Charlie StrossOct 4, 2024

SCREAM!

(Context for Americans: until relatively recently mains appliances in the UK came without a plug—you had to fit your own. Also they're fused and have to carry 230vac, so getting it wrong is a BAD idea. And this is Very Not Right Indeed.)
https://mastodon.ie/@iolo/113248676764884541

Iolo (@[email protected])

Attached: 1 image I asked ChatGPT how to wire a standard UK plug using the new canvas feature...

mastodon.ie
Show threadPetrichor ᚄᚔᚅᚐᚁᚆᚃᚒᚔᚂOct 4, 2024
@cstross Surely not? They came with plugs unless they were imports from a different-plug country? And even that import thing was only in the relatively recent past
Show threadCharlie StrossOct 4, 2024
@sinabhfuil Nope! They came with a bare wire and you had to buy a plug and screw it together before you could plug anything in! Not just simple stuff—my first real computer (an Amstrad PCW) came that way in 1986. Pre-wired plugs only became standard in 1992.
Show threadMichael ᚋᚔᚉᚆᚓᚐᚂOct 4, 2024

@cstross @sinabhfuil On buying any new electrical product, the first thing to do when getting it home was to decide which old electrical product you could afford to steal the plug from because there were never spare plugs at home.

It was mad when you think of it. How did it take so long for such a simple and important thing to be mandatory?

Show threadSteven ReedOct 4, 2024
@baoigheallain
I've always thought it might have been because some proportion of houses might have still had pre 1363 sockets?
@cstross @sinabhfuil
Show threadDuke Thinred IV 
@srtcd424 @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil
Indeed. (assuming you meant BS1363, not 1363AD) I remember having to fit BS456 5A plugs on some equipment while I was in University residences. Although these were built in the 1960's they had 5A sockets in the non-kitchen areas to dissuade people from using high-powered equipment.
Oct 5, 2024 at 6:03amWeb
Show threadjarkmanOct 5, 2024
@dukethinrediv @srtcd424 @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil The house I grew up in had round-pin socket, in a pleasing variety of sizes for no clear reason.
Show threadwill-hOct 5, 2024

@jarkman @dukethinrediv @srtcd424 @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil BS 546 2A, 5A and 15A! The 5A version is often seen in India, and the 15A is the old standard in South Africa and theatre lights in UK

More concerningly seeing those sockets in a building today in Europe is a good indicator that the wiring behind them is a flaky rubber death trap

Show threadSam MachinOct 5, 2024
@flangey @jarkman @dukethinrediv @srtcd424 @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil we've got some of those 2A sockets in our lounge for the lighting circuit. No ceiling fixture just a wall switch that controls the outlets. (Wiring is fine though)
Show threadSteven ReedOct 5, 2024
@sammachin
I think using them for table lamps controlled by a wall switch is one of the few remaining extant use cases - the wiring might not be as old as you think. As some who hates Big Scary Overhead Lighting I approve of the concept :)
@flangey @jarkman @dukethinrediv @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil
Show threadCharlie StrossOct 5, 2024
@srtcd424 @sammachin @flangey @jarkman @dukethinrediv @baoigheallain @sinabhfuil I remember some hotels using them for in-room appliances to deter casual theft. (Anyone under 40 today probably never learned how to wire a plug, as selling appliances with them pre-fitted became mandatory from about 1992.)
Show threadSam MachinOct 5, 2024
@srtcd424 yes absolutely I think the whole place was rewired late 2000’s
I agree on the overhead lighting thing, but now everything is smart bulbs and buttons its less of an issue anyway, wall button in my office turns on 4 uplighters
Show threadKimOct 5, 2024
@srtcd424 @sammachin @flangey @jarkman @dukethinrediv @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil BS546 plugs (made to modern standards, with insulated pins) are common in indoor architectural and stage lighting where it's safer not to have a fuse somewhere you have to climb a ladder to get to. They're less bulky than the 16A Ceeform connector.
Show threadBilly SmithOct 5, 2024

@jarkman @dukethinrediv @srtcd424 @baoigheallain @cstross @sinabhfuil

One place i moved out from pdq, had the round-pin sockets, as well as crumbling bakelite light switches on the walls.

It only took a couple of shocks for me to decide to be somewhere else... :D