Teardown of the new MK screwless socket
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- It's not aluminium! I just wanted to clarify that, if you don't watch the whole video.
The earth busbar appears to be solid brass with a silver-like plating on one side.
This is a new and welcome twist on the traditional UK power socket. Instead of using screw terminals it uses spring loaded terminals in the same style of Wago terminals.
In use the spring mechanism tightly clamps the copper wire against a copper or brass busbar. It actually looks very robust, but time will be the true test.
The spring clamp removes the risk of people either under or over tightening the clamp screws. This is especially important in this era of profit-motivated Part-P deskilling. The colour coding of the terminals is also useful in this regard.
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#ElectronicsCreators - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Tin plated brass most likely, usually done to avoid corrosion, improve electrical connectivity and make it easier to solder to (for soldering applicable applications).
Avoiding corrosion in the case of aluminum wiring on brass or copper is rather critical. I don't like aluminum wiring, but fixtures need to tolerate it.
@@jercos Same with RCA and XLR connectors tin over copper to prevent dissimilar metal issues.
Bugger! You said it before I could. 😭😆
It could actually be silver. These sockets are designed to carry quite large currents, but for mechanical reasons the bus bars, pinch connectors etc. cannot be made of pure copper. The brass used adds strength, elasticity and durability under continuous deformation attempts that pure copper does not have. Unfortunately some metals used in the alloy are easily oxidised in moist air. Silver coating protects from that as well as ensuring much lower contact resistance which would be a bonus at high currents.
It's probably not tin and more nickel for durability/hardening on the terminals. I'm not sure what's on the brass end, still think it could be a form of nickel, you get shiny and matte type for different advantages.
Considering the ‘*moments*’ required to get this thing open; I think it should be given a *Clive Proof* design award; we like it and it didn’t give up its secrets too easily!! Great little show!
Really like that they have included three terminals - also forces sparks here to stop twisting together like three cores into one terminal.
It may mean having to do that in a terminal block with one spur wire coming out to go into these clips ! Maybe we could start using wire nuts again ;)
It's not sparks who twist cables, is usually plumbers
To be honest it's not us proper sparks that twist wires together but what bothers me is that soppy DIY homeowners or amateurs will stuff another cable alongside existing conductors in the terminals making a overloaded octopus of spurs.
@@Zlodej5 No, plumbers solder connections. That's how they got their name.
@@garypautard1069 Clearly, you don't realise how good a connection twisting wires makes. Even better once the terminal screw's clamping them.
Looking forward to the reassembly video.
Going to be fitting the entire house with these soon when the range expands, already put 3 in my room right when they launched, good to know it's still the same quality I expected, bought them blindly and was not disappointed
I like how the video ends with “it looks quite good, quite acceptable”.
Meanwhile the visual is that it looks quite busted and buggered
IT seems much better than screw terminals. These will always automatically be torqued properly etc. Here in sweden elecricians and alarm/telephone technicians are known for not having any feeling for the torque a screw needs and so eiter torque them down enough to break the conductor or not at all. This type of terminal seems much safer.
Absolutely much better than screw terminals! Why did it take so long in over in the UK for them to do this finally?
It happens in the opposite manner here. I needed to use a granny charger for some hours so thought I'd check the connection to the socket behind before running continuous 2.9kw through it. The socket has been there for more than 20 years, before I moved here and the terminal screws were not tightened at all. As I released the socket from the wall the wires fell out.
@@stulop Exactly as I stated either too much or nearly not at all. Seldom anything in between.
@@stulop I shoult say for completenes that it's the same in my business (Auto mechanic) but there its almost always torqued to breaking point that is the norm. First over torque and then 2 or 3 extra pulls of the spanner or pushes of the trigger on the nut driver.
@@snaplash Testing shows that your concerns appear to be unfounded.
Great teardown Clive, interesting to see that coating on the brass. I do love a Wago'esk/Ideal'esk connector, not only are they quicker to terminate, but as they're a heavy constant spring mechanism they never work loose like screw terminals can. The only downside is that you can't insert multiple conductors into one connector, but that just makes them safer.
John Ward did a torture test on Wagos a while ago and even though the plastic eventually melted away, when he massively overloaded the circuit, the metal connectors stayed intact. I honestly wish they were standard across the board from CU's, to sockets, switches, etc.
Oo my aluminum wiring in my house would terminate nicely inside those!
MK is usually a quality brand. The latched covers are a good feature. I’d always use MK where I can anyway. I’ve found good design reduces fixings & tools so I like the fact this can be installed with just a single screwdriver.
That's a really neat idea, the best way to manage a risk is to eliminate it. After watching a few of Delroy's videos, it seems that a really common issue in a lot of home electrical stuff is down to loose connections.
The best way to manage a risk, is to eliminate bad workmanship. lol
@@tazdevil875
Expansion and contraction can cause loose connections. The best workmanship in the world will not stop that.
The little pieces that fly everywhere are called pingphuckits.
Have you spelt Phuket wrong
@@barrytipton1179 No - I wasn't referring to the place, but avoiding coming up against some sort of censoring application. Change the ph to an f.
