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Old 12th Nov 2014, 7:11 pm   #21
robin coleman
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Here is an mk found in a skip today.
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Old 12th Nov 2014, 10:35 pm   #22
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Default Re: Plug sockets

I still have these throughout the house. Some are doubles. They're mostly fitted on the skirting boards with the cables exposed and running all over the place. I guess exposed mains cables were ok back then.

The quality of these sockets seems to be high, none have failed and they all grip the plugs tightly still. The original fuse box wasn't as great however, it had an open back and was mounted on some kind of fibreboard (probably flammable). Some areas of the plastic looked a bit cooked too. That was replaced with a new RCD unit a while back as I didn't trust it any more.
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Old 12th Nov 2014, 11:08 pm   #23
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Default Re: Plug sockets

The MK sockets in the OP already appear in a 1954 catalogue I have here available in brown and ivory, double, single and switched/unswitched options. Early ones have the dolly more proud than the later ones which sit in the familiar recess.
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Old 13th Nov 2014, 9:04 am   #24
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Default Re: Plug sockets

I never knew 13A flat pin sockets were around as long ago as 1954. Does anyone know when they first appeared?
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Old 13th Nov 2014, 9:57 am   #25
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Default Re: Plug sockets

1947, I think. It's on the forum somewhere.
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Old 13th Nov 2014, 10:48 am   #26
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Default Re: Plug sockets

1947 is correct, various manufactures came up with slightly different ideas. Some used round pin, but it was the flat pin that won the day. The 30 amp ring main was introduced about the same time, as it was economical on cable. Having carried out tests on 13 amp plug and sockets with flat pin, carrying 13 amp in the past, they are not near as good as the 15 amp round pin for durability. The problem was the socket out let, connection was/ is made top and bottom of the pin of the plug and arcing soon took place in the socket. The arcing softened the sleeve in which the pin entered cause even more problems.Ted
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Old 14th Nov 2014, 9:36 pm   #27
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Smile Re: Plug sockets

Hi,
I really like the style of the earlier MK stuff and have amassed quite a bit of it. I even brought a box of electrical fittings with me when we moved to France! Anorak, or what?
Here's a few pictures, not all of it is MK.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 14th Nov 2014, 10:20 pm   #28
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Default Re: Plug sockets

I can still see in my mind my grandma's Bush A823 plugged into a brown MK socket with dolly switch as per OP. She didn't have the strength to operate the twist on-off knob on the bush but could use the tv by hitting the protruding dolly switch with her walking stick.
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Old 15th Nov 2014, 3:48 pm   #29
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Nice collection Tractorfan, I prefer the 13 amp square pin sockets myself and like yourself, particularly the MK ones. It's amazing how many different versions of MK sockets have been made over the years. I doubt I've even scratched the surface with my collection but I'm on a bit of mission to try and collect one of each - if anyone is wanting to clear out any items, I'd gladly take them off your hands. If you can't bear to part with any of them (and you're anorak like me!) I'd be interested to see photos of other people's collections.

Up until recently, my grandparent's only had a single switched WG surface mounted socket to serve the whole of the upstairs of their house, which resulted in having an extension lead ready in each bedroom behind the doors to power the upstairs appliances.
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Old 17th Nov 2014, 12:30 am   #30
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Ahh wyvern27, that post makes me very happy. I'm glad I'm not the only person obsessed with these sockets & plugs, I spot them everywhere I go and get a weird kick out of seeing them. I guess it goes back to my grandparent's house in Kirkdale, Liverpool, which was wired in the 1960s and had the 4 screw MK double sockets throughout. This was the 1990s and I remember finding them fascinating probably because they were so different from the MK 'Logic' ones in our house, rewired in the late 80s (the type with 'on' written on the switch and the MK logo without the square around it). Also around that time, my grandfather did work in a Catholic priest's presbytery and although it had been rewired sometime recently, most rooms still contained at least one black MK round pin 5 amp socket which again, I found absolutely fascinating.

People think I'm crazy for at the age of 23 being a 'fan' of a type of socket, but I love seeing old technology still in use and working perfectly, and there are still so many about. For example there's a cafe in nearby Southport that still has those 4 screw MK sockets in working order around the shop, and that just makes me smile.

Those old MK designs just have some indescribable charm about them I guess, and I'm glad that by the look of some of the posts in this thread, I don't appear to be alone in thinking that!
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Old 17th Nov 2014, 1:53 am   #31
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Quote:
Originally Posted by McMurdo View Post
The MK sockets in the OP already appear in a 1954 catalogue
That figures. My parents re-wired their first house in about 1956 using these throughout. All mounted on the separate pattresses seen top right in the first picture in #29.
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Old 1st Dec 2014, 3:41 pm   #32
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Spotted this odd one today in my university. Not sure how old the building is, but I guess that it was rewired recently as it has modern MK Logic outlets throughout. However this seems to be left over from an older installation... any ideas? Its at the top of a staircase, sorry for the blurry photo.
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Old 1st Dec 2014, 5:14 pm   #33
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Difficult to tell from the out of focus picture, but it could be a connection point for a mains clock. Cable feeding it looks a bit big though.
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Old 1st Dec 2014, 6:41 pm   #34
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Smile Re: Plug sockets

Hi,
Not a clock connector. It's an MK cable outlet with a plug fitted with a BS1362 fuse link. It was designed for use where equipment was occasionally required to be disconnected for maintenance, etc. The plug was secured with a central screw.
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 1st Dec 2014, 7:23 pm   #35
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Default Re: Plug sockets

My bet is on an MK 995WHI clock connector.
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Old 1st Dec 2014, 8:18 pm   #36
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tractorfan View Post
Not a clock connector. It's an MK cable outlet with a plug fitted with a BS1362 fuse link.
But Pete, isn't that what so-called clock connectors were often used for?

Assuming it was originally for a clock, it would probably have been a mains-voltage, "synchronous" one. Very accurate indeed, but stopped if there was a power cut. They were hugely popular from about 1930 to 1980, when battery-powered quartz clocks began to rule the roost.

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Old 1st Dec 2014, 8:28 pm   #37
Tractorfan
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Smile Re: Plug sockets

Hi,
Yes, guys, that is exactly what clock connectors were for and they contained a BS545 1amp fuse. But I'm certain there is a higher rated connector which looked very similar, and has a larger BS1362 fuse.
Time to dig out my 1971 MK catalogue, methinks!
Cheers, Pete.
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Old 1st Dec 2014, 8:42 pm   #38
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Until not many years ago several of my customers in the East Devon area still had 5a and 15a round pin sockets. A lot of the old farmhouses still have the distribution board in the kitchen, ours in in the downstairs loo and still has wired fuses. I have a light switch in the loft with a Bakelite cover that I installed about 45 years ago.

Its all still happening down here.

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Old 2nd Dec 2014, 2:19 am   #39
johnpriceuk
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Tractorfan, I don't suppose you've got a scan of that MK catalogue have you?
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Old 2nd Dec 2014, 10:42 am   #40
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Default Re: Plug sockets

Two more MKs not in Wyvern's splendid collection:

The Bronze socket has had quite a career, it started life in a regional BBC TV studio, then had pride of place as the main socket in my late Father's cellar workshop, it now enjoys retirement with me. Note it is of the 4 screw fixing type (I retain a suitable back box just in case..)
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