ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Non-US Electrical Systems & Trades Standard SSA: 444: 1985

I've found BS546 2 and 5Amp used here for low voltage DC applications on boats in Ireland.

Typically 12 or 24V DC

I always think it's rather dangerous to suggest that tourists should bring BS546 adaptors to Ireland as the system is rarely used for normal 230V power sockets. You could end up plugging into a lighting circuit which could even be dimmed, low voltage DC etc.

I don't like the use of BS546 lighting sockets in hotel rooms for that reason. You're quite likely to have someone attempt to use an adaptor or even push a europlug into the outlet (they fit in the 5A variety normally used for lamps)

I far prefer the use of the "klik" system



and although it looks like it might, I don't think it mates with NEMA

Looks like the Israeli socket has a built-in fuse, the small round thing at the bottom right of the wall plate.

Looks more like the manufacturers name badge to me.

I noticed both lights and sockets in an old French house I lived in had little screw in fuses.

Why was this? Ring / Bus wiring structure?

Ragnar,
That's a brand-name marking, isn't it?, not sure, but that's what it looks like to me.
djk,
these plugs have the thinnest of pins and I think you'd be hard pressed to plug a NEMA plug into that socket.
Also I think that them "klik" sockets have a shuttering system, that entails that them 2 pieces of plastic on the plug have to mate with a device in the socket.
(Darn, must have posted around the same time as djk!)

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 01-02-2004).]

The good quality units used here do indeed incorporate a one-shot thermal overload on the primary side. There have been concerns in recent years about some cheap imported units which have no protection though.

Like DJK, I've also seen 2 and 5A BS546 used for 12V DC on boats and RVs. Most new installations use a specific 12V connector though, with two small, flat blades both set at a slightly outward angle from vertical to provide polarization.

How about this as a novel use for a BS546 2A socket!?



I think the "646" on the webpage is a typo.

Yeah it's quite similar to the Italian phone socket too.

Lets just hope they never visit a country that uses BS546 2Amp for its intended purpose and decide to plug in their laptop!

I'm not sure how modems handle 230V 50Hz

Local telephone sockets are rapidly becoming a bit irrelevant anyway these days.

All phones, modems etc use RJ11 sockets these days and quite a lot of the world uses RJ11/12 sockets on the wall.

I notice Apple ships computers with an RJ11 lead and an adaptor for the area they're being shipped to.

Thankfully, Telecom Eireann adopted RJ11/12 outlets back in the 1970s when they decided to introduce modular sockets.

The BT system seems to be a blatent rip-off of it though It's exactly the same design made slightly bigger, in white plastic and tweeked a bit.

Certainly a typo on the MK page. If I recall correctly BS646 is actually the standard for the small cartridge fuses available in ratings up to 5A. They used to be employed widely in clock connectors, shaver adapters, and the few BS546 5A plugs which were available in fused versions.

I have to confess that I'm not a fan of either the U.S. modular connectors or the BT-copycat versions. I much prefer the old GPO 1/4-inch jacks on the American 4-prong telephone plugs -- Both are much more rugged.

Hutch and DJK,

That doesn't surprise me. Old-time domestic telephone installations in Colombia used to use two-round-pin (Europlug type) sockets.

The plugs looked like slimmer and flimsier versions of replaceable Europlugs. However they were made so that you had to unscrew the pins themselves, wrap the wire and then screw the pin back down.

Effectively this design would limit you to very thin wire only -- such as the kind used for telephone cords.

I pity European tourists to Colombia trying to plug in their hair dryer or laptop into the phone socket....

I've seen similar 2-pin phone sockets in Greece as well, but they were quite a bit smaller than Europlugs and definitely incompatible.