I'm trying to think if the lampholder was brass, could you get a bayonet 'plug' that was metal too?
Don't think I've seen a brass bayonet plug, the very thought of one seems dangerous.
Was it ever acceptable to have class 1 lights on a lighting ciircuit without an earth?
- Thread starter sparkwright
- Start date
I'm trying to think if the lampholder was brass, could you get a bayonet 'plug' that was metal too?
Don't think I've seen a brass bayonet plug, the very thought of one seems dangerous.
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It's just that I don't remember it being done.
The socket may have been but not the plug - no point.
There were doubles - with switch. Too wussy nowadays.
And one outlet was switched.
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The www.flameport.com website shown on the above fitting has some wonderful electrical apparatus from yesteryear
That 2-way adapter has the switch on the inline socket, the one with the screwed shank for a fitted lamp-shade. The branch socket was permanently live - after all you wouldn't want to switch your iron off or on - just unplug the lead when finished.
All were usually made from a bakelite type material.
The 2-pin 5A wall sockets didn't have shutters and bare wires held in my matchsticks wasn't as rare as one might like to think.
Darwin's evolutionary process sorted the wheat from the chaff !
On a slightly different side, some radios used a "resistive" supply cable which acted as a voltage dropper. Obviously it got warm in use and couldn't be shortened otherwise the radio received excessive voltage.
That 2-way adapter has the switch on the inline socket, the one with the screwed shank for a fitted lamp-shade. The branch socket was permanently live - after all you wouldn't want to switch your iron off or on - just unplug the lead when finished.
All were usually made from a bakelite type material.
The 2-pin 5A wall sockets didn't have shutters and bare wires held in my matchsticks wasn't as rare as one might like to think.
Darwin's evolutionary process sorted the wheat from the chaff !
On a slightly different side, some radios used a "resistive" supply cable which acted as a voltage dropper. Obviously it got warm in use and couldn't be shortened otherwise the radio received excessive voltage.
One of these beasties?
The one on the left (this specimen clearly 'well used'!) is the type I remember most - you could have two irons and still have a bulb as well!
Edit ... where's the pic gone?!
Edit2 ... I think I found it!
Kind Regards, John
Edit ... where's the pic gone?!
Edit2 ... I think I found it!
Kind Regards, John
There were BC/2-pin adapters sold as a combination with the adapter tethered, to enable easy use in a regular 2-pin 5A socket or in a BC lampholder:
And then for items which had already been fitted with a BC plug, there was the reverse adapter to allow use in a regular 5A socket. This particular one has adjustable pins so that it would fit in either a 2-pin or a 3-pin socket:
And then for items which had already been fitted with a BC plug, there was the reverse adapter to allow use in a regular 5A socket. This particular one has adjustable pins so that it would fit in either a 2-pin or a 3-pin socket:
Many of those were a 3-wire cord with two regular conductors to provide common and full mains voltage to the rectifier for H.T., and the third the resistive dropper for the series heater chain.
During the 1940's there were some U.S. radio sets imported to Britain which were just fitted with extremely long resistive cords to drop the voltage down to the 115V or so expected at the input of the set.
Never underestimate the power of the cost accounting department to overrule engineering...
We survived because we used common sense and applied our knowledge and our experience in making our decisions. Today the decision making is done for us by various books of rule and regulations which seem to fit ( or are claimed to fit ) a large percentage of decisons to be made.
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I think the idea of using lighting for power goes back to the days when there were separate meters for lighting and power and power was more expensive than lighting electric. It was illegal to use lighting electric for power and people were taken to court but clearly it did not stop people plugging into the lights.
Many homes progressed slowly from candles and oil lamps to gas lamps to electric and lights tended to stay in the same place. So gas lamp was on the wall so you could reach it to light it and when electric came that was also on the wall. Raise and fall lamps to allow lighting were made but a spigot on the wall onto which you placed the lamp was the normally method.
This history tells us the whole unit is called a lamp, the candle, wick, mantel or bulb fitted onto the lamp. Be it a gas tap or a socket often a small piece of wood was fastened to the wall and the socket or switch was then put on the wood.
My grand father's house just pre-war had two 15A sockets, my fathers house 1954 had five 13A sockets, it also still had wall lights in the hall, stairs, and landing. The stairs and landing lights have been replaced but the hall still had the original metal wall lamps with no earths.
The kitchen had a ceiling lamp which my father replaced with a plug in metal fluorescent lamp think it still may be in the garage. When it failed dad fitted a metal lamp to ceiling again fluorescent now a 2D double insulated but that original plug in one clearly could not have been earthed.
When in 2006 the wet room was fitted the electrician employed by builders offered for £100 extra to swap whole consumer unit rather than fit a sub main for wet room. Had the builder done his job I would have not questioned the wiring of the consumer unit. However we had to take over the job and found the house earth was the earth rod fitted by BT for the party line telephone using bare copper around 3mm². There simply was no earth connection to the house. I could not find any signs of an earth connection ever existing. It now has a DNO earth.
Gas was late addition to house so it would seem only earth was the water pipe. Although I could not find any earth bonding so it seems likely there was never an earth since the house was built. However I know there must have been an earth as I remember an earth fault on a radio blowing a 13A fuse. So something at some time must have changed possible when the solid fuel cooker was removed.
The fact I could find no sign, but knew it must have existed, means looking today, clearly we can't really say what was there, even just back to 1954.
Many homes progressed slowly from candles and oil lamps to gas lamps to electric and lights tended to stay in the same place. So gas lamp was on the wall so you could reach it to light it and when electric came that was also on the wall. Raise and fall lamps to allow lighting were made but a spigot on the wall onto which you placed the lamp was the normally method.
This history tells us the whole unit is called a lamp, the candle, wick, mantel or bulb fitted onto the lamp. Be it a gas tap or a socket often a small piece of wood was fastened to the wall and the socket or switch was then put on the wood.
My grand father's house just pre-war had two 15A sockets, my fathers house 1954 had five 13A sockets, it also still had wall lights in the hall, stairs, and landing. The stairs and landing lights have been replaced but the hall still had the original metal wall lamps with no earths.
The kitchen had a ceiling lamp which my father replaced with a plug in metal fluorescent lamp think it still may be in the garage. When it failed dad fitted a metal lamp to ceiling again fluorescent now a 2D double insulated but that original plug in one clearly could not have been earthed.
When in 2006 the wet room was fitted the electrician employed by builders offered for £100 extra to swap whole consumer unit rather than fit a sub main for wet room. Had the builder done his job I would have not questioned the wiring of the consumer unit. However we had to take over the job and found the house earth was the earth rod fitted by BT for the party line telephone using bare copper around 3mm². There simply was no earth connection to the house. I could not find any signs of an earth connection ever existing. It now has a DNO earth.
Gas was late addition to house so it would seem only earth was the water pipe. Although I could not find any earth bonding so it seems likely there was never an earth since the house was built. However I know there must have been an earth as I remember an earth fault on a radio blowing a 13A fuse. So something at some time must have changed possible when the solid fuel cooker was removed.
The fact I could find no sign, but knew it must have existed, means looking today, clearly we can't really say what was there, even just back to 1954.
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