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Old 13th Apr 2021, 12:17 pm   #21
Richard_FM
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

Here we go:


https://www.flameport.com/electric_m...ndard_plug.cs4

http://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/British2.html
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Old 13th Apr 2021, 1:12 pm   #22
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

As far as I can remember the Wandsworth plug was the same as the D&S plugs being described here. It had a W embossed into the Bakelite cover.

Yes I did encounter them in Prefabs situated next to the railway line in Hartfield Crescent Wimbledon. Strange how you remember silly details. My customer kept chickens running around in a large wired area in the garden The TV was a Ferguson 406T then around ten years old.

The Fitall plug was OK but useless when you encountered a socket mounted on the skirting board close to the floor. I got fed up with this and ended up with two bare wires that I used to carefully place in the socket and then secure them with a plug..Sleeved plugs put an end to that!

It was quite amazing the sockets you encountered. When I was first doing service calls at 16 [1964] , 13amp sockets were quite rare and in many houses/bedsits the BC adaptor still ruled!

I always thought a 15amp 3 pin plug was a much better arrangement and took the current from a 3000w appliance much better than a 13amp one. They just made better contact. John.

Last edited by Cobaltblue; 13th Apr 2021 at 1:33 pm. Reason: Automotive
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Old 13th Apr 2021, 2:39 pm   #23
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

So just a "normal" 13 amp plug with a different earth pin. I thought they predated that.
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Old 13th Apr 2021, 2:40 pm   #24
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

Quote:
Originally Posted by Heatercathodeshort View Post
As far as I can remember the Wandsworth plug was the same as the D&S plugs being described here. It had a W embossed into the Bakelite cover.
Thanks John. So they are older than 13 amp plugs with a different earth pin!
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Old 13th Apr 2021, 6:15 pm   #25
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

A page from a catalogue showing a "Wandsworth" plug can be found in post #22 (amongst others) of this closed thread, which also has information on many types I was previously unaware of :

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...t=71262&page=2

Last edited by emeritus; 13th Apr 2021 at 6:17 pm. Reason: typos
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Old 13th Apr 2021, 10:29 pm   #26
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

I was double checking the Wandsworth plugs & noticed there are two different earth pins, one having a round pin, and the other being almost square in section.
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Old 14th Apr 2021, 7:16 am   #27
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

I used a Pargo plug with sliding pins for many years at Southern Rentals for my weller gun. These plugs worked with any socket even the MK logic range. I still have one of these plugs.
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Old 14th Apr 2021, 10:17 am   #28
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

I've seen a picture of a similar "universal" plug where the pins are attached so they swing through an arc rather than just sideways.

I did wonder how they coped with 3 pin sockets.
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Old 14th Apr 2021, 11:24 am   #29
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

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Originally Posted by Richard_FM View Post
I've seen a picture of a similar "universal" plug where the pins are attached so they swing through an arc rather than just sideways.

I did wonder how they coped with 3 pin sockets.
This is the one
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Old 14th Apr 2021, 3:01 pm   #30
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bobdger View Post
I used a Pargo plug with sliding pins for many years at Southern Rentals for my weller gun. These plugs worked with any socket even the MK logic range. I still have one of these plugs.
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Old 14th Apr 2021, 4:08 pm   #31
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

The original sliding shutter sockets could be overridden by sort of walking the plug in.
The plain rotary shutter ones just let you push a 2-pin plug in.
The dimpled shutters soon followed making it much more difficult to get a two pin plug in.
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Old 14th Apr 2021, 6:03 pm   #32
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

When I joined the Patent Office, the subject matter dealt with in the training group I was assigned to, included plugs and sockets (officially known as "two-part couplings"), as well as cables and fuses. The relevant MK patents had already been granted by then, and copies were in the search files. The patent for the original design of rotatable shutter requiring simultaneous pin insertion, covered 2 pin sockets as well as three-pin. The later patented modification for 3 pin sockets was indeed designed specifically to defeat europlug insertion.

Last edited by emeritus; 14th Apr 2021 at 6:05 pm. Reason: typos
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Old 16th Apr 2021, 11:04 am   #33
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

I discovered this version of the WANDSWORTH plug that differs from the ones I remember. I have some higher current ones in one of my junk plug boxes and may find them. If so I will post. [Why do we keep this junk?]

I guess it is older than the later D&S types as it does not have any form of fuse. Probably pre war.
John.
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Old 16th Apr 2021, 12:50 pm   #34
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

That's the type originally installed in the council houses of the Becontree estate in Essex in the 1920's, and still being used by my barber in the mid-1970's.
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Old 17th Apr 2021, 9:49 pm   #35
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

Hi,

Quite an interesting thread this one!

Is there any way I can get hold of a fittall plug for my vintage plug collection? They are quite interesting to me and would fit quite nicely within the collection!

Tom
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Old 17th Apr 2021, 10:04 pm   #36
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

There are usually some on the usual online auction sites, but probably more than at a swap meet.
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Old 18th Apr 2021, 12:16 pm   #37
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

They can indeed be found on ebay, but searching can be very tedious because most sellers dont give a very detailed description.
You may need to search for "vintage plug" and then look through vast numbers of listings.
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Old 18th Apr 2021, 1:25 pm   #38
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Default Re: Plug adaptors of the past

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom williams View Post
Hi,

Quite an interesting thread this one!

Is there any way I can get hold of a fittall plug for my vintage plug collection? They are quite interesting to me and would fit quite nicely within the collection!

Tom
Here's some I found earlier.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-W...MAAOSwAyBfh2F7

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FITALL-vi...UAAOSw5eNdwdSU

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-F...MAAOSweiZfxl0r

No connection with any of the sellers.

Cheers

Mike T
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Old 18th Apr 2021, 6:35 pm   #39
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Smile Re: Plug adaptors of the past

Hi,
Re: The Wandsworth plug in post no. 33.
My primary school had something similar, but much smaller and with a solid earth pin, for plugging a speaker into a socket in each classroom to hear schools broadcasts from a 'Grampian' receiver in the assembly hall.
I assume it was a 100 volt line system.
I also remember those Wandsworth mains sockets on Lewis's department store in Liverpool. There were two at the base of each column throughout the store.
Cheers, Pete.
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