Proposed new style household sockets.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
Back in the early seventies an electrician at the hospital I worked at showed me a booklet which illustrated a new style wall socket which might replace the current (excuse the pun) 13amp pattern.
It showed a three pin plug and socket on standard single and twin gang plates which, years later, became the now familiar 'kettle' or computer IEC connector.
I'm certain that I didn't imagine it, but can't find any reference to it. Needless to say, it came to nought and the standard 13amp system continues.
I can't remember whether the booklet was issued by the government, or a manufacturer such as MK.
Did anyone else know about this? Or was it just me
Cheers, Pete.

[Nickthedentist]

I think I saw this on Tomorrow's world too, c. 1980.

[emeritus]

I remember reading something about it in the 1970's in one of the IEE periodicals, I think in the newspaper-type paper that came out fortnightly (I think). My recollection is that the US was happy to adopt it for 230V use, and that a reader commented that the Germans would never abandon their "Schuko" system. Didn't one of the South American companies adopt it?

[julie_m]

The IEC connector certainly lives on in computer installations! In most data centres, the power distribution is all via IEC sockets -- ten of them will fit into a much smaller space than ten BS1363 sockets, and the longitudinal cable entry is less of an issue for connectors that are not likely to be disturbed often. They are used as inputs and outputs on most UPSs; if the UPS ever goes into a strange failure mode where it is giving no output at all, it can be bypassed by plugging the output cable straight into the input cable -- an interruptible power supply is still better than no power supply.

[cmjones01]

They probably mean the IEC60906 connector, which is like the Swiss 3-pin mains plug but with the earth pin differently spaced. It's been adopted by South Africa and, in corrupted form, by Brazil. It seems that for other countries it doesn't solve enough problems to be worth changing to.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mains...1_.28Type_N.29

Chris

[Aaamusements]

Also you can get right-angled IEC plugs where space is really limited.

Just looking on Wikipaedia and apparently over 50 countries use our 3-pin BS 1363 type plug. I find this quite surprising that it's as many as that. Is it a post-Colonial thing?

[techiesteve]

Thankfully the old 13A D&S plug died out and the current 13A plug and socket became the accepted standard. One pin of the D&S plug was a copper screw in fuse, and they often used to run hot. In the 1960's I had to contend with 2 pin plugs, small 2 or 3A round pin plugs, 5 and 15A round pin, the D&S 13A and our current 13A plugs. My soldering iron had a universal plug on, that as far as I remember, could adapt to all.

[paulsherwin]

Originally Posted by Aaamusements

Just looking on Wikipaedia and apparently over 50 countries use our 3-pin BS 1363 type plug. I find this quite surprising that it's as many as that. Is it a post-Colonial thing?

They are mostly countries with historic links to Britain, though most were independent when the standard was introduced locally. There are a few real oddballs though, like Vietnam and Cambodia.

[Boater Sam]

Travelling around Asia we see some very odd sockets, bad wiring, etc.
Some countries use 13a Bs1363, especially in public buildings. All the airports that are british designed use them. Hong Kong and Singapore totally, Bangkok is a mixture.
Convinced that they are the best in the world.
Many use US style 2 pin but on 240v.
Some are flat pin only, some accept round pin euro style too.
Seen some smashing ones recently in hotels. They take flat and round 2 pin and 3 pin euro and US, 3 pin Australian, and 13a UK. And some have USB and firewire as well!
Very clever.
Bought an adaptor for 30p which does all the above except Australian and data.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
Thanks for all your responses.
It was specifically the 'IEC-as-a-household-wiring-accessory' idea I was trying to remember.
The 'Elektrak' was another possible developement that ended up being industrial rather than domestic.
I've spent many a happy hour reading about the wierd and wonderful plugs and sockets from around the world, much to my wife's puzzlement!
Cheers, Pete.

[G6Tanuki]

In many datacentres, as well as the little IEC "Kettle lead" strips it's quite common to find its bigger 16-amp brother the IEC "C19/C20" used to supply larger servers, switches etc: I also use a C19/C20-to C309 24-way managed power strip for power distirbution in my workshop - it's nice because each outlet can be turned on/off remotely, and you can poll it to see what power each outlet is providing.