@@steveknight878 I knew lol just did in case some don’t get it lol
you can't even find household socket terminals with screws in switzerland anymore, been like that for years. The system we have, you just slide the wire in a hole, no need to push or lift anything. The metal sping grips one way and tightens by itself. Only to remove the wire do you need to press a button to unlock the wire.
It makes sense. They are used to connect current and not kinetic force. no need to squeeze and damage the cables, while also being a pain to use
That seems similar to the US-style backstabs which are notoriously bad. Hopefully your Swiss version is built better.
@@eDoc2020 I do not know how those US ones are but the Swiss ones are very good. Very easy to push the wire in, pretty much impossible to pull it out without pressing the release button. Contact is excellent and they are pretty much indestructible (and I tried...). Also the new ones are recessed so no live part is exposed, and very compact as we can fit 3 plugs in a 10x10cm square.
I am shure AVE is proud to see you helping youtubers to analyse those metals and plastics.
your so kind , warning your viewers of oncoming light and sound attacks ,I can appreciate that
Day by day things are getting much better, unique and easy to use
I'm relieved to see MK are still producing decent products. Fitted quite a lot of their stuff over the years, always seemed worth paying a bit extra for when you consider what a hard life they can have. I'd be happy having that in my house. Construction looks solid, and nice chunky bus bars. I imagine if you add up all the saved time over an entire house / housing development, then that is quite a lot of hours and pounds.
Except the builder will pass on the higher price directly to the consumer, and pocket the time (labor) savings 100%, rather than splitting the difference.
Wow we dont get neat things like that in the usa. And I like the switch on the plug that's a nice feature. Lovely video to watch before going to bed. Nice and relaxing
👍good stuff bigclive
You think that is nice, you should see the old stuff. The USA stuff is shit, I had a hard time when I came here because the cars are made much better I expected the electric stuff to be too.
I can't believe the USA sill use twist connectors. 😂
@@richardwigley Little diaelectric grease... it's fine.
They are sketch but I have never had one fail on me. Then again, I do not do this for a living, I am only responsible for the house/farm and business. I have heard stories though..
@@richardwigley Twist connections, if actually twisted, are far superior to anything except solder.
@@richardwigley they are actually not the real issue with usa wiring, the back stab style of quick terminated outlet is a much larger issue compare to wire nuts as long as you use them correctly and don't try to use them for al/cu connections
Just started fitting these to my new house as I expand the sockets from 1 or 2 doubles in each room. Nice and easy to use, and have a nice front facia too.
I was waiting with baited breath for your conclusion!
Excellent tear down Clive. In my opinion MK have always been at the quality end of the market and your video goes to prove their latest offerings do not disappoint. I'd agree with a posted comment here, that there perhaps should be a Big Clive star quality rating with your logo. I love all your vids!
As soon as I saw that silvery coating I thought "not alumin(i)um. That's got to be a thin layer of silver".
The socket looks nice. Easier to fit than a standard socket because of each set of wires having dedicated connectors.
We have had them here in Straya for years I like them, they cost more but they force the numpties to have a maximum of three cables at a point, we still have screws in our switch mechs, I doubt that will ever change, our switch mechs are too neat and small to accommodate that style of terminal.
Way back when cars had external 🐎 power, we had big ugly UK style switch mechs, fortunately we moved on to better (and probably cheaper), things.
Fabulous video, interesting that they tinned the earth bar.
This. I was gonna say Clipsal released a similar product like 20 years ago. They don't seem to have become mainstream, mainly due to cost I expect.
Had to look up switch mechs. Dang boi those are tiny! And I thought our Danish fuga system was strained on space.
I still feel like you have plenty of space for push-fit connections, as it seems the "mechs" can be larger on the backside than the hole they have to peak through.
th-cam.com/video/OoOS1YL8b0M/w-d-xo.html < this is how the danish fuga system does it.
Though maybe not, as schneider doesn't do it on their weiser stuff which seems to take up as much space as possible th-cam.com/video/YjE0tKPQ9Bc/w-d-xo.html
@@dumle29, unfortunately Schneider make up for halving the usability by doubling the price and complexity :)
But generally, we get up to six items switches, dimmers, F connectors, data sockets, in a standard plate, that for some reason is the same size as the US plate, same primary fixing holes too.
You only need to put 3 terminal blocks in the backbox and have one wire to these sockes and wire the ring and more into the terminal blocks ;) Does that make me a numpty ? :)
MK sockets have an additional safety feature not required by the standard.
With standard sockets, the shutters on line and neutral are opened as the earth pin is inserted. However, with MK sockets, the earth pin cannot be fully inserted until both the line and neutral pins are pressing against the shutters.
This means that all three pins have to be inserted together and it's not possible simply to poke something into the earth socket to open the shutters.
It's pretty cool to have you teardown and review something I've been looking at for my shed.
I would guess they are 20 - 30 times more expensive than standard sockets... but they do appear to be well made... However, the one thing that does concern me, is that the entire current is distributed through the tiny points of contact, where the copper wire is "bitten" into by the edge of the copper terminal. That is a very small surface area compared to the screw terminals of the older style. This might increase temperatures, and over time, weaken the internal spring, potentially loosening grip on the copper wire and causing arching...
