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General Vintage Technology Discussions For general discussions about vintage radio and other vintage electronics etc. |
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24th Jun 2022, 7:41 pm | #21 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
Normally if there isn't space to tuck a UK mains plug in the storage compartment, I fit an IEC 320 C14 plug and then use a normal PC-type mains cable to power the device. I am not short of those!
In most other cases I do, indeed, fit the UK mains plug for obvious reasons. One exception is the Grundig TK6, with that machine you have to park the Schuko plug in a socket inside the machine to operate a switch to connect the battery for portable operation. So not having the Schuko plug there would be a problem. In the case of the Alibicord, (a) it would never have been used in the UK, (b) it will only be used now for testing/demonstrations and (c) it's probably better to give it 220V. So I think I'll do what I said in message #19 |
24th Jun 2022, 9:42 pm | #22 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Portland, Dorset, UK.
Posts: 870
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
Note that there are a few different styles of the euro convertor plugs made by power connections and it's important to get the right one for the plug concerned.
There's one for 2 pin europlugs one for round two pin un-earthed german/french plugs one for earthed german and german/french hybrid plugs and one for "wall-wart" adaptors. https://www.powerconnections.co.uk/p...ry/converters/ They also do ones for 3 pin Italian plugs and 2 pin and 3 pin american plugs. |
25th Jun 2022, 11:54 am | #23 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Brentwood, Essex, UK.
Posts: 5,316
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
Adaptors for the French earthed plugs are not common. We brought back a number of French electrical items from my late brother-in-law's house that have the French earthed plugs, and use them via some of his extension leads that have the French earthed socket and the universal plug that fits both the French and the Schuko sockets, in conjunction with a 13A to Schuko adaptor.
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25th Jun 2022, 1:25 pm | #24 | |
Rest in Peace
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: London, UK.
Posts: 2,508
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
Quote:
'Europlug' (CEE17/16) is specifically a flat, 2-pin 2.5A plug with angled 4mm pins. There is no such thing as an earthed Europlug, nor are any other kinds of European plug correctly called Europlug. Its concept is to mate with all 19mm sockets including legacy types, hence the inwardly-angled springy pins which will contact the inner sides of socket contacts that were intended only for 4.8mm or sprung pins. This scope for marginal compatibility imposes the 2.5A limitation. There are similarly-dimensioned varieties with a flat body and two parallel pins rated for up to 10A, but these are not technically Europlugs. 'Schuko' (CEE7/4) is specifically an earthed 16A plug with 4.8mm pins and earthing via two side-contacts. Schuko plugs and sockets are always earthed, indeed the name 'Schuko' is a contraction of 'Schutzkontakt' meaning protective (earth) contact. CEE7/17 is the non-earthed 10/16A plug with two 4.8mm pins and a flange at the mating face that resembles the outline of Schuko but with cutouts for the socket side contacts. This is referred to confusingly on the Power Connections page both as Europlug and non-earthed Schuko. It has been used on class II appliances exceeding 2.5A loading but due to its rather disparate regions of popularity it doesn't have a widely-recognised catchy name. I agree that there is a paucity of adaptors specifically intended for CEE7/6 (French) plugs also used in Belgium / Poland / Czechia / Slovakia. However, the genuine 7/7 with a round body and earthing only by female contact in the plug has seen relatively less use due to the widespread adoption of the hybrid CEE7/7 plug also compatible with Schuko and hence Schuko adaptors and converters. These have been standard for many decades; my dad and uncle were in appliance import and sales in the 1970s and I remember lorry-loads of European appliances arriving with moulded hybrid plugs that were replaced with BS1363 on arrival. At that time there were no permanently-fitted converters and for 3kW loads one wants the simplest and most robust option, so replacing the plugs was unavoidable. FWIW they chose the very slim BICC plug to give the least projection behind washing machines etc. |
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25th Jun 2022, 7:43 pm | #25 |
Octode
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Cheshire, UK.
Posts: 1,706
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
Anyone that owns HP test gear of a certain age, i.e. 60s or earlier, may have changed the US Nema 5-15P plug, for a BS1363 plug, only to then find you can no longer remove cover from the power cord (without removing the UK plug), as the hole in the cover is sized for the US plug. I really regret doing this on one of mine, but at least US power cords can be obtained from CPC.
David |
25th Jun 2022, 8:27 pm | #26 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
My cure for that (and I've had it on Philips tape recorders for example) is to fit an in-line connector in the mains cable. Either an IEC320 C13+C14 or more often one of those 3-pin connectors sold to extend lamp flex etc. They will easily handle the current of such equipment.
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26th Jun 2022, 11:57 am | #27 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Biggin Hill, London, UK.
Posts: 5,188
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Re: Mains plugs from other countries
Incidentally, getting back to the original problem, does anyone know what the tolerance on the mains voltage would have been in Germany in the 1960s (when the Alibicord was made)?
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