[Tech1] [gtc] recommend supplier 13 amp power extension cables

[Alasdair Lawrance]

A neighbour of mine once asked If I could make her an extension cable for the shaver socket in the bathroom, so she could do her legs while she was having a bath.....

Alasdair Lawrance
alawrance1 at me.com

Don’t blame me, I voted Remain.










> On 8 Sep 2020, at 11:33, Alan Taylor via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
> 
> People who worked at Kendal Avenue may remember Eric Spanier, who was our first radio mic specialist.  I once collected him from his house and was invited in. His electrical arrangements were every bit as eccentric as the man himself.  He removed whatever old wiring was originally in the house and replaced it with a 13A ring main.  However he didn't bother with minor details like fastening the sockets to the wall or having the wiring channelled into or even nailed to the wall. The wiring simply trailed around the edges of each room.  He proudly demonstrated out that if a socket wasn't in quite the right place, he could simply drag it to where it was needed and instead of buying four way distribution blocks, if he needed more sockets, he could simply cut the ring and add a new socket wherever he wanted.
> 
> I initially assumed that it was work in progress, but apparently it had been like that for years and he had no intention of doing it properly.
> 
> It's interesting comparing UK wiring conventions with German ones.  My mother in law in Germany has a breaker panel in her basement which is almost a metre high, with maybe fifty circuit breakers and a massive loom of cables going to the various sockets and appliances.  They think our massive 13A plugs are weird, but didn't realise that they each have a fuse and that our consumer units are so small, with each breaker serving an entire floor of sockets or lights.  One thing I've never understood is that in Germany it's normal to have a mains socket right by the bathroom sink for using a hair dryer, but in the UK, you're not allowed a mains socket anywhere near a sink. It's the same 230V electricity and protected by an RCBO, but such an arrangement in the UK would be regarded as hazardous.
> 
> Alan Taylor
> 
> 
> 
> On 8 Sep 2020, at 8 Sep . 10:13, Dave Plowman via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
> 
>> The ring main system came in after WW2 as a material saving solution -
>> uses less cable than the older radial system. 
>> 
>> But I'd say they had little idea how suited it would be to today's
>> multitude of electrical thingies. As in a domestic situation you can have
>> as many sockets as you want within a given area.  
>> 
>> 
>> In article <1F6150D5-45EA-43F7-A27C-FA760776382E at me.com>,
>>  Alan Taylor via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>> My previous house was built in 1953 and had 13A sockets when it was built, but also had lead plumbing.  I would guess that very few houses were built with both of those features.
>> 
>>> Incidentally, the original 13A sockets obviously accept standard 13A plugs, but the faceplates were a non-standard size and had the fixing screws top and bottom, rather than either side.  Consequentially swapping for a neater, modern faceplate was quite a hassle, involving removing the original mounting box and chiselling out the wall to accommodate a standard box. 
>> 
>>> Alan Taylor
>> 
>>>> On 7 Sep 2020, at 21:23, Vernon Dyer via Tech1 <tech1 at tech-ops.co.uk> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> #
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>>>> 
>>>> From: vernon.dyer
>>>> Sent: 07 September 2020 16:44
>>>> To: Brian Rose via groups.io
>>>> Subject: Re: [gtc] recommend supplier 13 amp power extension cables
>>>> 
>>>> The 1948 house I grew up in had 1x 2amp and 1x 15amp socket in each of the downstairs rooms, 1x 15amp in the kitchen, and nothing at all upstairs. Incidentally the house my grandparents retired to in 1952 had 13amp sockets all round, so that system is rather older than many people think. 
>>>> 
>>>> Best wishes  .....  Vern 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
>>>> 
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>> 
>> -- 
>>   Dave Plowman     dave at davesound.co.uk     London SW 12
>> 
>> 
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