Standard equivalent £3.80 each while this mocel is £29.49 in a popular UK outlet. Not quite 2030 times,
more like 7-8 times.
@Matt Quinn shows I dont know much about U.K. pricing! Here in the states you can buy outlets for as little as 79 cents ea. up to $13 - $14 a piece for the fancier ones. I guess looks can be deceiving.
@@timbrook4515...yeah, I live in the states, so had no idea, just a guess... They just look like they would cost an arm and a leg! And actually, 30 pounds, or 7 - 8 times more expensive is pretty pricey... especially when you factor in the number of outlets in a house...
@@Quickened1 £30 is a five pack.
US outlets are indeed cheap - and they're also flimsy and often short-lived.
Some UK sparkies have suggested that there should be 4 earth (CPC) terminals. 1 for the ring in, 1 for the ring out, 1 for potential spur as with the live and neutral terminals, plus one more to allow a fly lead to earth any mental back box.
Was thinking the same. Can work around by leaving a long length CPC on one side of the ring and looping it (folding rather than cutting) in to the backbox earth terminal first - which is ok for new wiring but if replacing chances are you'll have no length to work with.
Won’t need one for the metal back box - the screws that fasten the socket will earth it
@@samuelfellows6923 A lot of people think so. While a lot think it desirable (at the least) to connect the box. Hence my writing "Some UK sparkies" and venturing no opinion of my own. 😀
@@samuelfellows6923 Good point. I know that is acceptable if one of the box lugs is non-adjustable (which is almost always the case). Somehow I just like the dedicated connection, but it is probably a bit OTT.
What a great idea, (thanks to WAGO). It should cut installation time quite markedly. Nicely made. Like you, Clive, when I saw the silver metal I had my initial doubts.
The silver coloured material is either a silver or silver nickel alloy coating. The copper coloured material is either a phospher bronze or a copper iron alloy. The company that I worked for manufactured the metal socket bits for MK.
What is it for though? Is it a safety feature or something?
@@101perspective : It'll be for a mix of mechanical, electrical, and chemical characteristics (that last one is why you don't use aluminum for residential wiring- oxidizes _inside_ of mating surfaces too fast).
@@absalomdraconis My thought was overheating may melt it and make it a self-soldering connection :)
I wondered if it was manufacturing? As it is clearly applied to the primary material before it is pressed into a very complex shape? I wondered if it was some kind of lube / mould release?
@@101perspective maybe its to maximize the contact surface and so it will minimize the resistance or maybe it stops sparking so the surface doesn`t gets damaged as fast this is just a guess though
in denmark all switches and outlets have had spring terminals for 40 years, and they never fail. The problems with bad connections are in the junction boxes and other places where there are screws. But many sparks are now using wago 221 in those boxes to join wires
I live in the USA. Until a few years ago almost the only connector used was solderless twist-on connectors-commonly called "wirenuts" though that is actually a name brand. Wago is slowly becoming more accepted. I must admit I was apprehensive at first, but when I read about their utter reliability in Europe for many years I began to come around. They really are superior.
I believe spring terminals are compulsory in UK for connections that are not accessible.
@@azz2 Spring connectors or crimps. The spring connectors shall be downrated according manufacturer's instructions.
These days in the UK, you have to use maintenance free junction boxes in inaccessible areas.
Hager make maintenance free junction box that are compatible with current rules. When I started using Wago years ago, they were applying for a certificate for acceptance as maintenance free, not sure if they have it yet.
@@azz2 that is correct, please see my other post 👍🏻
The MK products are generally pretty decent quality and I love this WAGO socket. In my country T&E now needs to have the earth sheathing manufactured into the cable, no need to fiddle around in the toolbox looking for shroud, quite a positive step really.
Except the benefit to having the earth not sleeved is it's more likely to be hit first so it acts as a safety feature.
Well that's my idea anyway.. :)
@@TheWebstaff , you don’t want to unnecessarily trip your RCD.
Brilliant video, Clive. I've never been fully convinced about the "spring clamp" style (Wago) connectors used on mains voltage. But after this video I'll be happy to use the MK sockets from now on. Thanks.
I"ve used a 1kV insulation tester on many of the Chinese "WAGO Clones" and they are certainly capable of holding up to this voltage (insulation resistance > 500M Ohm) Current-wise they seem OK for carrying 10A without a significant (> 25C) temperature rise too. The system is certainly superior to the screw-fixing system, and compatible with bootlace ferrules too.
I'm not entirely convinced by them myself, but MK gear is well designed and made so I'll trust their judgement.
Anyway, the spring clamps at least provide a better connection than a badly tightened or totally forgotten traditional screw connector that then burns the house down.
Its really neat how in the UK kitchen appliances are on switches, so you can cut power to them before leaving the house. In the US they all just stay on and you always wonder if you've left the stove on.
