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#181063 09/21/08 10:01 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
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pauluk Offline OP
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U.K. advertisement from 1962 for Philips Gala lighting range.

[Linked Image]

Full-size image #1

[Linked Image]

Full-size image #2

Joined: Jul 2005
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Some of these I recognise from a late 60's Philips Australia catalog. The nice thing was they all had BC sockets. In fact until the early 1980's most shops here did not even stock ES light bulbs; you really had to go to an electrical supplier or a very good hardware store to get them...they were not seen in supermarkets or the corner store. ES sockets for GLS lamps should never have been promoted for 240V domestic use. I'm surprised the political correct nanny state has allowed such a wide scale importation of such light fittings given their safety hazards but yet insist on sleeved plug pins that bend because the brass is now thinner.

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Aussie,
You know what caused the ES bulb to come down here?
Down-lights, purely and simply, at least in a domestic installation over here.
I hate the things, they weld the threads after a bit of use and are bloody hard to get out again when you need to replace the lamp.
Yes, I realise there is stuff you can put on the threads, but why should you have to?
The BC idea is a lot better and you don't have problems with idiots wiring the things backwards, either.

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Trumpy,
You're quite right....the influx of European lighting stores initiated it and now of course that's been taken over by the Chinese imports (how many GLS type light fittings can you find at Bunnings with a BC socket?). The only thing that's survived is the plain old ceiling batten holder. Prior to that, the only domestic situations you really saw them in was the odd table lamp brought in by overseas travellers. With these, the shell of the lamp is often exposed enough to inadvertently touch, especially if the bulb is partially unscrewed. With non polarised figure eight flex there is no guarantee it won't be live.
The sockets themselves don't stand up too well to over tightening or stuck bulbs.

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djk Offline
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It'd be fantastic to see light fittings made to a decent standard by companies that I've actually heard of.

It seems they're all over-priced but turn out to be made in china by some unheard of company.

A lot of the fittings seem to be increasingly flimsy and difficult to wire.

Screw-in fittings were non-standard but not unheard of here in Ireland. There were plenty of fittings coming in from parts of continental Europe which used ES fittings, but proper Euro ES fittings with no risk of contacting the screw of the bulb. typically they had ceramic bulb holders which withstood years of use without any issue.

Recent Chinese imports have lowered the standard quite substantially.

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pauluk Offline OP
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Originally Posted by djk
Recent Chinese imports have lowered the standard quite substantially.


That pretty much sums up all electrical goods. frown

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Paul,
That lamp #3 in the second picture, looks like something off "My Favourite Martian".

Joined: Aug 2007
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1962?... Some of those styles are makeing a comeback!
walking thru a show room last week i saw some "interesting" concepts. Did'nt check the quality.


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