The MK Safety plug
Discussion
formula27 said:
OldGermanHeaps said:
As far as electricity is concerned all things being equal, moisture, salinity, distance, area in contact with the source etc then due to ohms law as voltage increases current flow increases in relation so with 240v applied a lot more current flows through you than at 55v, and its the current flow that harms you, voltage doesn't really harm you from a current limited source, you can be zapped with 100000v and just feel a tickle as long as there isn't much current available, but in terms of a supply which has enough grunt to kill you lower voltage = lower current frowing through your bodies fixed resistance = safer.
Correct , well done .So (always a so with me)
We (UK) dont have the safest system in the world.
As for the plugs
As this thread , a lot of people dont know how to wire them safely and what fuses to use.
Ring mains ,PME ,230 V , plugs that lay pins up , and rewirable fuses.all unecesary, and. Cost related rather than safety.
dhutch said:
Excellent.
My parents still have similar period and likely brand miniature tree lights, used annually on the tree, but as they away where; turned off unless someone is in the room with them. These days we also often put an LED set on as well, which giving out less heat is likely safer to leave on unattended.
As a child I also grew up with a set of Pifco coloured outdoor lights, substantially made rubber cabled set using the 'olive' shape miniature candle MES bulbs which would have been new at around my birth, and that through my teens become increasingly unreliable as the rubber seals perished and the internals corroded. These were replaced with a new direct replacement set but the quality was awful and the only did a few seasons. They are not on the generic 'indoor outdoor' LED string lights which a cheap and chips but only last a few years, give a very different look and feel, and tend to flash/chase unless you ask them very nicely indeed to not do that! The only other option appears to the much larger industrial type festoon lights with either golf ball or gls bulbs.
To me these 'vintage' sets are still what tree lights should look like, a lovely warm light, delicate in size, but also well spaced so when wrap they appear as individual lights rather than a string of lights.
In 2006 a friend of ours bought several sets of lights from Wilko's (Wilkinsons). There were 3 sets one plain and 2 coloured to go on his outside tree. Amsusingly when I popped round I found him busy unscrewing and screwing in bulbs.My parents still have similar period and likely brand miniature tree lights, used annually on the tree, but as they away where; turned off unless someone is in the room with them. These days we also often put an LED set on as well, which giving out less heat is likely safer to leave on unattended.
As a child I also grew up with a set of Pifco coloured outdoor lights, substantially made rubber cabled set using the 'olive' shape miniature candle MES bulbs which would have been new at around my birth, and that through my teens become increasingly unreliable as the rubber seals perished and the internals corroded. These were replaced with a new direct replacement set but the quality was awful and the only did a few seasons. They are not on the generic 'indoor outdoor' LED string lights which a cheap and chips but only last a few years, give a very different look and feel, and tend to flash/chase unless you ask them very nicely indeed to not do that! The only other option appears to the much larger industrial type festoon lights with either golf ball or gls bulbs.
To me these 'vintage' sets are still what tree lights should look like, a lovely warm light, delicate in size, but also well spaced so when wrap they appear as individual lights rather than a string of lights.
Turned out his wife didn't like the colour mix as seen from the roadside and his job was to make sure that an even almost symmetrical pattern was in view
The quality of the bulbs so good that I bought t some myself . Whats great is that they have a thin jack style connection that can go through a wall easily enough. So we have some rigid plastic tubes that fit through holes drilled in the wall.
Throughout the year they are fitted with a bung type plug but at Xmas the lights are taken outside and draped round the tree in the lawn then the plugs fed through into the transformers and the lights are in full swing
techiedave said:
AlexC1981 said:
OP, I was just putting away some 80s computers I had out and I thought you might appreciate a group shot.
An excentlly excellent selection there if I may say so. I also have some of the type on the far right.of your picture.Thank you for sharing
(I too have a few 80's computers, A 3032 PET, TRS-80 IV,C64,ZX81,Spectrum,BBC B, DEC MicroVAX3100,Vax4000,Vax3300, Amstrad 8512, Tatung einstein, Apple II)
Brother D said:
formula27 said:
OldGermanHeaps said:
As far as electricity is concerned all things being equal, moisture, salinity, distance, area in contact with the source etc then due to ohms law as voltage increases current flow increases in relation so with 240v applied a lot more current flows through you than at 55v, and its the current flow that harms you, voltage doesn't really harm you from a current limited source, you can be zapped with 100000v and just feel a tickle as long as there isn't much current available, but in terms of a supply which has enough grunt to kill you lower voltage = lower current frowing through your bodies fixed resistance = safer.
