Worst connector ever invented

[Welchyboy1]

Am I the only one who loathes these connectors and just removes them immediately

Apparently they also turn a class 1 light fitting into a class 2 light fitting, this is surely not compliant unless you only have a single cable supplying the light fitting, so then the connector can completely enclose any single insulated piece of conductor

which is usually not the case

a loop in scenario at the ceiling and you have no chance, I have come across lots of these lately and have just been crimping a lug to the earths and screwing them to the mounting plate

not ideal but what else can you do with them?

 

[nicebutdim]

The powers that be say they're fine for use in class 2 lights to be sold in the UK, so manufacturer's make the most of this cheap solution.

The only compliant means of fitting them is through the use of an additional junction.

Hateful junk.

 

[Dustydazzler]

Unless you cut a 2 inch x 2 inch hole in the ceiling and shove all the cables up the hole then these connections are useless.
MAybe fine in Europe where they have a 0.75 multi core supplying a light but in the UK they are garbage

 

[WallaceP]

I would love to see the manufactures install one of these lights. Complete waste of time along with the screws and rawl plugs supplied with the fittings....

 

[Markyd]

Refuse to install any fittings that have these now.....pain in the aris

 

[littlespark]

Bloody awful connections.


I fitted a Next light fitting the other day. Class I, and came with a plug/socket combo.
Screw bracket to ceiling, connect up socket. Then simply lift up the fitting, plug it in and secure to bracket.

No fiddling on trying to hold it all up and connect with one hand.

 

[Risteard]

Bloody awful connections.


I fitted a Next light fitting the other day. Class I, and came with a plug/socket combo.
Screw bracket to ceiling, connect up socket. Then simply lift up the fitting, plug it in and secure to bracket.

No fiddling on trying to hold it all up and connect with one hand.

As above, in fairness to them all of the Next luminaires I've come across have been good and well designed.

 

[nicebutdim]

I was handed a decorative outdoor wall light yesterday and expected the worst. Turned out to be well designed and constructed, with any amount of space for connections. Conversely, the bulkheads and floodlights I'd picked up from a wholesaler weren't quite so well thought out.

 

[pc1966]

When I saw the title of "worst connector ever invented" my immediate thoughts were phono or jack plugs for audio where the signal makes contact before the earth FFS!

 

[Lucien Nunes]

For sure these things in the OP are not good and aren't suitable for many typical installation scenarios. But if we are talking about plug/socket connectors too then there are hundreds of claimants for the title, either because they are impossible to work with, dangerous, fragile or unreliable.

From a safety point of view in 2023, there are a couple of power types from the early to mid 1900s that are almost unbelievable now if you are not already familiar and comfortable with them. A system where you can insert your fingers - half of your hand even - straight into the live socket contacts, and the plug has its screw terminals on the outside, probably sounds like a practical joke; but it was a real thing and I have used them.

If anybody cares to listen to my rants about the fiddly ones I will happily rant.

 

[DPG]

For sure these things in the OP are not good and aren't suitable for many typical installation scenarios. But if we are talking about plug/socket connectors too then there are hundreds of claimants for the title, either because they are impossible to work with, dangerous, fragile or unreliable.

From a safety point of view in 2023, there are a couple of power types from the early to mid 1900s that are almost unbelievable now if you are not already familiar and comfortable with them. A system where you can insert your fingers - half of your hand even - straight into the live socket contacts, and the plug has its screw terminals on the outside, probably sounds like a practical joke; but it was a real thing and I have used them.

If anybody cares to listen to my rants about the fiddly ones I will happily rant.

More details of those please Lucien!

I'd also nominate high density DIN connectors. The circular type. Nightmare to get a soldering iron to some of the centre contacts, even with a fine tip.

 

[timhoward]

I second the request for a download from @Lucien Nunes remarkable brain please.

An older sparks told me that when semi-insulated 3 pin plugs became a thing, they caused a few issues when introduced as the contacts in some older sockets weren't always fully on the uninsulated portion of the pin. Don't know if any truth in it?

 

[Lucien Nunes]

I've never knowingly experienced faulty contact despite using lots of older sockets. I wonder what parameters were used to decide on the dimensions of the sleeve; whether an absolute minimum distance between the active contact area and the face of the socket could be inferred from the original BS1363 dimensions, or whether they had to measure examples of sockets and take the worst case. Perhaps there were a few specific problem sockets where a particularly slim design of shutter had resulted in the contacts being less deeply recessed.

My first contender for the worst connector is the cigarette lighter plug which, despite being one of the world's most standardised and widely recognised types for many decades, is bad in 137 different ways.