Though in quite a few of the more "communications"-focussed datacentres the power-supply is 48VDC.

[Herald1360]

Is that 48Vdc or -48Vdc?

[G6Tanuki]

-48V: the standard telco "exchange" supply. I've got a number of Cisco UBR7200-type switches in such locations - they need 14A at -48V.

[hannahs radios]

Hi yes I remember that very thing being shown on Tomorrow's World. That would of been fun if it had happened yet another standard along with the all the others we had. I also remember reading in a book called home electrics that there was some talk of a 16 amp Euro style socket proposed as a new standard outlet for the whole of Western Europe and the UK.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
I have the newspaper cuttings from 'The Sun' about the proposed introduction of Schuko type plugs & sockets into the UK and the discussion (mostly anti-)it invoked.
Cheers, Pete.

[Lucien Nunes]

I think there was some confusion when IEC60906 was proposed. Some people thought it was an existing 'foreign' plug that was being foisted on us, rather than a new standard intended to supersede those too.

Of course, the UK was not a good candidate for conversion to unfused plugs due to our widespread use of ring final circuits. It inspired me to invent a socket-outlet that included an variable overcurrent protection device that was automatically adjusted by the type of plug engaged.

But ultimately like most 'standard' plugs, it was just another oddball to add to the list.

BTW, watch out for those multi-standard sockets. Some make very poor contact with one or more of the plugs they are supposed to accept. I have seen burnouts and experienced loss of the earth connection more than once.

[Okto1984]

I remember dad bought these socket multipliers which used a special plug at one point in the early 90s. I don't recall the exact specifics, but they were square and somewhat like modern kettle plugs. The idea was saving space.

It never caught on, and we did find it difficult having two kinds of plugs around the house. However, the number of appliances in houses has increased a lot and BS 1363 plugs/sockets are bulky things. I'd quite like something smaller.

I'd also like low voltage sockets alongside my 13 amp ones too, as so many things have those bulky transformer plugs, which often are so big they won't fit in the space. Most people use a large number of low voltage devices, it would be nice to just plug them in directly without all the clutter. In theory this could catch on, if transformers that connected to the low voltage plugs were also available. Then people who don't have low voltage sockets would just carry on like normal, but people who install them could benefit.

[Radio Wrangler]

Masterplug? A multiway socket strip with miniature plugs?

I agree about low voltage DC distribution, but many of those pregnant plugs give different voltages to each other. But the things are a nuisance and they are forced into being switch-mode voltage converters nowadays, and their reliability is now a problem.

12v DC distribution with battery back-up for power cuts sounds good, and would be a good place to put the output of a few solar cells.

David

David

[emeritus]

When I was a schoolboy in the early 1960's our house only had sockets in two rooms, and I made my own 12V DC distribution system for my EL3585 tape recorder. The power source was my Hornby Dublo train set controller, and I used 2 pin 2A surface mounting sockets and plugs that were then still being sold by Woolworths. As these are unpolarised, I marked the polarity on the plugs and sockets with paint, and the voltage was dropped to the 9V required by the recorder by a wire-wound pot in the box that I made up to fit in the battery compartment. Current drain was only 100mA, so thin flex worked fine. There was a certain amount of hum of course, but it did reduce spending on batteries (4/6d for 6 U2s). It wasn't in use for long, as soon after, Dad had some extra sockets fitted, and made a 9V battery eliminator from an article in Practical Wireless.

[robin0577]

Originally Posted by Okto1984

I'd also like low voltage sockets alongside my 13 amp ones too, as so many things have those bulky transformer plugs, which often are so big they won't fit in the space. Most people use a large number of low voltage devices, it would be nice to just plug them in directly without all the clutter. In theory this could catch on, if transformers that connected to the low voltage plugs were also available. Then people who don't have low voltage sockets would just carry on like normal, but people who install them could benefit.

There has been some progress towards this, as 13 amp sockets with built in 5v DC USB outlets are now widely available to cater for low power uses such as charging mobile phones, tablets, etc. Beyond that, I can't see a truly practical way to cater for the wide variety of voltages and currents required by other devices.

Edit to add link for those who may not have seen such a socket yet; https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/AA213USB.html