3 ms·

The British used to sell appliances without the plug attached - it was just bare wires. Buying the plug separately and knowing how to attach it was just a basic

The British used to sell appliances without the plug attached - it was just bare wires. Buying the plug separately and knowing how to attach it was just a basic skill you were expected to know. Not sure what changed, as I understand it they don't really do that anymore.

WWLink 2y ago
I remember the mr bean skit where he buys a tv and jams the cord into the plug and somehow this works LOL. I didn't realize they sold them that way intentionally!
- jdietrich 2y ago
  It wasn't uncommon for people to just jam wires into the outlet in a pinch, to the extent that public service announcements warned against it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0Kxjx0sEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0Kxjx0sEM Britain had two common standards for electrical outlets (BS 1363 and the older BS 546) plus a few less-common proprietary types. BS 1363 became the preferred standard for new installations in 1947, but the other types remained fairly common for decades. Appliances were not required to be supplied with a fitted plug until 1994, by which time BS 1363 had become dominant (if not quite ubiquitous).
  - scotty79 2y ago
    Thank you for this context. I couldn't guess why would anyone sell a device that's supposed to be plugged without a plug. But if there were different standards it makes some sense.
Terr_ 2y ago
> The British used to sell appliances without the plug attached - it was just bare wires. Buying the plug separately and knowing how to attach it was just a basic skill you were expected to know. I'm having flashbacks to moving back to the US from the UK-o-sphere, and re-splicing plugs for appliances that supported both voltages.
gweinberg 2y ago
My understanding is that selling appliances without plugs was done to make work for the electronic shops. People attaching their own plugs would seem to defeat the purpose.
pjc50 2y ago
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/1768/made https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/1768/made mandates that appliances must be sold with the plug attached. Apparently moulded-on plugs aren't mandated, but seem to be the default now.
- nickcw 2y ago
  After going through all the appliances in my Grandad's house and re-wiring them to have the correct mains plug pinout I can understand the reason for that law! It is actually quite difficult to wire up a UK mains plug really well!

WWLink 2y ago

I remember the mr bean skit where he buys a tv and jams the cord into the plug and somehow this works LOL. I didn't realize they sold them that way intentionally!

jdietrich 2y ago
It wasn't uncommon for people to just jam wires into the outlet in a pinch, to the extent that public service announcements warned against it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0Kxjx0sEM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH0Kxjx0sEM Britain had two common standards for electrical outlets (BS 1363 and the older BS 546) plus a few less-common proprietary types. BS 1363 became the preferred standard for new installations in 1947, but the other types remained fairly common for decades. Appliances were not required to be supplied with a fitted plug until 1994, by which time BS 1363 had become dominant (if not quite ubiquitous).
- scotty79 2y ago
  Thank you for this context. I couldn't guess why would anyone sell a device that's supposed to be plugged without a plug. But if there were different standards it makes some sense.

Terr_ 2y ago

> The British used to sell appliances without the plug attached - it was just bare wires. Buying the plug separately and knowing how to attach it was just a basic skill you were expected to know. I'm having flashbacks to moving back to the US from the UK-o-sphere, and re-splicing plugs for appliances that supported both voltages.

gweinberg 2y ago

My understanding is that selling appliances without plugs was done to make work for the electronic shops. People attaching their own plugs would seem to defeat the purpose.

pjc50 2y ago

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/1768/made https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/1768/made mandates that appliances must be sold with the plug attached. Apparently moulded-on plugs aren't mandated, but seem to be the default now.

nickcw 2y ago
After going through all the appliances in my Grandad's house and re-wiring them to have the correct mains plug pinout I can understand the reason for that law! It is actually quite difficult to wire up a UK mains plug really well!