Correct , well done .So (always a so with me)
We (UK) dont have the safest system in the world.
As for the plugs
As this thread , a lot of people dont know how to wire them safely and what fuses to use.
Ring mains ,PME ,230 V , plugs that lay pins up , and rewirable fuses.all unecesary, and. Cost related rather than safety.
Centre tapped 110V used in industrial settings with the fully enclosed plugs and sockets stand up to a lot of abuse, provide enough to power heavy hand machine tools, yet only deliver 55v shock. It does work well.
(the fact it reduced the number of thefts of power tools, im sure had nothing to do with its uptake)
techiedave said:
dhutch said:
Excellent.
My parents still have similar period and likely brand miniature tree lights, used annually on the tree, but as they away where; turned off unless someone is in the room with them. These days we also often put an LED set on as well, which giving out less heat is likely safer to leave on unattended.
As a child I also grew up with a set of Pifco coloured outdoor lights, substantially made rubber cabled set using the 'olive' shape miniature candle MES bulbs which would have been new at around my birth, and that through my teens become increasingly unreliable as the rubber seals perished and the internals corroded. These were replaced with a new direct replacement set but the quality was awful and the only did a few seasons. They are not on the generic 'indoor outdoor' LED string lights which a cheap and chips but only last a few years, give a very different look and feel, and tend to flash/chase unless you ask them very nicely indeed to not do that! The only other option appears to the much larger industrial type festoon lights with either golf ball or gls bulbs.
To me these 'vintage' sets are still what tree lights should look like, a lovely warm light, delicate in size, but also well spaced so when wrap they appear as individual lights rather than a string of lights.
In 2006 a friend of ours bought several sets of lights from Wilko's (Wilkinsons). There were 3 sets one plain and 2 coloured to go on his outside tree. Amsusingly when I popped round I found him busy unscrewing and screwing in bulbs.My parents still have similar period and likely brand miniature tree lights, used annually on the tree, but as they away where; turned off unless someone is in the room with them. These days we also often put an LED set on as well, which giving out less heat is likely safer to leave on unattended.
As a child I also grew up with a set of Pifco coloured outdoor lights, substantially made rubber cabled set using the 'olive' shape miniature candle MES bulbs which would have been new at around my birth, and that through my teens become increasingly unreliable as the rubber seals perished and the internals corroded. These were replaced with a new direct replacement set but the quality was awful and the only did a few seasons. They are not on the generic 'indoor outdoor' LED string lights which a cheap and chips but only last a few years, give a very different look and feel, and tend to flash/chase unless you ask them very nicely indeed to not do that! The only other option appears to the much larger industrial type festoon lights with either golf ball or gls bulbs.
To me these 'vintage' sets are still what tree lights should look like, a lovely warm light, delicate in size, but also well spaced so when wrap they appear as individual lights rather than a string of lights.
Turned out his wife didn't like the colour mix as seen from the roadside and his job was to make sure that an even almost symmetrical pattern was in view
The quality of the bulbs so good that I bought t some myself . Whats great is that they have a thin jack style connection that can go through a wall easily enough. So we have some rigid plastic tubes that fit through holes drilled in the wall.
Throughout the year they are fitted with a bung type plug but at Xmas the lights are taken outside and draped round the tree in the lawn then the plugs fed through into the transformers and the lights are in full swing
Gents.
I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
techiedave said:
Gents.
I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
Glorious!I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
I can remember as a kid going to Woolworths and buying something similar to one of these:
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Remember those post terminals? And having to thread the cable through the cover ingress - and forgetting and having to cut it?
Interestingly as part of my O-Level design back in the early 80s we had to do some course work based up MK plugs and sockets, you know draw one in a front/side elevation and top down view and comment on the design features.
My parents were not quite sure what to think when they arrived home one night and I had the plug taken off the iron and on the kitchen table, fully dissembled and I was measuring all the bits with one of those coloured 'Shatter Resistant' rulers that were popular back then.
techiedave said:
Gents.
I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
Thanks for that,I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
Brought back childhood memories of trying to get things to work with a Wylex plug.
Odd design with central earth and 2 lateral terminals. Stemmed from 1920s and were obsolete and rare even in the 60s. Had to take off plugs from something else if you bought a new plaything. Learnt to wire plugs at 10 out of frustration...
