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Old 16th Sep 2016, 8:28 pm   #1
G6Tanuki
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Default "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

I recently came across this "BS196" 115V rubber plug; it's branded "Hubbell" and clearly dates from the 1960s/early-1970s because the rubber-covered cable uses the old red/black/freen colour code.

I gather these were used extensively as power-connectors on trains etc, essentially being 55-0-55V centre-tapped supplies, hence the fusing of both the red and black conductors.

What strikes me as odd and rather disturbing is that the earth-pin is recessed, so if anything it 'makes' sometime after the red- and black- pins have done so.

Can anyone explain the logic here? it's distinctly at-odds with the BS1363 13A type plugs, and the "Commando"-style 16/32A stuff, where in both cases the earth-pin completes the circuit before live/neutral get anywhere near the action.
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Old 16th Sep 2016, 8:35 pm   #2
TonyDuell
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

I don't know the details of the socket (the one I have is out in the garage...) but I guess it's possible that the earth contact is near the face and the L/N ones deeply recessed so that even though the earth pin is shorter, it will make first. The BS196 plugs I've seen have those screw-in cartridge fuses for the live and neutral pins, which suggests the socket does connect close to the ends of the pins.

The 110V unit was used for portable power tools, etc much like the BS4343 one, but is somewhat older. Yes, a 55-0-55 supply as you suggest.

Hubbell is a very well-known manufacturer of plugs, sockets and related things in the States. I would have thought they would have got things right.
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Old 16th Sep 2016, 8:55 pm   #3
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

All that I can add is that AFAIK a 110/115 volt centre tapped supply was never used on trains.
On London Underground platforms, yes certainly, but trains ? I very much doubt it.
Non standard sockets that probably take that plug can still be seen on underground platforms, together with sockets that take a non standard 13 amp plug with 2 pole fuses.

Standard voltages on trains were 25 volts and 50 volts, DC only. and 110 volts, DC or 50 cycles or 400 cycles
Sockets on trains are usually 5 amp round pin domestic types for 25 volts DC for table lamps in dining cars, or 230/240 volts 50 cycles on standard modern 13 amp outlets, for more general use.

The main merits of a centre earthed supply are the increased safety of a low voltage to earth, whilst utilising twice that voltage to drive a machine etc.
Not very relevant on board a train where 25 volt or 50 volt lighting supplies are already very safe, and the relatively new fangled 230 volt AC supplies are RCD protected.
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Old 16th Sep 2016, 9:12 pm   #4
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

The colour/appearance and the stamping in the circular shroud both suggest that it is metallic in nature- could it be that that forms the leading earth contact with the receptacle and the short earth pin acts as a peg to open the shuttering over the power pins right towards the end of the insertion action? That might be a safety plus in high humidity/condensing conditions to restrict dangerous creepage paths. (Speaking as someone who frequently handled BS4343 and earlier connectors in drenching conditions and sometimes worried about it....)
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Old 16th Sep 2016, 9:16 pm   #5
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

From investigation, I gather that the design used a "scraping earth" to the shell to provide contact before the official earth-pin and the live/neutral pins got to do their stuff.

http://www.cablejoints.co.uk/sub-pro...-abelco-easigo

I vaguely recall these being used on London Underground [now TfL] carriages for the service-teams to plug their cleaners into.
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Old 16th Sep 2016, 9:18 pm   #6
robin0577
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

As far as I remember the mating sockets for these are unshuttered but you're quite right that the whole plug body is used as an earth contact. There are 2 leaf springs on the outer surface of the socket which sit in 2 of the grooves in the inner surface of the plug.
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Old 16th Sep 2016, 11:01 pm   #7
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

I was going to say they look like standard reyrolle plugs but the link in #5 points to those anyhow!
I've seen them in factories on 110V centretapped supplies before the ubiquitous yellow 16A connectors were common.
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Old 17th Sep 2016, 12:18 am   #8
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Smile Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

Hi,
Ah, the memories!
I worked in a power station for many years which used these extensively for 110 volt maintenance supplies. Indeed, the 'skirt' was the earth connection and, as far as I know, the grooves and pegs inside the skirt could be configured in different ways for different purposes. The main gripe with them was that the die cast skirt could be distorted when they were (frequently) dropped, and would no longer fit the sockets.
I always thought it odd that the building contractors used the newer BS4343 plugs/sockets on their own gear, while installing older BS196 sockets on the plant.
The 15 amp fuses were the same as fitted to older MK cooker control units that incorporated a 15 amp round pin socket.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 18th Sep 2016, 10:47 am   #9
Lucien Nunes
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

The 'earth pin' is primarily a robust polarising key that engages a recess in the socket, independent of the groove in the shell. BS196 served its purpose until BS4343 (now IEC60309) became internationally ubiquitous, but was a UK thing so most of the plugs used to be UK made - I've never seen a Hubbell one before. A few other countries had industrial plugs with diecast shells serving as the main or only earth contact. One design, the 'Semko 17' (after the Swedish standard that defined it), was infamous for unreliable earth continuity especially in agricultural applications where corrosion was common. It is now deprecated and users are urged to replace with IEC60309.
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Old 18th Sep 2016, 10:32 pm   #10
emeritus
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

There was an (obviously disused) porcelain-insulated socket to this gauge in one of the photocopier rooms when I was at Plessey's in the 1970's. I always wondered what it might have been used for, as I have never come across any others: thanks for solving the mystery. I am pretty sure that the socket was unshuttered.
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Old 8th Oct 2016, 10:49 am   #11
crusher19860138
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Default Re: "BS196" 15A 115V connectors.

I used 50v lead lamps with a similar plug fitted at a railway depot back in the 80s.
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