[ES lampholders and live parts] That does depend on the design of lampholder. Ove rhere were do get brass-cased lampholders, and Iv'e seen both ES and BC ones. In the former case, the housing was insulated from the lamp cap, of course. I beleive the regulatuons require the cassing of such lampholders to be earthed (certainly all the reputable makes hve earth terminals, and I always use them). However, the cap of a BC bulb fdoes not ahve to be earthed if it's used fitted in an insualted lampholder True, but that is not a major problem... Hmmm... All I will say is that I maintained my father's Citroen car for 13 years. I therefore have a great love of (some) French engineering. IIRC the Pascaline was French.... -tony