Domestic mains power fittings (pre-1947)?

[Chris-G8ETC]

The Wiki website states that BS1363 (three-pin (rectangular) plugs and sockets) was introduced in 1947 as one of the new standards for electrical wiring in the United Kingdom used for post-war reconstruction. BS1363 replaced the BS546 plug and socket which were the three-pin (round pin) plugs and sockets that were available in 15A, 5A and 2A sizes.

Can anyone confirm what plugs were fitted to new radio and television receivers purchased from dealer outlets prior to 1947?

Many thanks.

[G8UWM-MildMartin]

Yes;generally the same as into the 1990s:
None unless the customer specified and paid for it to be fitted!

Bayonet cap plugs, 2A, 5A, 15A in 2- and 3-pin versions, and various Wylex types were all in use.
The 2-pin 5A was very common and even listed in the parts list for some Philips UK-made receivers.

Post war, BS546 5A 3-pin and BS1363 were probably the most common, with some 13A Dorman-Smith, mainly in council houses (pre-fabs) "down South" and Wylex fused in the North West.

[Okto1984]

I don't know about back then, but I do know that until somewhere in the 90s many items came with no plug fitted. Just a bare cable the user had to put their own plug on.

[McMurdo]

It's only been mandatory for retailers to supply portable appliances with 13A plugs since 1995

[vidjoman]

But a lot of items today come with a continental 2 pin moulded plug

[Nicklyons2]

As to the O.P. - whether it be Radio, TV, electric fire, drill, hairdryer - whatever domestic appliance you had, certainly well into the 1970s, appliances were supplied 'wire-ended' and the customer fitted their own plug or paid for a new plug and the delivery man or shop fitted it. The customers were often more practical then and the fitting of a mains plug was something most men would be expected to do and, in a less litigious era, if they got it wrong, they wouldn't have considered suing the plug manufacturer/CEGB/supplier etc for £millions!

[AC/HL]

I would suspect that if it is fitted with anything other than 13A, it is a "Grey Import", but the subject of this thread is pre-1947 so it's not really relevant to the discussion.

[hannahs radios]

You forgot about 10 Amp 2 pin plugs as used on the Isle of Wight DC supply and also used in some parts of Southampton

[paulsherwin]

It is legal to sell certain items like shavers and electric toothbrushes with Europlugs, the assumption presumably being that they will be plugged into a shaver socket in the bathroom (though they almost never are). Other stuff is supposed to be supplied with an adaptor if a Europlug is fitted.

A horrible mixture of 2, 5 and 15 amp sockets would have been in use in the 40s, both 2 and 3 pin, plus the usual light fitting adaptors. It wasn't really practical to factory fit a standard plug. The arrival of yet another standard in the form of BS1363 actually made things worse for many years.

[SteveCG]

Adding to the fun back then were different electricity tariffs for 'Power' and 'Light', so the different sockets were sometimes connected to different meters... ... lots of different ! ...

[mark pirate]

My parents house was bought new in 1955, there was only one 13a socket for wall mounted electric fires in each of the bedrooms, the others were the small 2a 3 pin round sockets.

The ground floor only had one 13a socket per room, I can remember at least two adaptors plugged in to each of the sockets

both the TV and radiogram were plugged in to a three way adaptor in the lounge, the spare socket was used for the Hoover junior

I am amazed how few sockets were fitted to that house, no wonder there were so many electrical fires in those days!

Mark

[paulsherwin]

The 2A sockets were intended for use with table lamps and clocks, but the general shortage of sockets meant they finished up being used for all sorts of things, many highly inappropriate.

Many houses had no power sockets at all upstairs before being rewired in the 60s.

[dseymo1]

Until quite recently, one would say of someone with little practical ability "He can't even wire a plug", the fact that many plugs were fitted incorrectly and dangerously notwithstanding!

[happytiger]

Originally Posted by Nicklyons2

As to the O.P. - whether it be Radio, TV, electric fire, drill, hairdryer - whatever domestic appliance you had, certainly well into the 1970s, appliances were supplied 'wire-ended' and the customer fitted their own plug or paid for a new plug and the delivery man or shop fitted it.

Most appliances were not wire ended,but terminated in a connector plug.Most were the standard BS 5a gauge.
Back in those days,manufactures adhered to IEE regs, which states that all appliances whether hand held portable or fixed must be provided with a means of isolating the supply within easy reach. this can mean a fixed lead,but it must not be more that 2mtres long. This also applies to lawnmowers,which should have a safety connector.

[Peter.N.]

Nothing had plugs fitted in the '50s 'that will be extra sir' there were such a range of plugs in use that it would have been pointless. In Petts Wood we had 2,10 and 15a round pin or bayonet adapters and on the posh side Wylex. The new council estate had 13 amp round pin plugs, the live pin being the fuse and screwed in. 13a flat pin plugs didn't start being installed until the late '50s.

Peter

[kalee20]

The house I stayed in while at college (1982) had 5 and 15A sockets still, I can't remember any 13A sockets there. Though I didn't use all the rooms...

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

Many houses had no power sockets at all upstairs before being rewired in the 60s.

That was certainly the case in the house I grew up in, 1968-1975, 4 storeys - the ground and first floors had power, the second had only 3 sockets, and the top floor none at all.

I remember in the 1970's a few letters in Practical Wireless about fitting of mains plugs, one suggesting that PW campaigns for a plug design that is simple to fit - the editor's response underneath was that while he was sympathetic, he didn't think it was PW's responsibility to involve itself in this. I believe it was the Consumer's Association (Which?) that pushed for mandatory fitting of BS1363a plugs to new appliances.

With many items having detachable mains leads, of course different countries are easily catered for simply by supplying the appropriate lead for the country they are sold in.

[Nicklyons2]

Originally Posted by happytiger

Most appliances were not wire ended,but terminated in a connector plug.Most were the standard BS 5a gauge.
Back in those days,manufactures adhered to IEE regs, which states that all appliances whether hand held portable or fixed must be provided with a means of isolating the supply within easy reach. this can mean a fixed lead,but it must not be more that 2mtres long. This also applies to lawnmowers,which should have a safety connector.

Really, well my area the West Riding must have opted out of this because to my earliest memories I remember my late father buying a Triang transformer for my train set and wiring a plug; my mother had a mail order catalogue, "Trafford" and many electrical items were bought from here and they had no plug; it was these items and my father showing me how to fit a plug which fostered my interest in electronics. Further, I date back to a time when the Electricity Commissioners/IEE etc would have specified lead lengths in feet. The only apparatus I can recall having a ready fitted plug was "The Hoover" - Gran's 119 with a brown rubber 2pin 5Amp, Mum's 1224 with a blue plug of similar pattern, both were issued with far longer than 6ft (1.83m) of flex and a bayonet adaptor which had a raised rim - the better to 'lock' with the 2pin plug.

[emeritus]

The first thing I bought that came with a plug already fitted was a Mecablitz Flashgun, made in Germany. That was in 1967, and the plug was a German-made 2 pin plug to the UK 2 pin 5A gauge. Rather than changing the plug, I bought a 2 pin to BC adapter for it.

In the 1950's it was still common for users to fit things like electric irons with a BC adapter for plugging into the light socket, generally using a switched 2 way adapter, either having a pull cord or a push bar. Our own house only had a 3 pin 15A socket in the kitchen (with a bare BC socket for a pilot light wired in parallel) and a 3 pin 5A socket in the living room. Until it was rewired in the mid-1960's, the only wall sockets in my Aunt's council house in Dagenham were two "Wandsworth" sockets, one in the lounge, the other in the main upstairs bedroom.