 or 13 amps. I have other, later plugs where this was been removed by the moulds being altered at the factory. You can see the 'band' across the centre of the body.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 9:53 am   #19
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

I still have a couple of green 1A BS1362 fuses that date from the 1960s. I always use modern (Black/White) 1A fuses in all of my vintage radios.

Regards
Trevor.
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Old 20th Apr 2018, 10:43 am   #20
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Default Re: Vintage BS1362 plug fuses

On checking my tin of spare BS1362 Fuses, I have also come across a 15A rating, I have no idea where these came from or that they were even available. Has anyone else come across these?

Trevor.
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