Non Standard UK Plugs & Sockets

A selection of non-standard UK plugs and sockets, based on BS1363 with various modifications to one or more pins.

[Mavermick]

I'll never forget the first time I came across the plug at 6:20. I thought I had been drinking at first.

[markhorton]

10.16 We had these put into the test areas of a factory where I worked, alongside normal sockets. They were for a "separate" low noise supply with a clean earth system, needed for precision analogue measurements.

[AndrewLumsden]

Britmac plugs were used extensively in government offices for computer equipment. They had D shaped earth pin. - rotated so the flat portion was at the top. - so that the cleaners couldn't plug in their hoovers etc. into the clean power supply intended for computer equipment. They were gradually phased out some years ago in favour of the everyday conventional plug and socket.

[KISSFanDan]

The UK plugs/sockets are way safer then the ones we have here in America. I like the shutters on the live and neutral.

[LectronCircuits]

Non-standard plugs & sockets are so much fun. Cheers!

[suchcone]

Saw a Walsall gauge socket on the underground the other day and thought of this video, so giving it another watch! Enjoyable as always

[ianharrison]

Thank You for this and your other videos.
The most usual place in my experience for the 'Walsall Gauge' plug and socket, is on the London Underground on platforms and sometimes along corridors. Whether or not they are still fitted as standard on the LU, I don't know, but they certainly have quite a few around the network.

[RODALCO]

Great video John, Never knew that there were that many variations on the UK 13 Amp plugs.

[silasomondi]

Quite informative video. Just learnt the existence of a wide range of non standard plugs

[PhilReynoldsLondonGeek]

The MK socket you show here is 2 pin shuttered, but the latest versions are 3 pin. A recent reported case of "stealing electricity" would have been prevented had non-standard sockets been fitted in the relevant location. That or a "not for public use" sign should be a requirement in premises (and on trains) to which the public have access.

[bobbagum]

In my part of the world, where we use combinations of both us-styled flat prongs with mixture of some europlugs, the British plug is often employed in case where you don't want people to unplug or plug things in like in hospitals

[peterw]

I don't know why but I find these plug sockets fascinating. I never knew we had other plugs in the UK other that the standard ones.

[cossiedriverrs]

The earth pin is longer, so that it is the LAST one disconnected when the plug is removed. Important when the switch is left on, or the socket is unswitched.

[BoomBoxDeluxe]

At 6:22 :D The Walsall plug! I have been looking for one of these for sooo long now! I have checked a whole variety of electrical stockists, auction webbsites and.... Nothing. :-(

I would like one of those so that I can add it into my PLUGS PLAYLIST on my channel. I have seen and looked inside one, and that was when I was on my PAT course. The lecturer had one and that's when I got the opportunity to examine one of those in detail. :-)

I also know of the Walsall plug with the double-pole fusing in it.

I noticed on your walsall plug that it has a more modern Walsall logo on it. The plug that the lecturer had at the college, that had a Walsall logo on it as like the one on the fuse in your plug. I generally refer to that styling of logo as the 'original' logo. :-)

The plug with the round earth pin.... I have seen those before, and I have recently came across the plug that has the earth pin with radiused corners on it.

I have also known about MK's T-pin plugs as well, and it's interesting that GET have started making sockets that are replicas of MK's T-pin sockets. If other manufacturers start making them as well, then there's a possibility that they'll no longer be a non-standard socket or plug.... They'll be everywhere, just like BS 1363, LMAO!

Other types of non-standard plug that I know of are the Dorman Smith plugs and the 'Reyrolle' plug.

(There were also 'industrial Reyrolle plugs which were a bit like the BS 4343 plugs, but for this discussion, I'll talk about the 'domestic-style' Reyrolle plugs)

The DS plugs have all-round pins (but not of the diameters and pin separations associated with BS 546) and the Reyrolle plugs have an unusual setup where the fuse is INSIDE the live pin.

The [dangerous] downside with the Reyrolle plugs is that the live pin is threaded and screws into the plug from the outside. These were known for working their way loose and sometimes upon pulling the plug out of the socket, the live pin would break away from the plug altogether, leaving a dangerously live threaded pin sticking out of the socket!! :-O

Thanxx for showing,

-BoomBoxDeluxe.

_25th October 2014, 00.00_

[vibraphonics]

I don't really experience ASMR but I reckon this video is pretty good for it

[Replevideo]

The snag with the old round pin plugs was that the receptacle in the socket would often break in time after the effect of annealing wore off and the metal became brittle. The MK socket receptacles have flat strips of springy metal which have a much longer life.

[VelvetCondoms]

I think the Walsall design is probably the best out of all of these.
* It's cheaper to make than most of the other designs, since all 3 of the pin dimensions are identical to the standard British plug pins "so you can use interchangeable parts".
* It's more incompatible than most of the other designs; since it's incompatible with all 3 pins, rather than just the 1 "which means that people won't damage the sockets and plugs trying to use incompatibles that aren't immediately obvious.".
* It can accommodate double-hot configurations with relative ease, which is important in some industrial equipment.
* It's a British standard, rather than a vendor-custom design.
It's a shame that they're no longer made.

[srfurley]

The Walsall Gauge ones were used for 55-0-55 V on the Victoria Line of the London Underground, some other lines had Reyrolle 15 A Bs 196-1961 type sockets, but both have been replaced by the normal 15 A 110V type, I forget the BS-EN number, now.

The ILEA (Inner London Education Authority) also used them on Guitar amplifiers which they required be connected via isolating transformers which had these on their outputs. These were D.P fused types, but with the fuses replaced by solid copper links.

The only place that I've seen the round earth pin type is in the terminal building of Newcastle airport; they were there about 20 years ago, and I noticed one still there about three months ago.

The 'T' shape MK ones normally have two earth connections, one being a 'clean' one, often used for computer supplies. Croydon College had these at one time, but replaced the last of them more than ten years ago now. i never understood the purpose of this dual earthing thing.

[theirisheditor]

Going by the internals of the rotated pin plug shown at 7:35, it appears that this plug has a potential safety issue.  The live wire path appears longer than the earth and neutral wire paths, so it is plausible that tripping over the cable could lead to the earth and neutral wires pulling out and touching each other, while leaving the live wire attached.  This situation would create a path from live through the appliance to the touching neutral-earth wires and in turn back to any exposed metal casing.

[FSCforal]

at my old school in the workshops we had the wallsall gauge sockets and plugs in fact their still in operation !