16 Sep
2007
16 Sep
'07
9:20 p.m.
On Saturday 15 September 2007 18:40, Tony Duell wrote:
Oh mo, it's not one of the _modern_ standard mains connectors.
Bulgin make/made a large variety of connectors along with things like
fuseholders, switches, knobs, etc. I probably have an old enough
catalouge somewhere to get the exact part number, but %deity knows where
said catalogue is :-)
I am not sure if theyr were ever used outside the UK (but the 3 pin
versionswere very common as mains connectors in the 1950s/1960s here). I
can't think of any classic-computer related device that used them.
Anyway, the connectors I am thinking of were part of as series. They were
circular, most of them were chassis mouting plugs and cable sockets. The
plug was recessed into the panel, and the socket part fitted into it.
There were 1.5A and 5A versions with 2, 3, or 6 pins. Polaraision was
acheaived by a groove down the side of the socket part and a
corresponding ridge in the recessed plug. In many cases the wire
terminals on the socket part were covered by a simple screw-on cap which
means they're not not approved for use above 50V (since you can unscrew
said cap and get access to live parts without the use of a tool). There
were later mocels of some of the sockets with the cover held on by
screws, AFAIK those are still OK for mains use.
If you like I can tey to find the part numbers for them.
-tony
Of course no sane person uses mains connectors
for anything but
mains. Note I said 'sane'. There was at least one UK audio amplifier
(I think it was a Pye) that used the same type connector -- a 2 pin
Bulgin thing -- for both mains input and loudspeaker output. Swap
them round, and you needed a new output transfdormer. I also once had
to repair an infrared spectrometer where the manufacturers had used
such a Bulgin mains connector for the analogue output signal.
What connector is that exactly? Bulgin seems to make a variety of
different connectors. Do you mean one of the IEC-320 series, like a
C18?