BS1361 13A sockets
Question

Is there any reason why 1361 sockets can not be mounted on their side making the earth pin horizontal and the line and neutral pins vertical, does it still comply with the standard
Goggled part of the standard available to me and it describes the standard as having an outlet having a vertical earth pin and horizontal line and neutral
Obviously if you turn it on its side then that is not the case
Examples
Vertical Dado trunking the mounting of 2gang S/O on?
And IT cabinets that have multi outlet ports?
And IT and clean earth outlets that have unique shape and bit added (not sure if they have there own standard)

On my little project , on the residential bit there are two types of power outlets in the apartments 2pin American type albeit rated at 230v and 13A 1363 but all mounted on their side didn't spot this on first fix
Does it comply with 1363 I'm not sure? anyone?

MrP

I've never seen anything that say's it shouldn't be done MrP,

Dave.

Power rails for fitting in 19'' rack cabinets often have the sockets on their side or at 45 degrees.

BS1363 describes the construction and not the use. As said above they are mounted with many orientations, even on ceilings without any particular problems. 2 pin American plugs are not considered safe in Europe because they lack sheathed pins, It would be unwise to fit these as they have no BS or Euro standard. If you need something small and un-fused fit IEC sockets, which are standardised and leads of all types are available at low cost.
An just in case you want to continue, the American plugs would get a C1 from me in a EICR, and an issued danger notice!

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David
CEng etc, don't ask, its a result not a question!

But presumably only in a UK, BS 7671 installation - I believe Mr P is somewhere paticularly hot and dusty where the client gets what the client wants - indeed, many standards in that part of the world are the best (worst) fit of european and american standards anyway -

regards

OMS

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Failure is always an option

Ah, good luck to him then! Yes hot and dusty can be a bit outside BS7671. In that case perhaps I shouldn't be too worried... after all the Americans get away with it. In fact I came across the hottest piece of 16mm PVC cable I have seen in Las Vegas convention centre, running about 230A / phase (3)! Unfortunately I was also responsible for the load (a slight problem caused by English and USA mains voltages being different and the same at various moments dependant on who was speaking, we got 220V P-N in the end and the temperature was not too unreasonable).

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David
CEng etc, don't ask, its a result not a question!

Edited: 06 August 2012 at 12:59 PM by davezawadi