Where can I get an adapter for an old round pin socket?

thesodofturf

Hi, my parents house still has the old round pin sockets (the bigger type, similar size to the current square pin ones). They're down to one adapter that goes back-and-forth between rooms. Anyone know where I can buy one? Will a travel adapter for another country work? Seems like the India type and South Africa type still use old British standards but they're different from each other and not sure which, if either, would work...

mikewest

Not 100% sure on this but the Indian round pin (Type D) plug is the same as the old BS546 round pin used in Ireland. The adaptors are available on Amazon e.g.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TEC-UK-Adapter-Visitor-Australia-White/dp/B07KNHVVDZ/ref%3Dmp_s_a_1_3?crid=362LFW9KWLI3Q&keywords=bs546+adapter&qid=1701390885&sprefix=bs546%2Caps%2C95&sr=8-3

whomitconcerns

Are you sure they are not low voltage power sockets? The last place I lived (in the UK) had a number of these.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121440716#Comment_121440716

They're usually switched lighting circuits (as in to put table and floor lamps on to light switches) at normal voltage, when deployed in modern setups.

But if they're using an adapter currently for them, they aren't low voltage anyway

shane b

The South Africa ones should work. I bought 2 for my parents house 15 years ago and they worked.

Would it not be handier just change the round with square pin plug sockets?

The live, neutral and earth would still be the same.

Ger Roe

https://www.halfords.ie/motoring/travel-accessories/travel-equipment/aa-european-adaptors-twin-pack-152334.html

https://www.freetv.ie/uk-to-eu-adapter/

If the above is what you are looking for, they can also be purchased in Tesco, and Boots as well asl retail electrical outlets like Currys and Powercity.

kirk.

They look like 2-pin to 13amp

Not great if that's the case

Ger Roe

If it is three pin round to UK/Irish that is being looked for :

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TEC-UK-Africa-Adapter-PACKING/dp/B07C6J52SB/ref%3Dpsdc_2454167031_t1_B015Q1OPQW

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121448327#Comment_121448327

They aren't and while they might fit, they wouldn't bring the earth over and are hence exceptionally dangerous

It sounds like the house wiring is totally obsolete but, at the very least changing the sockets might be advisable just so that you've compatibility with modern plugs.

Those old plugs came in 3 sizes: 2amp (tiny), 5amp (about the same size as a modern plug) and 15amp (bigger than the modern ones).

In Ireland, where they were used, it was mostly 15amp sockets on 16amp radials. In the UK you'd be more likely to have found all 3 types in use in the same house.

If the sockets could be upgraded it would make a lot more sense - although, given the age of the installation, you'll likely unearth ancient wiring too. If it's rubber or damaged, you should really be urgently rewiring.

You could buy a stock of good quality BS546 (round pin type) plugs online or in an electrical wholesalers and just fit them to any heavy appliances directly - i.e. cut off the moulded 13 amp plug.

For small appliances / electronics - you could just put a BS546 15amp plug on a modern power strip and use it for stuff like IT equipment, TV/sat boxes etc without any fuss.

It's very much worth emphasising though that if the house hasn't been rewired since round pin plugs were in mainstream use, it's very likely going to need to be rewired and could be potentially dangerous.

Dr. Nick

Our house was built in 2009 and the electrician added some of these round plug sockets for lamps. We've never used them, would the Saouth African adapter above work with them?

Maybe easier to just re-wire the lamps with the round 5 amp plugs

cute geoge

I spotted them round pin plugs in window of Dairymaster in Tralee yesterday ,probably also available next door in Kellihers because they just have about everything you could think of

Electrical wholesalers all have them. They're used for modern lighting circuits for controlling lamps. Just buy them and make sure they're the type with sleeved pins.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121854079#Comment_121854079

No, and the adapters in the photos by Ger are not what you are looking form.

You can get 5Amp plugs in a electrical wholesaler.

denismc

Holy sheet, some of the advice being given here is outright dangerous,

Just because an adapter has round pins doesn't mean it is suitable, many of the sockets people are talking about here are 5 amps and are suitable for lamps only!

The sockets the OP is talking about must be at least forty or 50 years old, I would be a little nervous plugging a high power device such as a heater into one of those.

I would get a sparks out to replace the sockets at the very least but I would think any electrician is going to advise rewiring the house.

Tow

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121854209#Comment_121854209

Sparks may not touch the place, unless it is to rewire it. If the house uses traditional 15 Amp sockets (not Schuko) the wiring is probably much older than 50 years. The wiring could be cloth covered rubber, if you touch it, the exposed rubber will crumble.

afatbollix

Start saving up for a rewire!

Or get a sparks to change the socket.

There was a period of time in Ireland where different electricians seemed to have different preferences for socket types. It was a total mess. The UK was every bit as bad too.

Both BS546 (UK round pin) and Schuko (Continental style plugs) were definitely installed well into the late 1960s, but it could indicate wiring from the 1920s to almost 1970. Meanwhile the BS1363 plugs and sockets were being adopted too and had become a sort of de facto standard. It wasn't really properly legally standardised until about 1986 with IS 401 (BS1363) only being properly mandated in the 1990s on new appliances at least.

Usually either system means wiring from the 1950s or earlier though, so you're talking well over 60 years old.

The big risk is rubber wiring. It perishes and can quite literally just self combust if it shorts out.

If the plugs are 5amp UK round pin, absolutely assume they are 5amp max lighting circuits. Do not load them with anything heavy.

I wouldn't advise loading any old installation with anything heavy regardless of what type of sockets are used. It's not the sockets that will burn your house down or electrocute you - it's the wiring! They're not safe and can be serious fire hazards.

You also can never be entirely sure the earths are reliable, or even still connected.

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121854079#Comment_121854079

Much better just to rewire with 5 amp plugs. That’s what the sockets were designed for and, having moved to a much older house, I would live to have a 5 amp circuit controlled from a wall switch rather than a central chandelier and random lamps I have to turn on/off individually.

One thing to be a little careful of is that there’s a distinct possibility of finding 5amp lighting sockets on 10amp MCBs without any RCD as they were either added by a DIY hack or them original installer considered them to be treated as lighting only.

It can be an issue as lamps are often metal bodied and can be a shock hazard due to exposed pins - eg a kid removes the light bulb and touches the bulb holder. If they were on a normal socket circuit they might get a 30 mA bang but on a 10amp lighting circuit nothing will trip other than the MCB.

Even in older wiring rules all sockets were probably supposed to be RCD protected but you find that setup quite a bit.

If you’re in a house that uses 5amp sockets as general purpose outlets, you’re dealing with very old wiring.