I've always been a fan of mk stuff and they're usually my preference when fitting electrical accessories, though they can be quite a bit pricier in some cases like their metal clad sockets which are markedly more expensive, but you can see the difference in quality. The only thing mk seem to lack are a good range of decorative sockets and the ones they do are hugely expensive compared say to Knightsbridge who do a massive range even with different colour inserts.
Hager is always my choice. I find MK are needlessly expensive for how cheaply made they feel.
In terms of "decorative" abilities the American system is better. Here the electrical device and the surrounding cover are separate items, so you can mix and match. It's also nice because homeowners can change the cover plate to one of their fancy without needing to touch the electric bits.
Metal clad sockets - which don't last as long.. #rust
@@millomweb except you need them where there's a risk of mechanical damage, so even if they rust they last longer than a plastic one would
@@futhamucka Fair comment :)
Some jewelry makers will have a conductivity tester or similar to possibly identify the white metal, determine whether Tin, Aluminum, or Silver.
Looks like silver to me.
It’s very unlikely that normal silver would be used. Silver will tarnish and it’s expensive.
This looks great, just like the Wago connectors which are awesome.
Spring lever terminals are considered maintenance fee. And they don't suffer from mechanical creep. So they always make a good connection over long period of time. They are even suitable for aluminium conductors which suffer from the thermal effects (expansion and contraction of the aluminium is not suitable for screw terminals) I don't know why they haven't done this in the UK sooner? spring lever terminals is pretty much standard on the continent, for most sockets and light switches.
Spring lever terminals are very definitely not maintenance free if used in a damp environment. Combined with the degradation due to the damp, the point of contact where the spring is clamping down on the copper conductor eventually causes the wire to break. Then the circuit fails open circuit. Sometimes intermittently at first.
Cose they are designed to be used in damp env. Right?
@@Mark1024MAK The problem with springs is that they lose their springiness when overheated. How do these fare as a poor connection to a 3kW fan heater ? JW has tested them as a good connection.
@@Mark1024MAK normally electricity and water don't mix well anyway.
I've been watching a Bavarian electrician on YT and note that many of their terminations are simply push-in for solid core wiring. That includes power outlets, switches and terminal blocks in distribution cabinets.
Interesting.
That exists elsewhere too, including the US, but is generally considered inferior to screw terminals. It just gets used because it's _fast,_ not for quality reasons.
You're talking about ProofWood - Amazing guy, knows his stuff.
@@absalomdraconis I dare to disagree - the tension of the internal spring locks down the conductor tightly. No corrosion will form between the contact surface, whereas a improperly screwed down terminal could lead to a bad connection, causing resistance forming over the years. WAGO221 does a pretty good job on solid and flex alike, talking standard household wire gauges.
Very nice looking arrangement. I suspect the "WAGO-style" connection system is going to become a very well-copied standard, seeing as our Chinese friends do so many (pretty reasonable) copies, "in all the colours".
My Huawei 6KW solar inverter uses the WAGO connectors making terminating the mains feed quite painless. My last inverter needed an Allen key to lock the cables in place and it was very finicky, so a big improvement there.
Yes. Also, it is pronounced "VAGO" but everyone seems to prounounce it like our dear friend bigclive ;)
The Chinese 3 wire "straight through" wago are especially useful, used one today in fact to rejoin a wire what a mouse had chewed through. I prefer them to using a different connector for each wire. It was only for a 12V AC transformer.
Wago may be the popular name now, but spring loaded electrical terminals have been used in florescent lighting fixtures for at least twenty years…
@@Mark1024MAK and they are one of the most common causes of failure in florescent lights due to thermal cycling!
Nice one! Sparkies are spoilt these days, with easy terminations.😀 MK was always a choice for me whenever I bought sockets and switched fused spurs too.
I can finally find the wago connectors locally in my area. I look forward to these wago style outlets making it to the US I'm about 2053.
I've just bought and fitted a bunch of these. Love it! Sad they haven't done the 1gang or the light switches yet. I am a fan of the basic MK look.
Can you get a folded over 2.5 mm^2 wire into them ? If I installed a ring, I wouldn't break it to fit a socket !
You might like the new MK Base range then, traditional terminals and MK build quality but priced at a level to compete with the BG/LAP ranges.
@@millomweb You cannot, it's single wire only.
@@jsptravels I'll check them out, I'm rather annoyed that they seem to have dropped the big button switches, not only do I not understand why these are so few an far between in the UK but half my house got changed to them last year and I'm just about to decorate and wanted to change the the half over!!! oh well....
@@jamesfurz7406 Thanks.
So it's put the ring into a 'choc block' and have a single core coming out the other side of the choc block !
# Why use one connector for each wire when you can have three ! :)
"I'll scratch it" Clive code for lets stab my finger with a screwdriver!
🤣
Thank you for satisfying curiosity about the inside of these .
Leviton now make screwless outlets and switches for the US market! It also makes sense that it was made in Malaysia, because they use the type G socket there as well.
Anyone who's messed around with Anderson connectors or shell bearings from an engine would recognise the
white metal as tin, dead easy to solder to also.
There are silver plated Andersons. But yeah, probably tin.
@@johnalexander2349 Real Anderson power poles are silver plated the knock offs are usually not.
