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Why are different screw heads used in UK 3 pin plugs?

Lisa Miles

This morning I had to take my fan apart to fix it and while doing that I noticed the rubber bung on the three pin plug that gives you some resistance from pulling the wires out of the plug had come loose.

So, I went to unscrew the plug so I could pop the bung back in but then noticed that there are different types of screwheads used in the plug?

The main one to unscrew the back of the plug from the main body needs a flathead screwdriver but the one that you need to use to unscrew the bar across the cables is a Phillips head?

Why is that? Why are they different? Is that done deliberately?

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  • 0

    I am so glad you asked this Lisa, it's always slightly irritated me! More so where there are two small screws rather than one large one holding the case together, where all seven screws could then easily have been the same type.

    Yes I know there's bigger problems in the world, even so...Lean engineering and so on...

    Of course back in the olden days we didn't have these newfangled crosshead screws, then we just need three slightly different sized flat head screwdrivers to do this Smiley

  • 0 in reply to Andy Millar
    Andy Millar said:
    then we just need three slightly different sized flat head screwdrivers to do this

    Or a nail file. Laughing

  • 0 in reply to Andy Millar
    Andy Millar said:
    Of course back in the olden days we didn't have these newfangled crosshead screws, then we just need three slightly different sized flat head screwdrivers to do this

    Isn't that a function of the screw thread size driving the screw head size? It's a problem whichever 'driver' system you use, the terminal screws will be smaller than the rest.

    The only UK plug I remember that had the "single screwdriver" issue sorted was this version of MK plug:

  • 0 in reply to gkenyon

    Graham, how did you terminate the conductors? Shepherd's crook or ring?

  • 0 in reply to gkenyon
    gkenyon said:
    The only UK plug I remember that had the "single screwdriver" issue sorted was this version of MK plug:

    I recall a "no screwdriver" plug in my grandmother's house when I was very young - in a way it was a nice design - brass split pins for pins so it would fit both solid and sprung contact sockets, screwless terminals, cord grip not unlike modern ceiling roses or lampholders and lid that screwed on by hand that held it all together. Probably wouldn't meet today's safety standards though.

        - Andy.

  • 0 in reply to AJJewsbury

    like this:


    (pinched from plugsocketmuseum.nl)

      - Andy.

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