old 13A plugs

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

legal?

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

Found a box of salvaged 13 amp plugs while searching for something else. Some of them are the old type with unshrouded pins. Thought I'd better check if these are still legal to sell before taking them to a car boot sale.

If not, I suppose I will remove the fuses, recycle the pins and bin the thermosetting plastic bodies.

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

It does depend, I expect, on the country in which you are hoping to do the selling …

Tim

[IanTParticipant @iant]

I like the older versions too – the brass pins get used for all sorts of things.

Regards,

IanT

[SandgrounderParticipant @sandgrounder]

I wouldn't have thought it was worth doing anything with them except scrapping them, you can buy brand new ones in Wilko's for 80p.

John

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by Sandgrounder on 11/09/2016 09:22:12:

I wouldn't have thought it was worth doing anything with them except scrapping them, you can buy brand new ones in Wilko's for 80p.

John

Correct, they are my source for plugs too.

Michael W

[Ed DuffnerParticipant @edduffner79357]

I know it is illegal to sell unshielded pin plugs in the UK since around 2000/2001. It's a good point that Tim makes about sale to other countries but would it be worth the hastle? and I can't think why a foreign buyer might want UK plugs.

Ed.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Sell them to Rainbows and he can put them with his scrap tele

[Steve FParticipant @stevef]

Why dont you use them to make wobbler engines. If you have a few have a competition at the club.

Plans here **LINK**

regards

Steve

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I'm still using round pin in places, even feeding the square pin distribution strip this computer is running off. Don't often see them for sale in the UK though still standardin India. At our old tracksite the 12v at the steaming bays used the 10A roundpins which is not a bad idea as back when it was built most people had a few still around.

[HopperParticipant @hopper]

Illegal to sell them secondhand at a boot sale? Do the pleeces go around checking?

[MWParticipant @mw27036]

Posted by Hopper on 11/09/2016 11:22:18:

Illegal to sell them secondhand at a boot sale? Do the pleeces go around checking?

Oh yes, You'll be pistol whipped into submission and forced to sign an affidavit of responsibility. This and holding your family as collateral.

Michael W

[Ian S CParticipant @iansc]

In 1977 when arrived at a friends place in Robertsbridge (Sth of London), one of the first things I was handed was a flex with a fused plug on it, with the comment, I think the fuse is blown, could you fix it? This was the first time I'd seem these plugs, having only arrived in the UK that day, fuse got changed. Here in NZ our plugs are 10 amp rated, unfused.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

Ed, search the net for plugs type G and you will find a lot of countries use these plugs.

Martin

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, it's not illegal to use them in your own home, but they won't pass a PAT. You could always separate the unshielded ones out and sell them as collectable items and as being unfit for use, especially if they are not supplied with a fuse.

Regards Nick.

P.S. I keep any that I have for the brass pins, which I have also used at times.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/09/2016 13:29:19

[Tim StevensParticipant @timstevens64731]

They could be the basis of an MEW competition. What is the most useful / complex / outlandish / silly thing you can make with an old electric plug?

Tim

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Posted by Tim Stevens on 11/09/2016 14:25:40:

They could be the basis of an MEW competition. What is the most useful / complex / outlandish / silly thing you can make with an old electric plug?

Tim

Hi, don't know if this one counts, as it only uses the hole and screw bit of one, to make an instant depth gauge for small holes.

Regards Nick.

Edited By Nicholas Farr on 11/09/2016 14:59:34

[RainbowsParticipant @rainbows]

Posted by John Stevenson on 11/09/2016 10:09:49:
Sell them to Rainbows and he can put them with his scrap tele

You say it as if I wouldn't totally take a tonne of outdated plugs

[KWILParticipant @kwil]

Provided the uninsulated plug top was fitted to the lead/equipment prior to 1994 (th change date of BS1363) the question of PAT failure does arise.

If everything is in good order it may be considered unsafe and replacement advisable but…….

Of interest, if your plugtop has any reference to CE then it is a counterfeit product as BS 1363 is the defining requirement (unless you know otherwise).

[davebParticipant @daveb17630]

My four year old daughter took a battery powered toy apart and stuck the brass strip from the battery connector between a mains socket and the plug. I noticed the sooty splash on the socket and asked her what happened, after assuring her that she wasn't in trouble she produced a 3" length of brass shim with the end melted away. Fortunately, she was uninjured. This happened over 30 years ago, probably a chance in a million. I do not use old style plugs.

Dave

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Posted by Steve F on 11/09/2016 10:43:26:

Why dont you use them to make wobbler engines. If you have a few have a competition at the club.

Plans here **LINK**

regards

Steve

Made on of these… runs quite good too.

George.

[GeorgineerParticipant @georgineer]

"… it's not illegal to use them in your own home, but they won't pass a PAT. "

The third edition (2007) of the Code of Practice for In-Service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment states:

"All standard plugs now sold are required by law (The Plugs and Sockets etc. (Safety) Regulations 1994) to conform to BS 1363, which requires pins to be sleeved. This legislation is not retrospective in that it does not apply to old plugs already in use, but such plugs should not be reused (i.e. not fitted to new cords)."

So unless the fourth edition (2012) changes this, which I doubt, equipment using unsleeved plugs should not fail PAT testing for that alone. However, I can think of no good reason for reusing unsleeved plugs, and recommend that they be 'brought to produce' to borrow the old Navy term.

George

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

Posted by Hopper on 11/09/2016 11:22:18:

Illegal to sell them secondhand at a boot sale? Do the pleeces go around checking?

No but sometimes trading standards do!

Neil

[Anthony KnightsParticipant @anthonyknights16741]

Thank you for the replies. The reply from "Georgineer" was the clarification I was looking for. I will sort out the plugs with the unsleeved pins and rescue the fuses. The pins will go with the other scrap brass and will eventually end up at the local scrapyard. I doubt that the plastic bodies are recyclable so will be binned.

[Author]

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