Why would you solder the back of a wall plate ? Is that even allowed in the UK ?
@@bascomnextion5639 There are tin plated Andersons too.
I might buy some stock in this company, IF that is not real silver (Ag). If it real silver, then they are crazy.
Great video, Clive! Thanks for the teardown - very informative. 🙂
These are very good sockets and simple to use. More expensive but it's a guaranteed good connection and will accept up to 4.0mm2 cable.
So far, so good but MK need to sort a similar solution for the nightmare that is "The Ceiling Rose". A spring clamp version would be absolutely fantastic!
Aren't ceiling roses just a round box with a terminal block inside? I would think you could just use a Wago block instead.
Note, I'm American and we don't use anything like ceiling roses ourselves.
@@eDoc2020 Yes they are just that but very often instead of just 3 cables (supply, lamp & switch) there can be a rat's-nest of cables & terminal blocks! Wires coming from wall lights and ceiling downlights etc. can be a total disaster. There's also very limited space for the additional wiring. I have used Wago's but there's a regulation that all terminal blocks should be secured and not hanging freely in an enclosure (I think that sill applies). Anyway - I dislike them a lot!
@@daveseddon5227 I suppose Wago connectors could be harder to cram in tight spaces but I wouldn't think there would be much difference. If there are rules requiring the terminals to be secured then surely there would be clamps available for this, but then installing them would take away much of the benefit of the Wago connectors.
One great thing about US-style wiring is that there are rules on how many wires you can put into a certain sized box. This means we (theoretically) never have super-cramped wiring. All ceiling lights are connected inside a box so we have much more space to work with.
@@daveseddon5227 and usually the rats nests of wires for the lighting circuits, will have been installed by an ‘electrician’, judging by what I found in my new build house back in 1999. I replaced most of it myself.
@@normanboyes4983 You're not wrong!
I'm an electronics technician but have always done work on domestic electrical systems & am sometimes horrified by wiring installed by professional electricians. New housing estates can be some of the worst examples as they're done to a price & limited by time.
Our telephone company has been using screwless connectors for at least 30+ years. I remember that the specification went into detail of the actual clamping force on the wire, to ensure a sound connection 'bite' into the copper and copper/cadmium wire.
I was thinking any minute now the giant x-ray machine will be deployed, then it will a crash investigation to see how it worked. thank you again Big Clive for another very interesting vid. > Rapid fix socket the on shown here prices around £6 and screw type £5.50 this is fantastic rapid fix it is.
You can often determine if something is aluminum if it corrodes from sodium hydroxide/lye. If I remember correctly, it'll turn different colors depending on the alloy series (although that's imprecise).
Not really...caustic won't confirm the presence of aluminium
I like these too, I really want to replace all of my aging sockets around the house with these, they are a bit pricy though, especially when compared to BG 😅
I like when Clive gets excited by a power socket
I see this socket is made in Malaysia, which is where I live. The sockets available to buy here are not of such a high standard because no one wants to pay for decent ones. There is a culture of stuffing 2 pin continental style plugs into the 13 amp sockets so the only protection you have then is the 25 or so amp circuit breaker in the fuse box. Fires are common, especially in wooden buildings despite the ubiquitous RCDs.
Doing so may damage the socket. This could then cause poor connection later and fire.
Have they created a sacrificial anode using that metal to sacrifice to the gods of corrosion.
It's out of sight so seems a good place to put it.
If it is that, that quite a clever trick!!
I had an EICR done recently and one of the things that was picked up was a slightly high ring impedance. Taking all the accessories off the wall and tightening all of the screws made a very big improvement! Those Wago connectors would eliminate that potential problem. Just goes to show why some things are maintenance free and why some are not! To be fair to the screws being a bit loose, they have not been touched since the house was re-wired in about 1995!
It’s possible that they were loose from the day of installation. In the industry where I work, we have screw terminals that date from the 1970s that are still in use and which are reliable. The only difference is that these have wire guards.
@@Mark1024MAK We moved in here in 1976. Generally the wiring has not been touched ! It'll be all screw terminals.
I suspect the 'loose screw' problem was down to insufficient tightening. I always consider the screw has to cut through the crud on the copper wire - but that's me using old wire ;) I've seen more problems from plug/sockets with too high a resistance - usually causing the pin in the plug to overheat and if it's the live, you then end up with a fuse holder that's lost its springiness - creating another bad connection ! Sometimes you also see cracks between the socket holes where the socket has overheated. Again it's a plug/socket connection fault, not screw terminals.
@@millomweb - overheating due to a slightly increased contact resistance is also something that is likely to go unnoticed for some time. It will only when it gets really bad, such as discolouration or malfunctioning that most people will notice. By that time, as you say, the heat by then has made things worse by affecting the properties of the metal. Or the plastic casing with some types of plastic.
@@Mark1024MAK and were probably tightened properly in the first place!
The screws being held by the plate is something I've never seen but very cool
Big Clive, my favorite form of ASMR.
I bet it's tin coated. If you get a loose connection the heat generated will melt the tin soldering the cable to the terminal making a better connection thus cooling off. If so, thats why it's on the side mating with the cable.
