Unusual plugs on phones...

[twocvbloke]

I was just going through my electrical stuff today, and happened upon my 5Amp BS546 mains plugs, and it reminded me about something in a thread on this forum, when looking for TMC phones, I noticed the one in the following thread was using a 2-Amp BS546 mains plug (used before our current one-for-all 13Amp plugs were standard) as it's plug, rather than a telephone plug...

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3586.0

Back in the day, us brits used to have 5 different plugs for our mains electrickery, 2-pin 2Amp and 5Amp plugs, and 3-pin 2Amp, 5Amp and 15Amp plugs, some countries like South Africa and India still have the 5A and 15A variants as their standard plugs...

But, to see a telephone using the 2A plug, which is still used for centrally-switch lighting (like lamps and whatnot), is a tad odd, so it got me wondering, has anyone else come across unusual plugs attached to phones (or anything really!!) that were meant for a different purpose?  

And a pic of the three sizes of 3-pin BS546 plugs (the design varied, but the pin spacing is the same), the 2A is the right-hand one...

[AE_Collector]

I've seen North American AC plugs on phones on ebaY before. Someone's Homebrew portable phone who doesn't consider the lack of safety of doing something like that.

Terry

[Owain]

the Italian telephone socket is the same as BS546 5-amp connectors.

[dsk]

The Norwegian 3 pin plug used from late 40ies I guess, looks like the Italian one, I'm not sure if it is equal:
The 6 pin plug was used for magneto telephones. 2 line plugs, 2 battery plugs, 2 external ringer plugs.

Later the RJ45 (= LAN) has been standard. First used some odd configurations, but now the 2 center pins are line pins.



dsk

[DavePEI]

I've seen North American AC plugs on phones on ebaY before. Someone's Homebrew portable phone who doesn't consider the lack of safety of doing something like that.

Plug in the phone, and your eyes light up! You light up my life! One ringy-dingy, two ringy-dingys, Hello, Hello, Hello? Anyone there?

[HowardPgh]

Use an AC plug on a phone isn't too swift.

[stub]

Here is Automatic Electric's portable telephone plug for 1934.  They fit in the standard electrical box.   stub

[twocvbloke]

I can't help but notice that the pin spacing and size looks about the same as your average US NEMA 1-15 plug & socket, at least with that one you have a third pin preventing plugging it into a mains socket, though plugging say a table lamp into the telephone socket probably would cause some fun at the exchange...

[old_stuff_hound]

Back in the day, us brits used to have 5 different plugs for our mains electrickery, 2-pin 2Amp and 5Amp plugs, and 3-pin 2Amp, 5Amp and 15Amp plugs, some countries like South Africa and India still have the 5A and 15A variants as their standard plugs...

Not to stray too off topic, but only five? In the US we've twenty-five!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NEMA_simplified_pins.svg

[LarryInMichigan]

Back in the day, us brits used to have 5 different plugs for our mains electrickery, 2-pin 2Amp and 5Amp plugs, and 3-pin 2Amp, 5Amp and 15Amp plugs, some countries like South Africa and India still have the 5A and 15A variants as their standard plugs...

Not to stray too off topic, but only five? In the US we've twenty-five!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NEMA_simplified_pins.svg

Realistically, 99% of the electrical outlets in homes in the USA/Canada are the NEMA 5-15 type.  Electric ovens, clothes dryers, and the like are more complicated.

Larry

[paul]

Electric ovens, clothes dryers, and the like are more complicated.

Not really, if it's older than ~1997 it expects three-wire outlets (NEMA-10), more recent, four wire (NEMA-14). There's really only 2 outlets for the heavy-duty stuff, the 30 and 50 amp versions (higher and lower are more specialty), and 3 and 4 wire, so you get 1 from the appliance rating and the other from the wall.

The real fun part is changing out from hard-wired appliances 

[twocvbloke]

Not to stray too off topic, but only five? In the US we've twenty-five!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NEMA_simplified_pins.svg

Yep, domestic household plugs, later became three when the two-pin ones were dropped, then became one when the BS1363 13 Amp plug came into existence cos apparently people weren't careful enough with their wiring and they were trying to save on copper use with ring-main wiring...

There are plenty of other plugs and sockets here in the UK in use, I can't be bothered to count them though...