Vintage technology in Gibraltar!

[ben]

Just returned from a quick visit from the rock and thought I'd post a few findings. First was a little surprise in the hotel room : BS546 round pin plugs on the lamps! 2013 date code on plug, see pic. So not some old relic from the 60s, they obviously still make 'em.

There were also BS1363 and Schuko types, all with same new sockets. No idea why they'd keep using old-standard round pin ones, wouldn't it be simpler just to use the 1363 type throughout? Plus I seem to recall the round ones are unfused. Still, good to see them after all these years - in the early 90s my uni halls still used them, but haven't seen 'em elsewhere.

Also some vintage comms radio and telephones from WWII tunnels. Looks like an old Hallicrafters set or similar, but not really my area!
Pics attached.

[hannahs radios]

Maybe the lamp was on that modern looking plug and socket because it was controlled from a light switch fed from a lighting circuit or some similar arrangement. Done like that so you don't plug your hairdryer in and pop the lighting fuse

[turretslug]

The comms receiver is a rather -about BC348- for some reason, it was apparently virtually mandatory to fit a horrible tuppenny-ha'penny plastic meter to sober old ex-military sets. Very much "set-dressing", rather than accurate representation of what was actually used, I suspect.

[Gulliver]

I had the same at uni...the idea was to limit us all to 5A and I believe we only had one spare socket in our rooms.

Funny I managed a stereo system, computer and even a pirate TV station on that small round pin plug...

Hotels might well use them to discourage guests from plugging in their own electrical items. Perhaps to save the hotel money on electricity bills? I've seen it once and I do not remember where...just on the lights. Also possibly the standing lights might have been on their own circuit, possibly not a 30A ring main?

[ms660]

Possibly started out as a Q?

Lawrence.

[Dave Moll]

The knobs on the comms receiver look a bit out-of-place to me as well. Incidentally, the field telephones look like rather rusty telephone sets "L".

[McMurdo]

many UK hotels also use round pin plugs for their occasional lamps that are controlled by the switch by the door.

[ms660]

As said it might have started life out as a Q..BC348Q that is, here's the one I used, it's in the photo below, the Gib one, if it was a Q, seems to have an extra rotary control fitted and possibly a lever switch amongst other things, the top left circular escutcheon might also be an add on.

My workshop doesn't look like that now....

Lawrence.

[BigClick]

It is only the last few years that hotels in the UK have stopped using the round pins, some still have them.

It was done as far as i can see to restrict use of guests own equipmnt to all except the desk socket.

Things are changing nowadays though

[emeritus]

Hotels in the UK often use 5A plugs and sockets for standard or bedside lamps that are (usually) controllable from wall switches. I found them used for the bedside lamps in our chalet at Warner's on the Isle of Wight last year. Unusually, they were not controlled by wall switches, the only switches being the in-flex switches of the lamps themselves. The wall sockets were unswitched and hidden away behind the bed anyway. I now take a short 5A plug to 13A socket adaptor lead with me when we go on hotel breaks, as the 5A sockets are sometimes more conveniently placed than the 13A ones for my wife's laptop.

Here's a 5A plug I spotted in a hotel in 2013: interesting for the brown and blue pin sleeves and specification of the AC supply frequency (and the visible earth terminal). Interestingly, another (obviously new) standard lamp in the room was fitted with an old W&G 5A plug with unsleeved split pins: how it passed the PAT test is a mystery.

BS546 3 pin 2A plugs and sockets are also still readily available. I recently fitted a 2A socket wired in parallel with the top-of -stairs light of my son's flat to provide a light at the foot of the stairs. It was not practical to drill through the solid concrete floor to run a permanent T&E cable to a downstairs pendant, so I ran a cable from the loft in conduit inside the over-stairs cupboard and through the wall to a 2A socket in the stairwell, and then ran flex in miniature surface-mounted conduit from the 2A wall socket to a pendant.