Wow that's neat!
Same reason tin was used as the binder for babbitt bearings... a dry bearing can run for a substantial amount of time on a film of molten tin, letting it fail more gradually and safely.
Spring steel wire clips, because copper would not be springy enough to hold fast those wires
Yup an copper work hardens easy and is then brittle...
Phosphor bronze is more likely. It is used to make springs.
Not to worry, it's got a UKCA mark, so it's definitely certified to comply with something in the UK. The great thing about the UKCA mark is that nowhere else accepts it, so it costs more to produce the same product if they wish to export it to elsewhere, as it would require additional certification for no real reason. And because the UK government controls the standards for the UKCA, that allows them to create higher standards than other jurisdictions. Or, you know, lower standards. Which is also good, because it creates more opportunities for insurance companies to raise their prices when things start to go on fire.
I saw a TH-cam short (tiktok) of this and was like “hmm is this any good?” So glad this vid is coming out
Irritating that the test points for L and N are the other way round to the connection terminals with the big coloured levers
Yeah I noticed that. Gonna catch someone out.
Bit of a design afterthought me thinks
Squidgy solder for making sure there's less resistance in the contact points maybe? Interesting socket though, and would nicely stop people stuffing too many wires in the back of a socket when doing DIY spurs off sockets already feeding spurs... :D
You only need to put 3 terminal blocks in the backbox and have one wire to these sockes and wire the ring and more into the terminal blocks ;)
If I installed a ring, I wouldn't break it at every connection - bare the right length of wire, fold it in half and poke it into the terminal. If these won't take doubled wire, I'll not use them - or spur them off terminal blocks !
I just fitted one of these as a replacement unit after a flood/short-out scenario.
With the cables coming next to vertically out, I felt I needed to do a lot more 'persuading' to get the damn thing to sit well enough that I could actually screw it onto the box.
Sure, it's always easier to fit something if you've got plenty of slack in the cables. Whilst this was the case for the 6 stands of the ring cables, the spur triple were shorter and offered less to play with (so good I fitted them last I guess, but that was more luck than judgement)...
That said, once I'd sworn a few times and 'put my back into it', at least it worked 1st time 🙂
In Clive’s house EVERY outlet can be an oven! 😉 (see earlier vids)
The mysterious white metal looks like a matte tin finish on the leads of modern, lead-free electronic components.
It's a nickel plating to combat corrosion where it has permanent non serviceable manufacturing connections. Using pre plated sheets as it's more cost effective than plating all the individual components, and cuts manufacturing time.
Could the metal coating have been applied to the whole sheet of copper before the part was punched out and formed? That would make more sense to me.
I think it probably was.
What is the purpose of the brass coating in this case?
A softer metal coating to help the tooling and parts release the molds
I noticed that the plated face was against the plastic, which is where humidity might get trapped for longer, so maybe it's for protecting against corrosion where it's most likely?
@@electr0maker436 There wasn't any brass coating, it was solid brass with some kind of grey/white metal coating on the rear.
Looks well made we have got rid of screwed terminals under floors so this must be the next thing for walls interested to see if the zs is better for a typical ring circuit.
I think these companies should pay you for a "Big Clive" approved seal! 👍🏻
Finally... The more products that move away from screws for limp wristed sparkies to under torque, the better.
until those spring clamps get loose with age whereas a screw torqued up correctly will stay put
It’s also the monsters who crush through the conductors that cause problems.
Provided the spring material is resilient to heating and cooling cycles it should be an improvement.
I think the main issue with torque damage has been kitchen fitters using impact drivers to tighten screws.
@@jaycee1980 How often do most people install, remove, and reinstall the same outlets though? I could see your point making more sense with the stand-alone Waygo's (which are, essentially, fancy wire nuts).
@@jaycee1980 Incorrect. Spring clamps maintain constant clamping pressure, screw connections are prone to loosening as the copper conductors flow (creep) under pressure.
The little “bite” mark on wire implies the surface area of connection is very low compared to screw terminal (which has a circular shape cross section that pushes down on the wire). Same with wago I think? Surely this low surface area doesn’t make for the best quality connection?
The bite mark is applied by the spring - the electrical contact is much larger.
@@Monkeh616 makes sense! Thanks
Never had a high resistance from these, no different to a screw connection in my experience.
Always love the 'shopping pointers' from Clive!
A Pile of parts might look alarming, but if that's what One must do to get an, "I'm liking it", then . ... : } Thanks!
You’ve really inspired me, man. I don’t do electronic stuff but I’ve recently taken up music as a hobby. I’m having a real good time with it and figured I should start a TH-cam channel (not this one). I’m not doing it for work or money (just for fun) but it feels good having a place I can upload keyboard videos and basically just screw around.
That could be a nickle plate on the contacts . You could have used that fork looking wire on the spam cook LOL
If copper is clamped under a screw for a long time, the copper will deform and the contact will become loose.
The spring counteracts this.
It also makes it quicker and easier to connect.
No more three cables loose under one screw.
But actually it doesn't. Annealed copper is very 'sticky' and tends to friction weld to brass terminal screws.