• The socket wasn't actually intended to be a socket at all, but a global standard has evolved for repurposing it as one.
• The plug actively tries to push itself out of the socket by spring force, staying in only due to friction which can't be too high to avoid pulling the socket out of the dashboard.
• Although the socket does contain a pair of sprung positive contacts, the plug doesn't use them as they're not standardised.
• Instead, the pin makes one tiny point of contact against the central rivet or strap that isn't necessarily made of an ideal metal for low resistance contact.
• This central contact zone gets corroded and grime baked on by the heat of the lighter element, but never wiped clean by the plug.
• Anything conductive that falls into its gaping mouth gets funneled towards the small gap between positive and negative contacts.
• There is no officially defined current rating.
• Many fused plugs add further high-resistance contact points by relying on the same spring pressure to contact the fuse.
• And 129 other compelling reasons.

In short, the socket and plug both have features that actively degrade their own functionality. Although other connectors can be badly designed or made, it's hard to find one that is so inherently unsuited to its job as the cigarette lighter.

 

[DPG]

I've never knowingly experienced faulty contact despite using lots of older sockets. I wonder what parameters were used to decide on the dimensions of the sleeve; whether an absolute minimum distance between the active contact area and the face of the socket could be inferred from the original BS1363 dimensions, or whether they had to measure examples of sockets and take the worst case. Perhaps there were a few specific problem sockets where a particularly slim design of shutter had resulted in the contacts being less deeply recessed.

My first contender for the worst connector is the cigarette lighter plug which, despite being one of the world's most standardised and widely recognised types for many decades, is bad in 137 different ways.

• The socket wasn't actually intended to be a socket at all, but a global standard has evolved for repurposing it as one.
• The plug actively tries to push itself out of the socket by spring force, staying in only due to friction which can't be too high to avoid pulling the socket out of the dashboard.
• Although the socket does contain a pair of sprung positive contacts, the plug doesn't use them as they're not standardised.
• Instead, the pin presses against the central rivet or strap that is not designed to make low-resistance contact and isn't necessarily made of an ideal metal.
• This central contact zone gets corroded and grime baked on by the heat of the lighter element, but never wiped clean by the plug.
• Anything conductive that falls into its gaping mouth gets funneled towards the small gap between positive and negative contacts.
• There is no officially defined current rating.
• Many fused plugs add further high-resistance contact points by relying on the same spring pressure to contact the fuse.
• And 129 other compelling reasons.

In short, the socket and plug both have features that actively degrade their own functionality.

Good call on the cigarette plug. Another issue is connecting the negative wire to the spring contacts. I've seen some really badly soldered joints here, probably because of a combination of the poor quality metal/coating and the fact that it acts as a heatsink whilst soldering.

 

[Rockingit]

I've never knowingly experienced faulty contact despite using lots of older sockets. I wonder what parameters were used to decide on the dimensions of the sleeve; whether an absolute minimum distance between the active contact area and the face of the socket could be inferred from the original BS1363 dimensions, or whether they had to measure examples of sockets and take the worst case. Perhaps there were a few specific problem sockets where a particularly slim design of shutter had resulted in the contacts being less deeply recessed.

My first contender for the worst connector is the cigarette lighter plug which, despite being one of the world's most standardised and widely recognised types for many decades, is bad in 137 different ways.

• The socket wasn't actually intended to be a socket at all, but a global standard has evolved for repurposing it as one.
• The plug actively tries to push itself out of the socket by spring force, staying in only due to friction which can't be too high to avoid pulling the socket out of the dashboard.
• Although the socket does contain a pair of sprung positive contacts, the plug doesn't use them as they're not standardised.
• Instead, the pin makes one tiny point of contact against the central rivet or strap that isn't necessarily made of an ideal metal for low resistance contact.
• This central contact zone gets corroded and grime baked on by the heat of the lighter element, but never wiped clean by the plug.
• Anything conductive that falls into its gaping mouth gets funneled towards the small gap between positive and negative contacts.
• There is no officially defined current rating.
• Many fused plugs add further high-resistance contact points by relying on the same spring pressure to contact the fuse.
• And 129 other compelling reasons.

In short, the socket and plug both have features that actively degrade their own functionality. Although other connectors can be badly designed or made, it's hard to find one that is so inherently unsuited to its job as the cigarette lighter.

I was expecting you to say Camlock......

 

[littlespark]

Another fault with those cigarette lighter sockets, or the newer "12V Aux" socket is that they are a perfect size for a british standard finger to be inserted....


Ah... days gone by, us sitting in the back seat without a seatbelt, winding down the windows because dad wanted a smoke....
I mean a cigarette!

He one handedly opens the pack, pulls a solitary death stick out with his mouth and pushes in the aforementioned lighter with his other hand.... steering with his knees.

