Comments on: Folding up the humble three-pin plug

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 10:01:49 +0000

Why not go one step further, the clue being in the picture. Make a flat adapter, which has the “pins” for live and neutral fitted, and a pass-through hole for earth. Bring the feeds from L and N into the centre, where the new plug fits.

Buy one for each plug in the premise. Then, take the new plug above, and plug into the adaptor. Modify it slightly so it loses the 90deg swivel plate, reducing complexity, cost, and a potential failure point.

By: JH

JH — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:55:49 +0000

Surely a plug with retractable pins would be just as good? It works with flash drives after all.

By: Nikkk

Nikkk — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:41:07 +0000

It can’t be any good because there is no room to put a PC inside it
And did I miss an obvious reference to powerline networking in story on the “PC in a mains plug”?
I think MartinC is confusing “should” with “must”, or what is desirable with what is illegal under statute law (or worse) if it’s not done. The latter is rather Hegelian, old chap; we don’t things like that on this side of the Channel. Much. Yet.
A comment on BS1363 (mentioned above) versus BS1363A: jam a penny piece between the pins of a 1363 and plug it in; result: excitement. Try it with a 1363A; result: boring. (And don’t try this at home; wait until you reach the office. Or wait for Mythbusters to check it out.)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 23:32:07 +0000

I see and yes that has been practice for a few years hasn’t it?
Nothing stopping you chopping off the original though and fitting one of these, so ’selling them indvidually’ as stated is NOT illegal.
PC PRO get your facts straight!

By: MartinC

MartinC — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:50:05 +0000

It is illegal to sell a product with a bare wire lead on the end and expect the customer to wire his own plug. Wikipedia states

“Trading standards legislation in both the UK and Ireland requires that all normal electrical goods sold in either country should be fitted with a BS 1363 / IS 401 plug.”

It is not illegal to purchase and fit a plug, as shown by the number of shops selling them. Since all new products come with a molded on plug, you shouldnt need to buy very many of them, which H&S hope leads to fewer miswiring accidents, but there are always situations where you need to make up a plug with a lead – in that case H&S assume you know what you are doing and can follow electrical instructions.

It always seemed nonsensical to purchase a large electrical item such as a TV and have to pay another 69p for a plug, then spent the first ten minutes after unpacking the TV fiddling about with a screwdriver.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 13:36:58 +0000

Since when was it illegal to purchase and fit a plug?!
Plenty of shops sell plugs…..
Please clarify!

By: John Hind

John Hind — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 11:19:18 +0000

Very cleaver, however I do not see how you could prevent it being plugged into a standard socket without the protective wings being folded out.

Also MartinC is right about the fuse – but the easy solution here is to make that not replaceable – how often do they blow? Just make it that you have to replace the whole lead if that happens.

Trouble is you can get the benefits of this and more much more simply by using a two part system – a small internationally standard plug that plugs into an adapter for each local market. This way you can migrate progressively to using the international version directly.

By: Matthew Sparkes

Matthew Sparkes — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:55:22 +0000

James, you are not the first person to point that out. And I suspect you will not be the last…

By: James

James — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:35:13 +0000

I just love the fact this article was written by Matthew Sparkes

By: Alan

Alan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:00:25 +0000

I doubt someone has got all that 3d modelling done for no reason, looks quite professional.