Socket Types

[plugwash]

i don't think it really makes a great deal of difference either way.

bayonet bulbs are generally cheaper and easier to get simply because they are used more

bayonet bulbs have both contacts on the base so the bulk of the cap is not a current carrying part (this is an especailly good thing in situations where live-neutral polarity is not known such as portable equipent intended for the european market)

bayonets cant really be put in too tight or too loose you go to a hard end stop and they wont go any further.

on the other hand screw caps don't require you to push the bulb hard into the holder to get them in and out which is especilly usefull on those occasins where the body of the bulb has seperated from the cap and stalk and you need to get the cap and stalk out of the holder.

to be honest both systems are fine bayonets are just the norm over here.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

to be honest both systems are fine bayonets are just the norm over here.

Not sure that's true these days.

I have a right old mix of BC & ES GLS, ES RO80, BC, SBC & SES candle, SES R50 and GU10s in my house. Not to mention the combinations of pearl and clear. Sometimes I hanker after the good old days when BC GLS was all there was. Life was simpler, then, and the summers were longer.

And very galling it was too, the other day, to find I had a bunch of spare lamps of a type that I no longer use anywhere....

 

[plugwash]

to be honest both systems are fine bayonets are just the norm over here.

Not sure that's true these days.

sorry i meant the norm for the basic/cheap pendants and batten holders

posher fittings tend to use all sort of cap styles.

 

[Paul_C]

I lived in the U.S.A. for 13 years and can't remember a seized screw-in fitting.

And just to add that Edison Screw fuses were also the norm in the States for a long time, and many such older panels are still in use.

 

[mapj1]

And just to add that Edison Screw fuses were also the norm in the States for a long time, and many such older panels are still in use.

You'll find those at least in the former American Sector in Berlin too...
while the Russian sector has aluminium wiring, and 2 core wiring with earth regenerated accross the back of the socket from neutral, and many other exciting practices. New work is much, much better!

The only time I can think of when bayonets have an advantage is in situations where they might shake unscrewed, like vibrating/moving (fairground machinary ?), or where they have to be taken in or out a lot for transport (mobile lighting rigs perhaps)
Screw threads have the advantage of better contacts, important when the current is higher, and the cheaper bayonet lamps can soften at the contacts and get stuck.
However, I'd still argue that neither system meets the 'plug and socket' regulation quality, and yet there are no accidents to speak of - I'd cheekily suggest we are worrying too much again. (and the worries about switched sockets are a bit similar, which is where I came in)
regards M.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

And just to add that Edison Screw fuses were also the norm in the States for a long time, and many such older panels are still in use.

You really wouldn't want to be replacing one of those against a fault, would you....

 

[Lectrician]

The REC have ES fuses up the poles, allows them to change them with a long pole from the ground (some newer versions are push-in, they do seem to be fasing them out!)