2012-07-20

Finally, a UK mains plug you can put in your pocket.

One does not simply put a UK 3 pin mains plug in your jeans pocket. It will tear clothes and/or hurt you. Yet some times you want to take a USB charger with you...

I have been watching these people for a while, and I get the impression they have issues with the British Standard or some such - seems to taken forever. They have some clever ideas for foldable mains plugs and even compact multi socket mains adapters - but now they are on sale (well, the USB chargers are) at firebox. Well done.

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12 comments:

  1. Not a new idea, see http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/fold-flat-concept-fixes-bulky-british-power-plug/ from 2009

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    1. Yes, same people, I said I have been watching for a while. I think it is only now that they are on sale though.

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  2. I have one, but have a couple of gripes.

    1) It doesn't have enough oomph to charge an iPad.
    2) The earth pin sticks out just a bit too far, which means it catches on everything in your bag of cables.

    Otherwise, it's great!

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    1. Not really fussed about the iPad thing ;) But I think they'll need to drop the price and improve the design so that it encompasses the earth pin before I start looking at them.

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  3. How does it compare to an apple USB adapter?

    I think the abandoned the idea of an actual plug because they couldn't get past health and safety rules, and went with the USB idea as a fallback.

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    1. shame if they did abandon it .... brilliant 3 pin mains plug esp the way they had the multi socket adapter to use it in the flat configuration

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  4. I saw their vids a couple of years ago
    very nicely thought out esp the foldable mains plugs and the multi plug

    love it

    they could follow it up with a flat euro / world adapter

    but I'm jealous we cant use the flat 2pin euro plug
    almost everything electronic these days could use it

    having rewired the house here I've got 5amp lighting circuits with round pin sockets specifically for table and desklamps etc

    http://tinyurl.com/uk-5amp-roundpin-jpg
    http://tinyurl.com/uk-5amp-roundpin-socket-jpg

    (this way I can have light switches for my table lamps on the wall next to ceiling rose light switches as only round pin plugs thus lights will ever be plugged in)

    I'd have no problem putting in euro sockets (if it were legal :/) for electronic devices
    youd be able to get 3 cables plugged in in the space of one normal UK socket

    It annoys me when I compare the flat 2pin Euro plug and a (huge) 3pin UK plug each on a two core philips fig-o-eight cable !

    http://tinyurl.com/uk-fig-o-8-jpg
    http://tinyurl.com/euro-fig-o-8-jpg

    I MOST SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND AGAINST THE FOLLOWING - RISK OF DEATH

    tell me who hasn't pushed an item into the earth socket to expose the live and neutral to push in a euro two pin plug ?

    I MOST SERIOUSLY RECOMMEND AGAINST THE ABOVE - RISK OF DEATH

    I was just wanting to see a show of hands of past behaviour

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  5. I've done that and far worse in my time - in controlled environments of course...

    I happen to like our chunky, inherently safe mains plugs and sockets: shutters, sleeves and individual fuses give me a fuzzy feeling of safety. Just don't get me started on moulded plugs...


    This looks like a great extendion of the concept. It's a pity it can't gain more traction IMO.

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    1. don't get me wrong ...

      I too love our chunky inherently safe[r] mains plugs with shutters on L and N
      and don't get me started on the state of Polish domestic electrical real world standards of installation ... DANGER INCARNATE! all I can say is thank goodness for 17ed Regs

      but with mcb's and rcd's properly spec'd on each circuit there's less of an issue with not having an earth, that's the whole point of double insulation.

      In any case it might be that you find that your N is bound to the earth at the point it comes into the house anyway TN-C-S (that's the ONLY setup I've found in Poland so far)

      At home I've got TN-S where my earth runs all the way back to the main transformer and is connected to the N there

      also the fuse in the UK plug is there to protect against fire caused by overcurrent over heating the cabling not there to protect you from electrocution

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  6. Twenty-five folding pounds for that?! Thank the appropriate deity for large coat pockets.

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  7. I hope it is stronger than it looks. Last thing you would want is the power prongs to break off from the rest of the plug and be left in a socket (bzzzzzt!)

    Also hope it is fused internally.

    Also £25!!!!!

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  8. Follow-up - they have a rival that has fixed line & neutral but folding earth pin... Thinplug.

    I acquired one of their fig-8 leads in PCWorld (well I didn't go in myself, I persuaded someone to go in on my behalf) for under a fiver and once I'd got rid of the bulky retraction hub it's just the job to not smash your laptop screen in your bag.

    I see there are also 1000mA and 2100mA ThinPlug folding USB chargers out there for about a tenner.

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