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Why are these so rare and hard to buy?

P

Peter Jason

Jan 1, 1970
0
http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mECvXoWTX5kQYnqJMaaaVMA.jpg
http://members.iinet.net.au/~cool386/plug/light1.jpg
http://www.electrical-contractor.net/mt/DLA2.JPG



The old double lighting adaptors are so rare now
that I have manages to scrounge only three; and
all are of the old Bakelite type. This took hours
raking through junk in recycle shops etc.

These things are useful to brighten up a table
lamp because multiple bulbs may be inserted if
required.

Google hasn't found many either.

What is one to do!
 
A

Andrew Gabriel

Jan 1, 1970
0
http://thumbs4.ebaystatic.com/d/l225/m/mECvXoWTX5kQYnqJMaaaVMA.jpg
http://members.iinet.net.au/~cool386/plug/light1.jpg
http://www.electrical-contractor.net/mt/DLA2.JPG



The old double lighting adaptors are so rare now
that I have manages to scrounge only three; and
all are of the old Bakelite type. This took hours
raking through junk in recycle shops etc.

These things are useful to brighten up a table
lamp because multiple bulbs may be inserted if
required.

Google hasn't found many either.

What is one to do!

In the UK, sometime around 1970 (not sure exactly), it became a
legal requirement that electrical accessories conformed to the
relevant British Standard. The British Standard for lampholders
didn't include any adaptors, so they became illegal to sell, and
vanished from the market.

BTW, see http://www.bigclive.com/hamster.htm
 
P

Peter Jason

Jan 1, 1970
0
In the UK, sometime around 1970 (not sure exactly), it became a
legal requirement that electrical accessories conformed to the
relevant British Standard. The British Standard for lampholders
didn't include any adaptors, so they became illegal to sell, and
vanished from the market.

BTW, see http://www.bigclive.com/hamster.htm

Many thanks. I'll see if I can make one of
these.

While I'm griping, I've had trouble finding the
small bayonet chandelier-type lampholders with the
ceramic insert. The insert in the new ones are
of some plastic, and this may not take the heat
for long. The antique ceramic ones have all
vanished!
 
J

Jeff Jonas

Jan 1, 1970
0
In the UK, sometime around 1970 (not sure exactly), it became a
Geez, that makes me kinda appreciate the USA's
sluggish adoption of anything of the sort.

We're still using the 100+ year old Edison base
for our lamps, so all old things still work,
whereas Ikea feels obligated to discontinue everything
after a year or 2 to force new products upon us
from furniture to lighting.
Ikea no longer sells incadescant lamps
and seems to have cut down on their halogen selection
to focus on LED retrofits.
[just to take a stab at the "Ikea experience"
where I can't buy a matching lamp or chair or bulb anymore]

Thanks! That's clever and entertaining.
While I'm griping, I've had trouble finding the
small bayonet chandelier-type lampholders
with the ceramic insert. The insert in the new ones
are of some plastic, and this may not take the heat
for long. The antique ceramic ones have all vanished!

I have a similar gripe.
As a kid I used to buy bulb adapters that converted
candelabra or medium base bulbs to Edison base.
They were ceramic and lasted forever (unless dropped).
Now they're all plastic. Foo.
 
A

Andrew Gabriel

Jan 1, 1970
0
Geez, that makes me kinda appreciate the USA's
sluggish adoption of anything of the sort.

We're still using the 100+ year old Edison base
for our lamps, so all old things still work,[/QUOTE]

That's the same here too. However, you used to be
able to sell all sorts of adapters which didn't
conform to any regs, and now you can't. If any of
the manufacturers had thought it worth the effort
to put any of these into the regs, they could have
done so. However, they mostly dated back to the
1910's when some people bought just an electric
lighting supply, so they had no sockets - anything
else had to be plugged into a lampholder, so
lampholder 2-way adapters were made, so you could
plug your iron into the light fitting. The requirement
for these had in practice long since vanished by the
1970's, so it wasn't worth the effort of putting
them into the relevant British Standards.
whereas Ikea feels obligated to discontinue everything
after a year or 2 to force new products upon us
from furniture to lighting.
Ikea no longer sells incadescant lamps
and seems to have cut down on their halogen selection
to focus on LED retrofits.

That's forced on all EU countries by the EU.
Having said that, IKEA have one of the best selection
of LED lamps of any of the common retailers (and that
was true of CFLs, when they introduced a wide range
at low prices, when all other major retailers had a
very limited range at silly prices).
Thanks! That's clever and entertaining.

S. Lilley & Son still make them: http://www.s-lilley.co.uk
SBC lampholders were never particularly common, and
the choice of lamps for them nowadays is vanishingly
small. Refit with SES instead, or if you intend to
use filament lamps, I would rewire for 12V G4 or G6.3
halogen capsules which are well over twice as efficient
as 240V mains filament lamps.
 
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