Non-motoring > I wonder what BS would say to this plug Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Mapmaker Replies: 28

 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Mapmaker
www.iconeye.com/404/item/3864-rca-student-radically-improves-the-uk-plug

 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - sherlock47
Taken a long time to get to market - surprised nobody had copied it, since I remember seeing it about 2009/10 in its original incarnation. Patent protection must be good. Although Dyson has had a hand in it I think. (Enough to put me off! But it will probably sucede, provided the prices come down.)

www.themu.co.uk/pages/mu-system
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Wed 23 Sep 15 at 11:59
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - spamcan61
Can't see a replaceable fuse, so it won't pass BS1363. Neat design though.

Edit: or is that a fuse cover in red near the power cord outlet? In which case I stand corrected.
Last edited by: spamcan61 on Wed 23 Sep 15 at 12:28
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Manatee
I don't see why it shouldn't succeed, given it is backwards compatible. If it was readily available then it would be worth considering new style sockets.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - No FM2R
As you say, backwards compatible and facilitates new socket design.

Brilliant. I'd buy them. And pay extra for them, come to that.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Dog
I've still got un-fused (except at the fuse box) 15 amp plugs & sockets here believe it or not.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Robin O'Reliant
Plugs are an expensive rip off. Just poke the wires in the holes and jam them in with matchsticks.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - WillDeBeest
You are Martin Lewis and I claim my five pounds.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Alanovich
Either that or he writes for Viz.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Stuartli
There are some phone charger plugs that use a push down section for the earth pin to make the plug more compact, but still not as impressive as this invention.

But would need to be careful not to insert it without the back section in place as the pins would be exposed for a moment or so.
Last edited by: Stuartli on Wed 23 Sep 15 at 14:54
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Dog
>>There are some phone charger plugs that use a push down section for the earth pin to make the plug more compact

My Enochian £50 jobbie does that, it enables me to tell it apart from all the other blimming charger plugs here!
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - movilogo
My Samsung Galaxy charger is somewhat similar design. You pull the 3rd pin from top of the plug.

While it is not as thin as shown here, but definitely much thinner than normal 3-pin plug.

Doesn't look like that groundbreaking to me.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - sherlock47
I have just emailed their help section with a question and received almost by return what is at best described as an economical reply!

Note :It appears that CE marking is not appropriate to domestic plugs and sockets.


QUESTION
"Can you please confirm that the UK version is fully compliant
with all required British Standards and European requirements."

ANSWER
"Thank you for your email.
All our Mu chargers are CE certified."

No comment on the plugs!

A little light reading
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets:_British_and_related_types#BS_1363_three-pin_.28rectangular.29_plugs_and_sockets

Last edited by: sherlock47 on Wed 23 Sep 15 at 15:07
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - rtj70
>> No comment on the plugs!

But the Mu product is a USB charger. The original design concept in 2009 by Min-Kyu Choi has not been brought to market. You cannot buy the concept shown in the first post.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Stuartli
CE marking can apply, as far as I can make out, to a wide range of products, not necessarily those which are of electrical type:

www.ce-marking.org/what-is-ce-marking.html
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - spamcan61
>> CE marking can apply, as far as I can make out, to a wide range
>> of products, not necessarily those which are of electrical type:
>>
>> www.ce-marking.org/what-is-ce-marking.html
>>
Indeed, it applies to a vast range of goods 'brought to market' in the EU. Which standards a particular product has to conform to depend on the type of product i.e. a car requires rather more paperwork than a pair of wellies.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - WillDeBeest
Yes, you need to ensure the flaps are fully open before attempting insertion, but couldn't you address that with an interlock that prevents prong rotation before unfolding is complete?
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - No FM2R
>>but couldn't you address that with an interlock that prevents prong rotation before unfolding is complete?

Or you could just tell people not to do it. They'll only harm themselves.

www.flickr.com/photos/125140832@N05/
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - MD
>> Yes, you need to ensure the flaps are fully open before attempting insertion, but couldn't
>> you address that with an interlock that prevents prong rotation before unfolding is complete?

