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Old 11th Jul 2018, 8:33 pm   #21
Electricawe
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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Originally Posted by rambo1152 View Post
I have both the plugs in the picture.
The one on the right looks as it could be the old Granada logo as in my avatar, but of course it's not.
Cool, nice to see, are you a fan of granada at all?

Regards

Leo
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Old 11th Jul 2018, 9:02 pm   #22
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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Originally Posted by Electricawe View Post
Wow, they must be rare I've never seen or heard of them before!, you say you used to have them, did you throw them away or are they hidden away somewhere, because they would be cool to see?
GEC Computers Ltd [GECCL] were rather an outlier from the rest of GEC: most of their stuff went to Government/Military/Industrial-types of customers and so they could easily 'pull rank' over the mainstream GEC when it came to specifying generic stuf like 13A plugs.

I don't have any of the GECCL MK-plugs any more, which is a shame. Many of them were fitted on 3-metre-long cables with an odd Bulgin-esque plug on the other end - these cables were the usual 3-core mains, with an overall close-mesh braid with a clear jacket: pigtails from the braid either end were sleeved and tied to the "E" pin of the plugs.

if I'd kept these I could no doubt sell them for mind-wateringly-high prices to the "Audiophool" community, on the basis that they were UK MoD-approved and had undergone a couple of decades of "Burn-in" at a Government site.
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Old 11th Jul 2018, 9:27 pm   #23
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

That is a shame, good story though, I would have definitely thought that they would be rare and as such, like you said, they would sell for a lot
thank you for all of the info

Regards

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Old 11th Jul 2018, 9:42 pm   #24
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

This Post Office one came (and still is) attached to one of my Pentara PABX CCUs. I believe there are also later ones marked "BT".
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Old 11th Jul 2018, 10:38 pm   #25
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

I will try to find them but it may take a while!
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Old 11th Jul 2018, 10:52 pm   #26
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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Very interesting, thank you guys, so I see that there were many designs, surely MK let Granada have some sort of discount, for buying in bulk?
Shorn of the pyramid between manufacturer and consumer, base costs are low even for an iconic brand, so it's not unreasonable to specify them, especially as MK were obviously set up to produce custom designs.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 5:59 am   #27
Electricawe
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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This Post Office one came (and still is) attached to one of my Pentara PABX CCUs. I believe there are also later ones marked "BT".
Wow, that's cool, rather interesting too
Regards,

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Old 12th Jul 2018, 6:38 am   #28
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

I did have a 13A plug once with the Carlsberg logo on the back of it.

It was an MK, but not the standard MK plastic plug, rather the "tougher than normal but not as tough as a Duraplug" type.

Alas it is long gone now, I'm certain it was binned along with the device it was attached to.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 6:51 am   #29
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

That's a real shame, they must be rare!

Regards

Leo
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 1:47 pm   #30
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

It wasn't just MK that made custom moulded plugs, I have an RS logoed Marbo rubber plug which came off a green screen monitor I was given by a friend during a clearout.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 1:51 pm   #31
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

Yes, in the 1970s there were 'low-profile' nylon plugs whose maker I can't remember but these often had Electricity Board logos [MANWEB, SEEBoard] or "Electra" [which was the house-brand for fridges, freezers etc sold through electricity-board showrooms] moulded in.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 4:36 pm   #32
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

Here is a nice sturdy MK plug that is still in constant use.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 4:40 pm   #33
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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Nice, I've never seen one of those before, could we possibly have a photo please?
Your wish is my command. Also have a BT one (1980-1991 symbol).
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 5:29 pm   #34
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

Quote:
Originally Posted by G6Tanuki View Post
Yes, in the 1970s there were 'low-profile' nylon plugs whose maker I can't remember but these often had Electricity Board logos [MANWEB, SEEBoard] or "Electra" [which was the house-brand for fridges, freezers etc sold through electricity-board showrooms] moulded in.
hang on, I've still got one...
...somewhere...

Here you go, BICC.
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the hole in the back was due to someone using one of the longer cord grip screws to secure the cover
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The low profile was achieved by incorporating the fuse holder into the brass of the live pin. Crafty.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 5:49 pm   #35
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

Electricawe
Have you considered collecting other types of plug, for example do you know about these
https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Wylex1.html

I have fond memories of them, mainly because that's what was in my grandparents house in Manchester. They were unknown in most other parts of the country.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 6:34 pm   #36
Electricawe
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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Your wish is my command. Also have a BT one (1980-1991 symbol).
Wow, very nice, 2 new designs to me, never seen those before, thank you for posting

Regards,

Leo
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 6:36 pm   #37
Electricawe
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

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Originally Posted by rambo1152 View Post
Electricawe
Have you considered collecting other types of plug, for example do you know about these
https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/Wylex1.html

I have fond memories of them, mainly because that's what was in my grandparents house in Manchester. They were unknown in most other parts of the country.
Yes, I have heard of those, they are quite cool, I have got some round pin plugs and square pin, but none of these, must be quite difficult to get hold of nowadays

Regards

Leo
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 9:27 pm   #38
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

Here is an example of an MK safety plug in brown. I thought that these newer style plugs were only made in cream until I found this. I had wondered if they ever made them in brown.
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Old 12th Jul 2018, 11:39 pm   #39
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

OldTechFan96,
I have never seen a brown one like that.

An older iteration of the MK plug, one without sleeved pins, was not so well designed.
I can't find an example to autopsy, so words will have to suffice.

The pins were secured to the plastic body with slotted nuts, then there were two plain washers between which the user was supposed to wrap the wire, then a backnut was tightened down.

The backnuts did have a slot, but unless the wires were thick, you couldn't easily use a normal slotted screwdriver to fully tighten them down because the top of the screw thread imposed itself in the slot.
In use, both the nuts on all three pins worked themselves loose.

So out of this dog's dinner of a plug the later MK plug that we all know and love was born, with its deceptively simple cord grip, captive securing screw, and those clever one piece terminal screws, with built in shake proofing. Truly a design icon.
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Old 13th Jul 2018, 12:00 am   #40
Refugee
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Default Re: MK Plugs and their various designs.

My plug with an MOD arrow on it (post#10) is otherwise like the one on post #34.
I have also got a much later sleeved pin one that looks the same from outside but with a fuse clip on the live. I have a feeling that I fitted it to something...

Edit.
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...=71683&page=10
Post #186
and post #148
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...t=71683&page=8

Last edited by Refugee; 13th Jul 2018 at 12:20 am. Reason: Links.
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