[G6Tanuki]

5A 3-pin plugs/unswitched-sockets were what I always specified for connecting "Sustained Luminaires" [emergency lights/signage] to their supplies: typically a 6A-MCB'ed radial wired using LSOH 1.5mm 'singles' in in conduit, with the plugs/sockets concealed in the false-ceiling/roof-void.
They were sufficiently-unusual that they were unlikely to be repurposed for things like 'ghost' WiFi access-points illicitly shoved in the voidspace, but still allowed the "luminaires" to easily be unplugged and removed from their mountings for annual testing.

MK still offer a range....

[AndiiT]

Hi,
Some years ago there was (possibly still is) a trend to have separate 5 and/or 2 amp circuits for lamps in domestic properties; I have seen a number of homes, including that of a relative, that have this arrangement.

2 and 5 amp plugs with sleeved pins and their associated sockets are still in production and are available from the likes of B&Q and the plugs can also be seen in the lighting department of John Lewis' stores.

The sockets were often controlled from a wall switch which was in the same location as the main room light switch so would often be a multi - ganged type.

Regards

Andrew

[Herald1360]

Originally Posted by emeritus

Interestingly, another (obviously new) standard lamp in the room was fitted with an old W&G 5A plug with unsleeved split pins: how it passed the PAT test is a mystery.

Tester assumed it was original fit, presumably, and didn't consider the apparent age of the appliance.

Or just wasn't interested- plug it in, passes the electrical checks, doesn't look like it's falling apart, job's a good'un!

[Lucien Nunes]

BS546 outlets are especially useful for portable lighting controlled by centralised dimmers / home automation controllers, where damage might result if an ordinary appliance were to be connected to a phase-angle controlled supply.

15A is still common for dimmed tungsten lighting circuits in theatre installations, usually contrasting with 'hard' mains on 16A for intelligent lighting fixtures containing their own electronics. It is still possible to buy 15A plugs and sockets from UK brands, but for a long time there has been no domestic supplier of multiway adaptors. South Africa uses 15A (actually rated 16A under SANS 164-0 but physically it's the same plug) so we import South African adaptors for theatrical use. The jargon has followed suit - what was once generically called a 'Grelco' after the Grelco brand of Grafton Electric Co, is now often called a 'Snapper' after the equivalent South African brand.

Nowadays the recommended plug for new installations in South Africa is IEC 60906, the 16A plug launched in 1986 as a potential new global standard but which has only so far taken root in modified form in Brazil. Hopefully manufacturers will continue to supply 15A adaptors for a while yet, or we'll be stuck again!

[kalee20]

Hotel I'm in right now has BS546 plugs on its table lamps, interestingly the pins are sleeved like the BS1363/A plugs.

I took a photo but pesky iPad won't let me upload it... Will try later.

[Dave Moll]

I believe all modern round-pin mains plugs are required to have sleeved pins, the same as the BS1363 ones.

[mole42uk]

I have new 5A and 15A round pin plugs on my desk as I write. They are both marked BS546/A and neither have sleeved pins.

A bought them about 6 months ago from a reputable electronics wholesaler in the UK.

[Tractorfan]

Hi,
This is the Lumex 'Snapper' 16amp South African plug which I found on a flea market in the UK. The cord grip is the same as that fitted to MK Safetyplugs and it has a quick release hinged cover and a transparent base.
Cheers, Pete.

[dominicbeesley]

I can't find any authoritative source that states that new plugs must be sleeved - just that new installations of sockets should be shuttered.

At our halls of residence (a real fire trap) each room had two 2 amp sockets in the twin rooms. You had to buy (at huge expense) a 2 amp, fused plug from the University and woe betide anyone found using an unfused plug...I took the back off my socket and had a look in the consumer unit, satisfied myself that it was all wired for 5 amp, and made a fake 2amp fuse so I could run my TV, kettle, VCR and computer...

That aside I recall the fused plugs not having sleeved pins - I think they were MK but they might have been Volex...

[Tractorfan]

One a day trip to Gibraltar years ago I was fascinated by the mix of UK and Spanish plugs & sockets. There were all sorts of adaptors, home made & commercial, betwixt the twain! There is an underground concert hall beneath the Rock and they had a healthy mix of plugs for the lighting and sound equipment.
Cheers, Pete.