Unusual BS1363 Socket Designs

[chipp1968]

Thanks Pete ,I shall check mine.I have a few of those but I dont think any of the screw instead of nut .
Steve ,I see the bottom left is a type i havnt seen before .Its between my early one and the standard later ones . The tower block ,Hillman House in the center of Coventry is fitted with the type right ,bottom right .I think it was built in the early 60s

[yampy187]

Hi all.

Just been up the shed. There is literally boxes and boxes of old sockets, switches, fuse boxes, and light fittings which i have collected since I was a lad (im only 19 )

I seen this thread so thought i would add my bit. they are all a bit grubby but they have been in the shed for the last 10 or so years, there is many the same and ones covered in paint so I just picked out the the best looking ones.

Jan

[Millay_2010]

That old Granada rentals plug has taken me back a few years..

[Focus Diode]

Although not strictly a wall socket, I should perhaps include my interesting twin socket plug adaptor I purchased brand new and unused many years ago at a market stall.

Can't recall the brand but is in brown bakelite. It could be used as a two plug adaptor with the 13" sockets mounted in angles, a 13A fuse fitted internally.

It had a further surprise! The whole adaptor unit doubed as a plug as well! A bit of thin bakelite could be broken off to allow the wiring of an appliance, thus the end result is a large 13Amp plug with two sockets at the top. Not unlike those circular Wylex plug/sockets which allowed for a plug to plug into the plug.

I'm surprised it didn't catch on as I thought a pretty good design, especially being fused (with space for a spare as well) and safety shutter sockets. Will try and send some photos when I find it.

Brian

[Tractorfan]

Hi Steve J,
Thanks for your photos (I really must learn how to upload mine ). Just for information, all 13amp plugs & sockets past and present were/are BS1363. I think they were introduced in 1947 (I'm happy to be corrected). Rubber or otherwise unbreakable plugs were BS1363/A. The fuses are BS1362. Round pin plugs of all rating are BS546 and bayonet lamp holders & adapters are BS52. (Now I'm getting worryingly sad )
Cheers de Pete

[chipp1968]

I would be interested to see a plug and sockets of 1947,when 13 amp first appeared

[Tim]

Just for information, all 13amp plugs & sockets past and present were/are BS1363. I think they were introduced in 1947

Is it true they started off as a fused replacement for the 15 amp sockets, but were later de-rated to 13 amp.

[Lucien Nunes]

I think Chipp's socket might be from MK's first implementation of BS1363, probably close to 1947. It has the 'stripes' moulded into the inner section of the switch dolly, as did their BS546 products of that era.

A few years ago we had one of our warehouses in the former GEC/Marconi/Elliott factory site in Borehamwood, Herts. Some areas were fitted with the metalclad version of that socket, indistinguishable at a distance from the 15A version. Sadly I didn't have a chance to remove them when we moved out.

Attached pictures are GEC's early 13A products from their 1949 accessories catalogue. The standard version has vertically oriented mounting holes, the Excel version has horizontal; I guess that's indicative of the rapid evolution that was going on at the time. Pity no-one kept up the dual-terminal idea.

Lucien

[Tim]

A 7 amp fuse! Never seen one of those.

[fidobsa]

I wish they still did those double terminal sockets. It can be a pain trying to get 3 wires in each terminal when there's a ring + spur.

[ppppenguin]

I note the claim that all leads can be cut to the same length in the plug. I remember MK making this a big feature of their 646 plug many years later.

3 and 13 amp fuse were standard. 2,5,7 and 10 amp fuses were semi-standard, I have some of all of those values.

[Tim]

Interesting that 7 amp originally seems to have been intended as a standard value.

[chipp1968]

Thats very interesting thanks .I would like to see more make types .Its not something that has survived in large numbers . Probably because they were not standard untill later.

[electrogram]

I thought I was alone, here's three from my collection.The white one is 'New Day' the centre one Sanders and the right one a Clix, fuse goes from top to bottom resulting in very bulbous appearance

[KeithsTV]

The KB radio I have originally had one of those Clix types. I would assume it came with the radio which was bought in 1952. I may still have the plug somewhere.

Keith

[chipp1968]

OOh I like those ,especially the clix .I have never seen earlier models before except MK common types ,and ive been interested for at least 30 years !I have a "British tucker"which may be as early .Its connected to my Bush TV1

[yampy187]

Originally Posted by Tractorfan

Hi Chipp,
The plugs were the classic MK shape with curved top & bottom and straight sides but had small semicircular finger shields either side instead of the larger straight ones that the later plugs had from the 60's. Inside there was the usual terminals but the live one was a screw instead of a nut and was very fiddly to get back in if the cable core was thick. Later plugs still had the small finger shields but now had a nut for the live connection. This made the plug body a bit deeper. Some also had a little red three way pointer held captive by the cover screw that could be set to indicate which fuse was fitted (3, 7 or 13 amps). If you were posh you could have these plugs & sockets in ivory white bakelite too.
Sad innit?
Cheers de Pete

I have just dug out one of those plugs with the red pointer from the attic.

Also, an interesting looking MK plug with a switch on top.

And this very old looking G.E.C single switched socket. any ideas when this was from?

Jan

[Lucien Nunes]

Anybody got the piggyback version of those Clix / Ediswan plugs? I have a few but can't get at them at the moment. Piggyback plugs are still found in use in Australia but I can't think of any others to BS1363 (other than the device Brian mentions with two sockets). Last saw a tower of three Ediswans in use in a corner shop in Manchester about 20 years ago.

Lucien

The Austrailian version is now only available with an attached cable, this is to stop 'naughty' extension leads being made. Ones with a live plug on the end.

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by Tim

A 7 amp fuse! Never seen one of those.

Still made.....