Axiom-branded accessories etc.

[sparkwright]

Remember them well.

Very commonly found in houses in Manchester and Stockport.

Volex are now part of Electrium, but started in the 1890s as Ward and Goldstone.

In 1939, they were admitted to the LSE as Volex plc, and Electrium was formed in 2004.

Those Volex ceiling roses were decades ago.
Volex is part of Electrium now, which also make stuff for Crabtree and Wylex - so you will recognise some of the components re actually the same.
Think Electrium is going to be no more soon though.

 

[sparkwright]

Think Temco and Volex merged many decades ago.

 

[JohnW2]

Volex is part of Electrium now, which also make stuff for Crabtree and Wylex ......... Think Electrium is going to be no more soon though.

Interesting - I wonder what makes you say that?

Electrium is, of course, in turn, part of the Siemens operation, which I think has a global turnover "well into eleven figures" (tens of billions). They clearly aren't going to disappear any time soon, so are you perhaps suggesting that they are going to ditch Electrium?

 

[sparkwright]

Interesting - I wonder what makes you say that?

Electrium is, of course, in turn, part of the Siemens operation, which I think has a global turnover "well into eleven figures" (tens of billions). They clearly aren't going to disappear any time soon, so are you perhaps suggesting that they are going to ditch Electrium?

Rumour I heard.
Crabtree stuff won't be available at least.

 

[securespark]

Those Volex ceiling roses were decades ago.

For sure. 70s and 80s, but, at least round here, there still loads of them around.

Think Electrium is going to be no more soon though.

Electrium are still going to exist, but I think they are pulling out of the electrical accessory market at the end of this year.

Not quite sure what that will entail, but I have heard a story from a wholesaler that Crabtree, Volex and Appleby wiring accessories are being discontinued...

But Crabtree and Volex (and Wylex?) distribution gear will still be in business.

 

[securespark]

Shame, because in my day, I used a lot of Crabtree Capital stuff. Good sturdy kit.

Competition from foreign kit?

 

[sparkwright]

For sure. 70s and 80s, but, at least round here, there still loads of them around.

Electrium are still going to exist, but I think they are pulling out of the electrical accessory market at the end of this year.

Not quite sure what that will entail, but I have heard a story from a wholesaler that Crabtree, Volex and Appleby wiring accessories are being discontinued...

But Crabtree and Volex (and Wylex?) distribution gear will still be in business.

Yes - that's a more accurate description of what is going to happen.
Appleby dry-line boxes are excellent - buy what you can now.

 

[sparkwright]

For sure. 70s and 80s, but, at least round here, there still loads of them around.

Electrium are still going to exist, but I think they are pulling out of the electrical accessory market at the end of this year.

Not quite sure what that will entail, but I have heard a story from a wholesaler that Crabtree, Volex and Appleby wiring accessories are being discontinued...

But Crabtree and Volex (and Wylex?) distribution gear will still be in business.

Didn't realise Crabtree and Volex (and Wylex?) distribution gear will still be available.

 

[securespark]

Apparently the distribution stuff is safe. It's the accessories that are getting the chop.

I could be wrong, I am relying on word from my guy who used to be a wholesaler but has recently retired.

 

[securespark]

Just found this on the site:

Siemens to stop producing Electrium wiring accessories

Good evening, hope everyone in DIYnot land is keeping well! Just seen that Siemens have announced they will be stopping producing all wiring accessories sold under the Crabtree, Volex and Appleby brands at the end of this year. I used to install nothing but Appleby boxes as they used to be...

www.diynot.com

 

[ebee]

but, as we know, even "tried and tested over the years" cannot necessarily be relied upon. There was a time when few people would have argued with the suggestion that the 'best' (or, at least, 'one of the best') and 'best quality' (and probably most expensive!) accessories etc. were MK ones ... but look what's happened there!

There was a time, many moons ago, when I subscribed to the view that 'more expensive' meant better, and so nearly always bought expensive items (of whatever nature) of major 'reputable' brands. However, the folly of that thinking, in most walks of life, has become increasingly apparent over time, such that 'very expensive' often means little more than 'very high profit margin'! Indeed, in terms of many types of product, I have completely U-turned and tend to buy 'the cheapest I can find'. Such products very often turn out to be fine but, even if they don't last long, if I could buy 5 cheap replacements for the cost of one expensive one, I still reckon I'm on a winner

Yep I`m in full agreement.
The motto "Things are not what they used to be!" including the whitty afterthought "but then again they never were!" comes to mind
But joking aside you are correct , even the tried and tested needs trying and testing frequently.
Take MK, in the late 60s and early 70s then MK and Crabtree sockets were considered the best in large parts of the industry.
MK were slimmer and looks preferred Crabtree were chunkier and a little more robust but MK became winner even though their switched sockets were only single pole switching whilst Crabtree were always DP switching.
In the trade people started to notice the failure rate of MK was high compared to the rest.
MK changed from Logic to Logic2 range and they looked even better, the switched sockets became DP switching too, but unfortunately the quality in real terms did not improve, quite the reverse I think.
For many years I heard Electricians state "MK means Expensive Crap" but yes to many Including Electrician they lived on their past popular position of perceived as being the best in the market.

 

[securespark]

Regarding "slimmer", there was great confusion with MK Logic, the original series, that was launched in 1974.

There were two thicknesses of plate for 1363 accessories, slim and deep.

If you wanted the slim plate, you needed to use 35mm boxes, only the deep plate could be mounted in 25. I have seen countless slim plate MK accessories stuffed into 25mm boxes.

In my time I have also seen loads of houses in my area rewired in the 70s and 80s with Ashley 1G and 2G sockets using 16mm boxes!

Tighter than a duck's doohdah!