A few seconds later, and pop! He uses the now red hot implement to light the far away end of the little white stick..... going cross eyed as he deftly aims the glowing part to a point not 3 inches from his face.... taking his visual concentration away from the road ahead for fear of burning his moustache.

Successfully lit, he draws in a healthy lungful of gaseous toxins, and attempts to relocate the lighter back into its receptacle...... and misses.

The lighter then rolls off under a seat, and we have him, still driving, my mum, screaming blue murder and me and my brother in the back scrambling under the seats trying to find this thing before it sets light to the no doubt oil stained carpet in a 1982 vauxhall cavalier.

 

[DPG]

Another fault with those cigarette lighter sockets, or the newer "12V Aux" socket is that they are a perfect size for a british standard finger to be inserted....


Ah... days gone by, us sitting in the back seat without a seatbelt, winding down the windows because dad wanted a smoke....
I mean a cigarette!

He one handedly opens the pack, pulls a solitary death stick out with his mouth and pushes in the aforementioned lighter with his other hand.... steering with his knees.

A few seconds later, and pop! He uses the now red hot implement to light the far away end of the little white stick..... going cross eyed as he deftly aims the glowing part to a point not 3 inches from his face.... taking his visual concentration away from the road ahead for fear of burning his moustache.

Successfully lit, he draws in a healthy lungful of gaseous toxins, and attempts to relocate the lighter back into its receptacle...... and misses.

The lighter then rolls off under a seat, and we have him, still driving, my mum, screaming blue murder and me and my brother in the back scrambling under the seats trying to find this thing before it sets light to the no doubt oil stained carpet in a 1982 vauxhall cavalier.

Some people still call that sort of thing 'the good old days' !

 

[Moley]

A particular hate of mine is the Reyrolle 110v plug. I believe the model is 1110 DR? It's the type where the pins are the fuses and the body is the earth contact. Not so many around now but a lot of the older power stations used them. Fuses are like gold dust now. I've just looked at completed listings on fleabay. They've been selling for £37.50 each!

 

[littlespark]

Some people still call that sort of thing 'the good old days' !

some people call that "yesterday" (Tel)

We've currently got the family pool car that's used for all the grandchildren when they learn to drive. a 2010 kia pocanto.
crap gears, crap brakes and a permantly affixed L plate.... Filled it with petrol to double its value.

Anyway... this thing still has a "cigarette lighter" hole (no actual lighter) and windey down windows in the back... electric in the front... wooo!

You can see the puzzlement in the kids faces as the turn this handle round and round watching the glass go up and down....


edit. Just read this back and it seems to suggest that "I" have grandchildren..... I'm not that old!
The car belongs my FIL, and so far its been used for one of the new zealand family to use when she was over here, my eldest to learn in.... her cousin, and now my middle one.

Dont know what happens when the youngest turns 17, as her and the other cousin were born on the same day..... in the same hospital

 

[DPG]

some people call that "yesterday" (Tel)

We've currently got the family pool car that's used for all the grandchildren when they learn to drive. a 2010 kia pocanto.
crap gears, crap brakes and a permantly affixed L plate.... Filled it with petrol to double its value.

Anyway... this thing still has a "cigarette lighter" hole (no actual lighter) and windey down windows in the back... electric in the front... wooo!

You can see the puzzlement in the kids faces as the turn this handle round and round watching the glass go up and down....


edit. Just read this back and it seems to suggest that "I" have grandchildren..... I'm not that old!
The car belongs my FIL, and so far its been used for one of the new zealand family to use when she was over here, my eldest to learn in.... her cousin, and now my middle one.

Dont know what happens when the youngest turns 17, as her and the other cousin were born on the same day..... in the same hospital

I was only thinking the other day of the seat belts prior to inertia-reel ones, where they didn't roll back and you had to just hang them up on the door pillar when you took them off.

And manual chokes of course - my first 950 Fiesta (1978) had one of those.

And obviously curly wurlys were bigger

 

[littlespark]

I suppose the old cigarette lighter is exactly the same problems as a B22 bayonet lampholder.... just less voltage.

 

[DPG]

I suppose the old cigarette lighter is exactly the same problems as a B22 bayonet lampholder.... just less voltage.

And no bayonet locking system. So the plugs just work their way loose over time

 

[mainline]

And no bayonet locking system. So the plugs just work their way loose over time

They worked well as a cigarette lighter, which is what it was meant for.

 

[DPG]

They worked well as a cigarette lighter, which is what it was meant for.

Absolutely. Fancy them not having the foresight to realise we may need to use them to charge up a telephone which works without wires!

 

[davesparks]

If anybody cares to listen to my rants about the fiddly ones I will happily rant.

Does EDAC make the list by any chance?

 

[littlespark]

Who edited my post #16?

