Upstairs light on downstairs circuit
- Thread starter ade11
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Well,they were s***t. It is two key elements of a castle,one is what you might do with mum when secrecy is needed,the other is wet. Didn't mean to turn this into a quiz,just not naming a crap company outright, I had to get them back to redo every single job properly,plumbing,exterior doors etc..
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I've no personal experience of this, but I've heard that, long long ago, light socket usage was covered by the standing charge so she'd have got free electricity for the ironing.
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That doesn't sound logical, because originally, when first installed, most of the load would have been lighting, with few if any sockets for power. If they are going to meter the power outlets, it would be just as easy, even easier to meter all of the load.
Irons (and many other things) were plugged into lighting sockets, simply because most homes lacked power sockets. My parents first home just had one 5amp socket installed, two wire fuses, one lighting/ one for the socket. Sunk in the walls were still the gas pipes for gas lighting. BC to 5amp two pin adaptors, with or without a BC lamp socket, so a lamp could still be had were commonplace.
What I can't recall is whether the irons were meant to have an earth connection on them, as it would have been unlikely to get an earth connection from the old lampholders.
Were irons 'doubled insulated' then??
Were there often cut off earth wires at bayonet plug?
Also what kind of wattage were the old irons?
Were irons 'doubled insulated' then??
Were there often cut off earth wires at bayonet plug?
Also what kind of wattage were the old irons?
I don't remember there being any such spec. then. I remember a certain table light which I was told had been a wedding present to my parents - large bare heavy metal base, metal vertical post, BC lamp holder and wired in the purple twisted twin, cotton rubber insulated passing up the centre, with a BC lamp holder. I always felt a tingle from that.
We had a Hoover Constellation, large metal ball vacuum cleaner. That always had a two pin 5amp plug on it, with a 5amp to BC adaptor tied to it with a cord.
I would imagine so, I don't remember there being an earth anywhere in the place.
Perfectly normal, back then.
This was the 60s,so I think double insulation was a new thing,were Black and Decker the first with the DI drills with their various attachments ? The iron was metal with a Bakelite handle,I doubt there was earth. There was a switched adapter so the bulb could still work with the iron on. We had two pin (2 Amp ?) plus 5 and 15 Amp three pin(round ) sockets.
B&D were the first to bring out popular DIY drills, they were just better than the rest at devising ways to sell them. There were ads in papers and magazines offering them on HP. My father bought one as a kit, with some very dangerous extra attachments and chocolate drill bits.
There were 2amp, 5amp and 15amp plugs. I think the 2amp only appeared as a 3 pin, 5amp as 2 or 3 pin and 15amp only as a 3 pin. There was also the electric clock socket. I think the 2amp and 5amp can still be found and used. The 2amp was oft used for table lights etc., fed from a lighting circuit.
All three sizes were available in both 2 pin and 3 pin. The pin spacing differed so 2 pin variants would not fit 3 pin sockets.
http://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/OldBritish2.html
I lived in a bed sit in the early 70s which had the usual coin fed meter for electric,but we found a 2 pin socket, hidden behind the bed,which ran off a different circuit,probably for the LL to vac up between tenants. Of course we were soon running an electric fire off it,surprised we didn't burn the place down. There seemed to be a lackadaisical attitude back then,wires jammed in sockets with matchsticks,twisted and taped joints because there wasn't an extension to hand,things I would not do now I must point out.
I must have been about 8 and remember my father setting up a Christmas Tree. The flex on the lights wasn't long enough so he just added a bit, using a twist joint and had me hold the two bare joints apart, whilst he checked if the lights still worked - with an instruction hold them apart and not to let them touch. A silly instruction to give a curious 8 year old, I took the fuse out and the lights.
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