As an aside I would trust a 70's MK double socket using 2x 7/029 or 1x 7/044 with 2x3kW loads plugged in...I'm not sure I'd trust this...
Thankfully I still own a screwdriver so I don't need to.
Next will be IDC connectors and clip on sockets for NICEIC newly approved 'electricians'
Great video, the effort needed to take it apart shows how well designed and made they are to last forever in normal use.
The 3 terminals would have upset the electrician or plumber who wired a house i used to live in... a socket had 4 wire's forming a figure of 8 of the main ring and a spur ring... interesting!
On the loading, the British Standard requires double sockets to be rated at 20A continuously with one fully loaded on the maximum test load. 13A sockets and plugs are tested for 14A and the pass criteria is temperature rise within limits.
Some of the MK ranges and other manufacturers rate theirs for 26A so 2 x 13A capability tested as a 14A and 12A load.
I never got all that.
I have discovered that many, if not all, modern white goods and coffee makers, etc. when you use the switch on the appliance itself do not turn off completely. The switch on the plug ensures they do.
OMG, I would *LOVE* to see that type of Wago-style connection on switches and duplex outlets here in the 'States!
Who am I kidding? We can't have nice things here. ( ._.)
You can definitely get switches and receptacles like this, they just cost more hahaha.
I think you will in the future.
Why would you want something less reliable than a screw clamp terminal?
@@SuperAWaC You wouldn't. It's a good thing these are more reliable, then.
@@SuperAWaC A spring clamp is MORE reliable than a screw connection as it maintains constant clamping pressure even when the conductor creeps over time
Screw connections do not, they invariably loosen over time.
Generally coating are here to prevent oxydation during shipping and storage.
Also since the uk weather is quite wet coating is interesting for protection in the wall.
Could be silver or tin…
Ten minutes -
'The Earth is a bit weird here.' Big Clive, 2021
Love this idea! Quite surprised it took this long for a major company to do it!
In Germany screwless outlets are common since... forever... BUT we only have two connectors per terminal. Having three could be quite useful in some situations 🤔
The Ring circuit is quite unique to the UK... which is why these sockets have 3 terminals (loop in, loop out and an extra set for a spur)
Same in Denmark with the LK brand. Got quite annoying when they established a harmonized EU rule to never put more than one wire per hole. So now there's a need to get deeper boxes to make room for Wago blocks.
I just realised that "earth, wind and fire" are the electrical connections, fire being the live one, and wind being the one that takes all those electrons away. And they all are opposed to water
You'll never convince the elder spark i work along side that any kind of wago type connection is acceptable, us young sparks will never know the glory days of tightening a screw to have the cable pull straight out multiple times 😂
Big Clive's seal of approval.
The white metal on the contacts is tin.
Contacts will be silver, connecting strap likely tin coating or, possibly, nickel.
Could the plating be Nickle intended to reduce electro corrosion between brass and steel of the spring bits?
Agreed, I really don't think it is silver because silver will tarnish over time.
But then why do the whole back side of the brass? Also, it did rather look like silver plating, that sort of dull white when it's unpolished, compared to nickle which tends to be quite shiny.
It would be tin.
@@StreuB1 interesting... what is the function?
@@vernzimm Prevention of oxidation. Pure tin is extremely resistant to corrosion and is extremely conductive.
You should Do a Collab and get Thomas Nagy to do a review on a fitting prospective as he is a big MK products fan and could do a 6 month update on how they fair in full use.
Artisan did a recent review of the new MK Base range, complete with a giveaway of sockets .. (competition closes tomorrow)
I'd buy it. I like the way you can tell at a glance that the clamps are tightened. Also, I don't know if screws tend to slacken with thermal cycling or vibration but these look like they would stay tight.
What a great bit iof kit. It looks like even a numpty thats done a half day certification "test"" could wire this is.🤣👍
I'm sure they'll just not strip enough and clamp into the sheathing. :p
@@alexatkin Or not insert enough wire and catch just the tip in the clamp.
Having done a six year apprenticeship in electrical installation it terrifies me that someone can be certificated in the short time that seems to be acceptable these days. There's simply no substitute for experience and however foolproof they try to make these things, fools will always find a way to beat them.
@@Kevin-mx1vi its bad that its come to this in the UK. I served 4 years apprenticeship as an Instrument Artificer.I hate having someone "fix" an electrical issue in my home and constantlky check thier work.
@@dcallan812 I totally agree. The preponderance of "one man band" tradesmen (who can't support employing an apprentice) has resulted in there being very few genuine apprenticeships available, which in turn has led to a shortage of skilled tradesmen !
To address that issue the government instituted a raft of training courses which are almost entirely theory based and don't equip the trainee to deal with the infinite number of practical problems they'll face on a site or in someone's home.
Not electrical, but typical of this is the example of one of my wife's nephews, who "retrained" as a plumber. We asked him to do a small job for us, but it turned out he had no idea how to lift tongue and groove flooring - one of the very first things you learn as a (proper) apprentice !
I didn't have much success with these, the wires seemed to fall out of the terminals if they were disturbed.
