BS 1363 plug on a two conductor cord of a lamp.

Yes, it does. And for very good reason - it *MAY* give the impression that the device is grounded. Keep in mind that if there are people stupid enough to put a three-pin plug on a two-conductor cord, there are those stupid en ough to believe that the third pin does something.

Play to the worst case scenario, not the best.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

No, and yes, respectively.

BS1363 dates from 1947. All rewireable BS1363 plugs have a metal earth pin. Class 0 table lamps were banned from sale in about 1975. Class I (earthed) and class II (double insulated) are permitted. Only moulded plugs for class II equipment may be made with an ISOD ( Insulated Shutter Operating Device) which is a plastic earth pin.

Mart> Hi,

Rubbish!

It's perfectly normal to have a 3 pin plug on a 2 core flex to a lamp ... unless the lamp has any metalwork, in which case it must be a 3 core flex to earth that.

OK, thanks.

A Luxo L-1 lamp in Britain would have a three conductor flex. All such lamps I've seen in North America have flat two conductor lamp cord. The width fits closely in the square Luxo tubes. A L-1 in Britain has a round flex; correct?

Thanks again, ... Peter E.

Try that in the US, and you would never pass UL (or CA in Canada). Betcha you would not get past Euro CE either.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Don't know, I've hankered after one, but don't own one.

I notice the manual shows the double-insulated symbol, so 2-core flex could be used which would normally be flat, though you /can/ get round

While most UK plugs and sockets are BS-1363 square 3-pin, the older BS-546 round 3-pin plugs and sockets are still acceptable and available brand new.

The even older BS-372 round 2-pin are marginally smaller and belong in museums, the same smaller spacing is used in BS-4573 plugs which are typically only seen in moulded-on versions, and exclusively used on shavers.

Other than that, there are proprietary round 2 and 3-pin inline connectors not intended for plugging into wall sockets, which conform to the general BS-5733 safety standard, I use them on all my power tools, annoyingly these are similar but not mateable between manufacturers, e.g.

It depends on whether the handleable part of the lamp is metal or metal-finish, then must be grounded and whether there is a gooseneck or other movement containing the flex and therefore chaffing possibility . All quite sensible really

I don't claim much knowledge of US power regulations, given you have separate NEMA 1-15P and NEMA 5-15P connectors, it probably makes sense to mandate that the former must use two conductor cables, and the latter must use three conductor cables.

In the UK it's not as though the IET are lax on electrical standards, the fact is the only available 2-pin plugs nowadays are dedicated for shavers. For everything else there's no harm in having an unused earth pin, but (as Martin mentioned) a few devices use a plastic not-earth pin, which is necessary to open the shutters protecting live/neutral pins.

Andy Burns prodded the keyboard with:

if it has exposed metalwork, yes, unless it is double-insulated, in which case it can have a two-core flex.

because your electrical system is vastly inferior.

flex in Britain can be flat or round. Round is usually three-core; phase, neutral and earth.

Unless it is (as is probably more common) of double insulated/ class II (square within a square symbol) construction, in which case it will have a 2-core sheathed flex (typically type H03VVH2-F) and no provision for earthing.

(Ignoring the rare class 0 ones made before about 1975 that are still in service, which cannot legally be sold and are probably lethally decrepit by now anyway.)

Martin.

Agreed, I looked at the same manual. It is also "CE" marked. (3-core flex is probably not allowed on double-insulated equipment. It certainly is not commonly used, if at all.)

But portable domestic equipment rated up to 13A must be supplied with a fitted BS1363 plug. Or fitted with an equivalent approved BS1363-5 "conversion plug" permanently enclosing the original (e.g. EN 50075 europlug) but not an ordinary travel adaptor.