For AU readers: Clipsal 463 "Piggy back" plugs. - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 26, 2016, 11:46:02 pm
content: Some have just shown up on EBay, fairly rare outside of trade circles. Interestingly they come with "Rivets" - a sort of blind screw, that once pressed into place cannot be removed. Not saying if I'd use those or not, replace the screws or Dremel a slot me thinks.http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Lot-of-20-Clipsal-463-10A-Plug-Adapter-/302118587730?hash=item4657abcd52:g:Cl4AAOSwXeJYDuXAI have no affiliation with the seller but his postage was fast (overnight).

author: Brumby
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 12:02:22 am
content: As I understand it, those piggy-back plugs were removed from general availability - because you would have some bright spark put two of them on a length of mains flex to make an extension lead.It did have one unique feature ... it was bi-directional.

author: aargee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 02:04:13 am
content: Exactly, the rule is : on any extension cable, you should only be able to see one set of exposed pins.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 03:58:07 am
content: I'm pretty sure last I checked you could get the PDL equivalents in NZ still. I've been meaning to buy a box but it keeps slipping down the list.

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 04:10:46 am
content: They are still listed on the Clipsal site in the trade area as being available but another Schneider page indicates that a statutory declaration may be required, I could not find the specific declaration they refer to so I hereby promise not to kill anybody this week by using this product. I do like these piggy back plugs.Clipsal Page 463SAS.http://www.clipsal.com/Trade/Products/ProductDetail?catno=463SASSchneider FAQ Page.http://www.schneider-electric.com.au/en/faqs/FA295238/The Instruction Sheet.

author: BradC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 04:35:05 am
content: Yeah, that's right. I remember the price at something like $13/ea with a minimum buy of 100 was my sticking point.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 06:33:45 am
content: Luckily I have a friend in the stage-lighting industry... my source.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 27, 2016, 07:06:49 am
content: The last one of those I bought had a one-way screw rather than a push-in rivet. Pretty sure that was back in early 2000 (I remember buying it on my time off in lieu after weeks of O/T prepping for Y2K).By coincidence, a neighbour cleaning out his garage gave me one the other week. I just went and looked at it, and it's got a normal screw. The receipt dated 1980 ($1.25 at David Jones!) was still in the bag.So sometime between those 2 dates the rules changed. Possibly with the adoption of AS/NZS 3112 in 1990?

author: PTR_1275
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: October 28, 2016, 11:55:42 pm
content: Quote from: Muttley Snickers on October 27, 2016, 04:10:46 amThe 463as is a different connector. It I not designed to come apart and add a cable in, they are purely for connecting a antistatic mat to the ground pin.

author: Muttley Snickers
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 29, 2016, 11:27:28 pm
content: Quote from: PTR_1275 on October 28, 2016, 11:55:42 pmFair enough, guided by Clipsals Plugs, Sockets & Adaptors Catalogue they are the same unit and the model prefix was simply changed, either way.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 30, 2016, 07:17:37 pm
content: They were also sold here in South Africa for a brief time, though to suit the SA/India plug style. Kind of cute, to have a plugtop and socket all in one, though i think there could be issues with them and high current pass through loads. Not good to try to draw 16A using the flex into the plugtop and at the aame time try to draw 16A through the top.Most of the new Clipsal socket outlets will catch fire at 20A, and long term they are not really reliable at over 10A from experience with the last few year's units that use too thin a brass and too little of it in any case for the current. I find they burn out the integrated switches and fail safely off, though a few have melted the switches inside as well. I suppose that is the makers version of fail safe, to melt into a blob inside the cover.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 31, 2016, 07:52:58 am
content: Quote from: Muttley Snickers on October 29, 2016, 11:27:28 pmYeah, had a chat with a local trade counter today. The 463AS is the antistat / flying earth version. The 463SAS is the current version with sleeved A & N terminals as now required by law. Unopenable & only available in transparent so you can make sure no-one's playing a 240v practical joke on you). You can buy them over the counter as 1-offs.The 463SUA is the full piggyback one i.e. full cable entry & all pins passed through. Only available in 100's with paperwork e.g. your first-born's birth certificate as collateral.Surprisingly, you can still get the461SUA- the switched / controlled version of the 463SUA, sometimes used in old clock radios to turn on an external lamp. Their system had it as a special-order in one-off quantity, but the guy at the counter guessed that might be wrong.