The stripping length seems important. The marks at the end of the wire suggests it grips them quite close to the end.
@@tinplategeek1058 It looks like 3 to 4mm of wire has contact with the plated buss (finger) and the mark on the wire is from the square opening of the loading spring.
@@charlieb9502 Cheers
At first I thought these were going to be the awful push-in fittings they have on the back of some sockets/switches (at least we have them in North America) but I was pleasantly surprised to see the Wago-style ones you show off. Having had good success with Wago connectors in other applications, I definitely approve of this style being used in household wiring applications.
This looks like it would be very handy for temporary setups, quick to terminate, no issues with mixing conductor types (say flex in and conduit singles out) because there are 3 seperate terminals for each pole.
One issue I see with expanding the range is space on the back. If you look at a regular MK logic plus double socket you see lots of space between the terminals, on this you see virtually no space between the terminals because the blocks of three levers take up a lot more space than a single screw terminal. Then look at a FCU and see how crowded it is even with regular screw terminals, I just don't see where you'd fit the lever terminals in unless you massively compromised on wires per pole.
I bought some of these myself to use whilst decorating, easier to just remove the decorative metal face plates and fit these and then change back at the end of the work.
@@paulf2529 Surely masking tape is easier, cheaper, and doesn't involve messing with every termination..
Big Clive: better put this insulation on the bond wire
Also Big Clive: and here we can see the exposed earth bus bar
I've seen Europeans express concern with the uninsulated bond wires used in NA and I've never understood it. Why bother insulating the bond when it's meant to take the current in a fault condition and has exposed conductors in most devices, like this socket, anyway?
My understanding is that it's about identifying the wire as well as electrical insulation. I can imagine that it wouldn't be too unlikely that a rogue unsheathed wire could make contact with a live terminal when is being stuffed into a tight back box. Older (or dodgy DIY) installations tend not to have the sheath.
There's also the desire to leave certain metal objects ungrounded to not provide a return path for people touching that metal and live.
@@andydavies8232 On the other hand it seems like there aren't ever any exposed live connections in European wiring so there would be nothing to short against. Here in the US every regular outlet and switch has bare connectors on the side.
@@johndododoe1411 leaving metal ungrounded is a stupid idea which has killed people
@@philhermetic Look around you. Wherever you are there should be lots of ungrounded metal objects.
That is silver coating to stop any copper corrosion.
Your system is sure different from state side
It sounded like this is a _new_ product.
I like the idea of putting one wire in at a time, as sometimes (particularly with a spur involved as well) trying to hold three wires in the terminal while tightening it can be a pain.
Spring loaded terminals have been common on industrial machines for many years and I am divided on my opinion of them, I have never seen a burnt connection due to a loose terminal but I find them difficult when fault finding as they don't often allow any space to get your multimeter probes in. MK have tackled this issue with small holes for probe contact.
So have all the good brands.
Technology connections guy needs to understand the benefit to having switches on socket outlets. Why won’t he learn? 😀
What is the benefit of that, then? I mean, you’re not going to rely on that switch to do work on the appliance, versus just unplugging, and in daily use the outlets are always going to be in an inconvenient place to switch.
@@JasperJanssen A lot of stuff these days cannot be switched off and is always on standby. Plus it saves repeatedly having to plug in and out stuff all the time.. Flick a switch, done.
@@JasperJanssen Also in case of some devices that pull current as soon as you plug them in (charging the caps etc) you can eliminate socket contact wear by keeping it off with the switch until you have a good full connection
@@JasperJanssen they’re handy. Like other have said. Standby on loads of appliances sucks, flicking the switch is quicker than unplugging, more convenient. I always switch off the blender, coffee maker, mixer, etc at the socket, incase one of my kids fancied playing with them.
The UK has regulations on socket outlet positioning for the disable people, so they’re always in a convenient place.
Also helps with fault finding if somethings tripping out the fuse board. Switch everything off and switch them back on one by one.
Obvs it’s all first world problems. But it’s a slight convenience. Always feels weird seeing a socket without a switch, and I’d never buy a switch-less socket outlet.
Also UK plugs are big and maybe would be a pain for someone with arthritis having to pee about with sticking them in and out all the time.
@@firegoose2167 big isn’t the issue really, but yes, UK plugs definitely have much higher insertion/retraction force than most others. Especially the plugs for smaller devices, which are physically smaller over here and thus require less force. That part makes sense.
Having the earth being the shortest wire isn't great, if the socket were to get yanked out of the wall the ground would disconnect first, leaving live and neutral still connected, it's standard to have a bit extra ground cable looped so it's always the last wire to disconnect with force
I made them that length for neatness of the demonstration. In reality they would be a lot longer.
On a socket it doesn't matter. It's screwed into the wall. On a plug I would agree.
Nickle plated brass...seems to be a good idea to prevent tarnishing. And just plating the whole thing is probably just easier than trying to plate little contact spots.
Man, our stuff is so old school on this side of the pond. Not even sure if that sort of outlet is even legal here yet, not that anyone checks most of the time except for new construction... scary but true where I live.