I used the word F. A. G and it changed it to “smoke”

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Let's talk about the 'stage pin' connector used in the USA. There is a general advantage in the entertainment lighting to a connector that lies flat on the floor when mated with a trailing socket. In the tungsten lighting era it was also customary for lighting to use a different plug that could not be interchanged with the local standard mains plug, so that things that should not be dimmed couldn't accidentally be plugged into dimmers. Therefore various lighting-specific connectors evolved that were sometimes (although not always) flat. In Britain we had the 3-in-line followed by the Healee, both now obsolete, and in the USA there was something similar to the 3-in-line that is still in use today, called the stage pin, available in 20, 30, 60 and 100A versions.

Stage pin plug and socket have flat bodies that mate end-to-end like dominoes. The higher current types especially are big and heavy, with stumpy brass pins. All pins are the same diameter and lie in a straight line, but the ground pin is longer to ensure it mates first. The huge mistake in the design is that although they are polarised by having the middle pin offset, they can be mated wrong way round with one or two pins engaged but the third one exposed. The pin positions of the 20A type are different to the others, with the ground in the middle instead of at one end, which makes it even easier to mate the plug flipped and offset so that the ground pin goes into the line socket, making the equipment casing live. Other permutations are possible with exposed pins becoming live or whatever. This problem didn't exist with British 3-in-line type because not only did it have a flange around the socket to prevent offset positioning, the earth pin was of larger diameter and would not enter the line or neutral sockets.

There are other issues with stage pin. Some types rely on the pin halves being sprung apart to get secure contact, but the pins are completely exposed and the larger plugs very heavy. If you drop them they tend to land pin-first, squashing the two halves of the pin together, requiring them to be splayed apart again. There is a special tool for this called a pin splitter, with a T-shaped handle attached to a tube with a wedge inside, that you press over the plug pins in turn to spread them open. The socket contacts are often very close to the mating face of the socket, so you can touch them. The larger sizes a small finger can enter. If not mated completely snug there is an obvious gap around the pins that can allow conductive objects, even fingers, to touch the live pins, being very near the edges.

I don't have any pics of these to hand and I don't want to link to any sellers given that I am rubbishing the design generally. But if you Google 'stage pin plug' there are plenty of examples to look at. I've only ever specified them in a couple of places in new systems; generally we were using twist-locks for lighting to separate them from hard mains on straight blades.

Just realised that I've been inconsistent in terminology with earth vs. ground and line vs. hot. Can you live with line and ground? The film industry is a transatlantic thing anyway, we often end up with half and half. I'm used to wiring brown and blue to a 5-15 and black and white to a BS1363.

 

[YossiD]

Is your connector similar to these?

I am in Israel, and these are the standard for connections in light fixtures, junction boxes, etc. They come in half a dozen sizes to accommodate various wire gages and numbers of wires.

The bodies are some kind of plastic, and for high temperature applications they are also available with ceramic bodies.

I have never heard about any safety issues with these unless the screws aren't properly tightened. As they age, the screws sometimes corrode, making them difficult to open for service, but other than that they are generally reliable.

Am I the only one who loathes these connectors and just removes them immediately

Apparently they also turn a class 1 light fitting into a class 2 light fitting, this is surely not compliant unless you only have a single cable supplying the light fitting, so then the connector can completely enclose any single insulated piece of conductor

which is usually not the case

a loop in scenario at the ceiling and you have no chance, I have come across lots of these lately and have just been crimping a lug to the earths and screwing them to the mounting plate

not ideal but what else can you do with them?View attachment 106437

 

[DPG]

Is your connector similar to these?
View attachment 106489

I am in Israel, and these are the standard for connections in light fixtures, junction boxes, etc. They come in half a dozen sizes to accommodate various wire gages and numbers of wires.

The bodies are some kind of plastic, and for high temperature applications they are also available with ceramic bodies.

I have never heard about any safety issues with these unless the screws aren't properly tightened. As they age, the screws sometimes corrode, making them difficult to open for service, but other than that they are generally reliable.

Yes, we use those types also. Absolutely fine in the right circumstances. We do have to ensure they are not hidden though, as they need to be checked for tightness periodically.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Yes the same type of terminal block is standard in the UK. The problem with the assembly that the OP mentioned was that it's not suitable for the types of cable that you would expect to use in these fittings.

 

[YossiD]

In the US, where I grew up, we used to use wirenuts, which worked quite well if properlry sized and tightened.

Here in Israel they are virtually unknown, and one electrician who did know about them told me they're not permitted by the local codes. Do you guys use them?

Yes, we use those types also. Absolutely fine in the right circumstances. We do have to ensure they are not hidden though, as they need to be checked for tightness periodically.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Not for many decades. We used to have a ceramic version often known by the brand name 'Scruit' although there were other brands. They can sometimes be found in very old wiring.