Strange 2 pin plug socket in upstairs master bedroom (Victorian end Terrace house)

[Bittyboy]

Hello everyone, Hope you all had a great Christmas !

I haven't posted here for ages but thought I would give it a go an see if anyone can shed some light on this !

I recently bought a old Victorian end Terrace house to rent out that needed a lot restoration work...

It is the double bay window type 5 bedroom house, In the big main bedroom upstairs there was a small strange 2 pin plug socket by the fireplace fixed to the skirting board, It had one large round pin hole and one small round pin hole (I would say that the larger pin was about 5mm dia and the smaller pin was around 3mm dia)

I noticed that my minicraft drill has the same compatible plug !... that was before the decorator removed it and threw it ! away !!! without me knowing till it was too late !

I plugged my Minicraft MB40 drill into it to see what would happen ! before it was removed but fortunately nothing happened lol

This has now been hunting me !, as I am now wondering what on earth was this plug socket for ??... I've looked on eBay for hours and searched the whole of Google but found nothing !

I have seen one plug that looked as it would fit and said it was an old style AM aerial plug on the plug museum website... Could that have been what it was for ?...

I also thought maybe it was an old TV aerial socket ? or maybe a mantle piece clock ! low voltage socket ??...

It was plastic (NOT BAKELITE) , light grey in colour and had what I would call 2 wire bell cable going into it from the floor (it was fixed by 2 small screws to the 6 inch high skirting board (see sketch No2 & 3)... maybe there is/was an under floor transformer/power supply somewhere for it ?

Sadly I don't have it anymore to get a clear photo of it and the estate agent didn't get it in any of the photos they took of the place !... So I have drawn a couple of sketches how I remember it... do you know what this socket was for ?

It was *not Bakelite*, it was a more modern type of plastic in a light grey colour, it might also come in other colours like white or black, I don't know, I would say it was from the 1960's to maybe 1970's ?

I had my eye on it to use it for a concealed under bench power supply for my minicraft tools for convenience but forgot to remove it before the decorator started work last month !

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated !

Wishing you all a happy 2023

[Bittyboy]

I made a mistake in my first post, It should have been "Minicraft MB140 drill" not Minicraft 40 !

I've just found an Minicraft MB120 which has the same plug I'm talking about which fits that strange socket mentioned in my first post.

See attached image 1

Image 2 shows a very nice after market Minicraft variable speed power supply but it's over in the USA and VERY expensive !

[Graham G3ZVT]

Extension speaker from a radiogram in another room?
Just a stab in the dark.

[D.Finney]

AS this socket is near a fireplace I suspect it was an electric mantel clock power supply socket.

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by D.Finney

AS this socket is near a fireplace I suspect it was an electric mantel clock power supply socket.

That's what I always thought !

Seems in the right place for an electric mantle clock...

I was also thinking it could have been for a low voltage painting lamp, You know those lamps they have over paintings to illuminate them...

Thanks for your input

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by rambo1152

Extension speaker from a radiogram in another room?
Just a stab in the dark.

Possible ! - Anything's possible !

I thought it could have been for an external AM/FM aerial for a radiogram or TV back in the day...

Thanks for your post

[Herald1360]

It looks like a posh version of the little sockets that used to be used for low voltage dc supplies in places such as caravans. The two different sized pins ensured correct polarity (as long as the correct convention was used when wiring!). Nowadays a two angled flat blades type seems to be used for this application. The use of a similar plug on the little drill adds weight to this idea since presumably the drill would run backwards on reverse polarity.

Whether your fireplace socket was correctly applied or not may remain a mystery, hopefully it was not used for mains to a clock!

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by Herald1360

It looks like a posh version of the little sockets that used to be used for low voltage dc supplies in places such as caravans. The two different sized pins ensured correct polarity (as long as the correct convention was used when wiring!). Nowadays a two angled flat blades type seems to be used for this application. The use of a similar plug on the little drill adds weight to this idea since presumably the drill would run backwards on reverse polarity.

Whether your fireplace socket was correctly applied or not may remain a mystery, hopefully it was not used for mains to a clock!

I was thinking it might have come as part of a kit for something, maybe a electric blanket or bedwarmer, or even a bedside lamp or alarm clock (if someone had, had their single bed headboard side in the alcove !)

Thanks very much for your imput !

[G6Tanuki]

Given that it is in a bedroom I wonder if it could have been used for a bell push on a trailing wire, so an infirm older person in the bedroom could alert people downstairs that they needed attention.

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

Given that it is in a bedroom I wonder if it could have been used for a bell push on a trailing wire, so an infirm older person in the bedroom could alert people downstairs that they needed attention.

You know what, That's a very good point, I never thought of that !

Maybe it was someone old who had that room ? and when they needed help or needed to call downstairs for something ?, they might have had a loudspeaker plugged into that strange socket ?

I was also thinking it could have been for a door bell extension too ?... so they could know if someone was at the front door whilst upstairs in the bedroom

Thanks for your post !

[Richard_FM]

Sounds interesting, my first thought was a connection for a radio aerial before I read the other suggestions.

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by Richard_FM

Sounds interesting, my first thought was a connection for a radio aerial before I read the other suggestions.

Me too !

I does look very much like plug C (circled in the attached image) would have fitted that strange socket perfectly !

Thanks very for your input -

[Silicon]

My aunt had poor hearing later in life,

She had a device that flashed a bright light when the doorbell rang.

Can you trace the wire that went to that socket?

[duncanlowe]

I'll be honest, I think it could be just about anything. People would likely have used anything out of the Saturday box for anything they did. It's polarised yes. But that doesn't mean the application had to be. Though of course it may have been.

[Nickthedentist]

Another use for this kind of thing was baby alarms, and kids' "telephone" intercoms.

[Roger Ramjet]

Originally Posted by Silicon

My aunt had poor hearing later in life,

She had a device that flashed a bright light when the doorbell rang.

Can you trace the wire that went to that socket?

You just pipped me at the post with your reply Silicon. All I would add was what type of cable fed the socket to determine if it was mains or lower voltage.
Alas the decorator's have done their worst so this probably no longer possible unless floorboards are lifted.

Rog

[G6Tanuki]

The original post suggests it was wired with something like bell-wire, which supports the idea that it was for a bell-push or an intercom.

[Roger Ramjet]

Originally Posted by G6Tanuki

The original post suggests it was wired with something like bell-wire, which supports the idea that it was for a bell-push or an intercom.

Oops sorry ... mercy me, skim reading again !
Rog

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by Silicon

My aunt had poor hearing later in life,

She had a device that flashed a bright light when the doorbell rang.

Can you trace the wire that went to that socket?

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't lift any of the floor boards now as that room's just had a brand new carpet fitted and they have nailed gripper all the way round the room about 15mm from the skirting so that's that.

It could well have had a wire that goes just about anywhere in the house ! - I looked downstairs and can't seem to see any sign of any bell-like cable coming from upstairs... so maybe it was there and was removed at some point or it never was there. It's hard to say, but there are lots of good suggestions on here now which is very interesting as someone somewhere may have a similar socket in their home still in action ! and doing what it was meant to do all those years ago ! and I would love to know what that was !

[Bittyboy]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

Another use for this kind of thing was baby alarms, and kids' "telephone" intercoms.

Hi Nick, Hope you're keeping well

Yes, that is a good point and very well possible.