JustALooseScrew said:
techiedave said:
Gents.
I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
Glorious!I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
I can remember as a kid going to Woolworths and buying something similar to one of these:
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Remember those post terminals? And having to thread the cable through the cover ingress - and forgetting and having to cut it?
Bone Rat said:
Brought back childhood memories ... .... Had to take off plugs from something else if you bought a new plaything. Learnt to wire plugs at 10 ...
Absolutely. I was born in 1987, so 32, and I very much remember things arriving without a plug. Some things had a moulded plug, including the non-captive fig-8 c7 lead on my radio, but a lot also arrived with no plug, which today would be considered madness.Daniel
JustALooseScrew said:
techiedave said:
Gents.
I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
Glorious!I have just come across a website that is like all my yesterdays
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Scroll down the plugs listed in the left margin and lose yourself in the nostalgia
I can remember as a kid going to Woolworths and buying something similar to one of these:
https://www.flameport.com/electric_museum/plugs_13...
Remember those post terminals? And having to thread the cable through the cover ingress - and forgetting and having to cut it?
Interestingly as part of my O-Level design back in the early 80s we had to do some course work based up MK plugs and sockets, you know draw one in a front/side elevation and top down view and comment on the design features.
My parents were not quite sure what to think when they arrived home one night and I had the plug taken off the iron and on the kitchen table, fully dissembled and I was measuring all the bits with one of those coloured 'Shatter Resistant' rulers that were popular back then.
Gary C said:
I'm more interested in the things at the other end. Pics please.
(I too have a few 80's computers, A 3032 PET, TRS-80 IV,C64,ZX81,Spectrum,BBC B, DEC MicroVAX3100,Vax4000,Vax3300, Amstrad 8512, Tatung einstein, Apple II)
That's an interesting collection you have there. Those plugs were on a Toshiba HX-10 + tape drive, Atari STe and a Spectrum 128 +2.(I too have a few 80's computers, A 3032 PET, TRS-80 IV,C64,ZX81,Spectrum,BBC B, DEC MicroVAX3100,Vax4000,Vax3300, Amstrad 8512, Tatung einstein, Apple II)
I've got a few pics. I'm sure techiedave wont mind the intrusion on his thread
I made some stickers for the Speccy to cover up some scratches on the case.
Photo of my C64 when I first bought it and one after restoration. Bonus shot of the busted plug it came with. You can see where it had been arcing and burnt the inside brown.
AlexC1981 said:
Gary C said:
I'm more interested in the things at the other end. Pics please.
(I too have a few 80's computers, A 3032 PET, TRS-80 IV,C64,ZX81,Spectrum,BBC B, DEC MicroVAX3100,Vax4000,Vax3300, Amstrad 8512, Tatung einstein, Apple II)
That's an interesting collection you have there. Those plugs were on a Toshiba HX-10 + tape drive, Atari STe and a Spectrum 128 +2.(I too have a few 80's computers, A 3032 PET, TRS-80 IV,C64,ZX81,Spectrum,BBC B, DEC MicroVAX3100,Vax4000,Vax3300, Amstrad 8512, Tatung einstein, Apple II)
I've got a few pics. I'm sure techiedave wont mind the intrusion on his thread
I made some stickers for the Speccy to cover up some scratches on the case.
Photo of my C64 when I first bought it and one after restoration. Bonus shot of the busted plug it came with. You can see where it had been arcing and burnt the inside brown.
AlexC1981 said:
That's an interesting collection you have there. Those plugs were on a Toshiba HX-10 + tape drive, Atari STe and a Spectrum 128 +2.
I've got a few pics. I'm sure techiedave wont mind the intrusion on his thread
I made some stickers for the Speccy to cover up some scratches on the case.
Photo of my C64 when I first bought it and one after restoration. Bonus shot of the busted plug it came with. You can see where it had been arcing and burnt the inside brown.
Fab, I had the Spectrum +3 and (annoyingly) the Commodore +4I've got a few pics. I'm sure techiedave wont mind the intrusion on his thread
I made some stickers for the Speccy to cover up some scratches on the case.
Photo of my C64 when I first bought it and one after restoration. Bonus shot of the busted plug it came with. You can see where it had been arcing and burnt the inside brown.
The Speccy disk drive was continually bust, requiring repair. Until I figured that simply dropping it from an inch above the desk sorted it. Which was probably what the repairer did
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