Flaps fully open before insertion...............brilliant.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Roger.
>> >> Yes, you need to ensure the flaps are fully open before attempting insertion, but
>> couldn't
>> >> you address that with an interlock that prevents prong rotation before unfolding is complete?
>>
>> Flaps fully open before insertion...............brilliant.
>>

Worthy of BBD!
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - henry k
>> I've still got un-fused (except at the fuse box) 15 amp plugs & sockets here
>> believe it or not.
>>
15A plugs are still in use in UK theatre lighting, I know not why.

I have a collection of slimline 15A plugs plus , adaptors and multi extension leads.
All bought in South Africa where they are the norm.
Plugs have transparent " undersides" so you can see if the connections are good.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Armel Coussine
>> 15A plugs are still in use in UK theatre lighting, I know not why.

A memory that still makes me shudder is the minor role I once had in a medical exhibition held in the ballroom of a posh Lagos hotel (if that means anything to anyone). The wiring had been brought in by the small-town (= cheap and cheerful) Yoruba partition contractors, and there was a cat's cradle of sparking, overheating cables all round the ballroom and over the tops of the partitions.

Bathed in sweat, literally soaking, one of my functions was sneaking around behind the curtains feeling the cables to make sure they weren't actually melting. I got two or three mains shocks and became severely dehydrated. The things one's friends let one in for sometimes, tsk...
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - RattleandSmoke
If this is a charger then it is a sealed unit so fuse doesn't need to be replaceable. If it is a plug then I can see no kite mark or similar on it. I am getting sick of dangerous Chinese crap been imported that is safe because it has a CE mark on it.

One of my IT distros imported 100s of laptop chargers for testing purposes, they said 95 out of 100 were so shoddy they wouldn't even plug them for testing, this is the crap that ends up on ebay etc yet they all had so called CE marks on them.
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Dog
>>15A plugs are still in use in UK theatre lighting, I know not why.

That's what I use them for, table lamps though, not theatre lighting :)
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - rtj70
The article linked in the first post must be referring to Min-Kyu Choi's design in 2009. It then came to market in 2012 as the Mu?? It's funny how none of us seem to have seen it anywhere.

But the product marketed as the Mu is just a charger. I quite liked the stacked three plugs into one design.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 23 Sep 15 at 16:40
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Slidingpillar
CE mark is meaningless. It is applied by the maker to say the product complies with the relevant regulations, but no independent testing of this assertion is carried out.

Anything that is left on, or in a slightly hidden from sight situation should be a proper named product. Save cheapies for places you can observe!
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - sherlock47
>> The article linked in the first post must be referring to Min-Kyu Choi's design in
>> 2009. It then came to market in 2012 as the Mu?? It's funny how none
>> of us seem to have seen it anywhere.
>>
>> But the product marketed as the Mu is just a charger. I quite liked the
>> stacked three plugs into one design.
>>


Thanks for pointing that out. My question to the MU 'manufacturers' was suposed to refer to Plugs and Chargers although I did not explicitly say so. I now understand that they seem to have dropped the plugs in favour of chargers for the time being, and done some rebranding.

Possibly the plugs could not be made to conform to BS ? or investors did not want a product for which there are several competitors?
Last edited by: sherlock47 on Wed 23 Sep 15 at 21:21
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - rtj70
The plug design was good but the benefit was for the UK more than any other country - well in my opinion. The problem with the design is everything sold in the UK is meant to come with a plug attached when you buy it. So you'd have to cut the wire and attach the plug... except there's no obvious way to open the new design plug to wire it yourself.

In white with a thick white wire it looked good. But lots of electrical items have think black power leads. e.g. the figure of 8 lead used for laptops, chargers, etc.

I've got quite a neat design charger from Nokia that collapses down to reduce it's bulk. No rotation needed. The earth pin slides down to reduce the bulk. Like this one:

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-original-Nokia-UK-3-pin-compact-folding-wall-charger-cable-small-pin-2-0-/161679074948

But there's similar chargers (including from Nokia) that are USB chargers:

www.amazon.co.uk/Genuine-Nokia-AC_50X-Charger-Adapter/dp/B00EZQLQ08
 I wonder what BS would say to this plug - Stuartli
Very similar to my HTC phone charger - the earth pin section can be pushed flush with the body of the main section or pulled up as necessary.
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