Clock connectors

[Nathansav]

Hi

I have 3 mk electrical sockets at the top corner of each window in my lounge.

I’ve had a sparkie in to look at and he says they are for the lights, but their position has made me think motorised curtain power.

After some Googling they are called clock connectors I believe, but can’t see having 3 clocks in the lounge

Can any one help with advice on the safe removal of these and what thier function could be.

 

[Fleeting]

Are you referring to these.
https://www.edwardes.co.uk/products...Nrgtk8l0nLgl-PzLiU9ceCjvRB9-ATisaAkaeEALw_wcB

 

[Nathansav]

Are you referring to these.
https://www.edwardes.co.uk/products...Nrgtk8l0nLgl-PzLiU9ceCjvRB9-ATisaAkaeEALw_wcB

Hi yes, those are the ones

 

[Geoff1946]

Wow! £30 for a clock connector!
But yes they are just a socket and could feed lights, motorised blinds, extractor fans or anything needing low power.

 

[Nathansav]

Thanks. The sparky said that it’s quite a big job to get rid as the lighting circuits wiring will need to be pulled up and terminated etc. what’s involved in this? He had been here on other jobs for a good solid day so thinking he wanted to get off home

 

[Geoff1946]

what’s involved in this?

It's absolutely impossible to say how much work is involved. It depends on how they were installed, where the cables run and their accessibility, but the spark would have to trace them to where they connected to the supply..

 

[Andy™]

if they are live then you'll need to find where they come from and isolate them elsewhere. you can't just leave a live cable in a wall that is now not in a zone because the accessory has been removed

 

[michael8554]

If you're really lucky they may be on their own supply from the meter, check for a "Blinds" breaker in the "fuse box" (Consumer Unit).
An electrician could remove that feed, and then the clock outlets can be removed and plastered over.

But most likely they're part of the circuit feeding the rest of your sockets.
Remove the faceplates, terminate the cable with Wago connectors, and fit blank faceplates.

 

[BorisJ]

No they won’t be on the sockets circuit. Clock connectors on a 32 a circuit!!
They are most likely on a lighting circuit.

 

[Fleeting]

It isn't impossible they are connected to what is considered a power circuit but they are likely to be on the lighting or a dedicated circuit.

 

[michael8554]

On reflection I agree the lighting circuit rather than the power circuit is more likely to be the source.
But let's concentrate on solutions rather than discussing Best Practices.

 

[SPECIAL LOCATION]

On reflection I agree the lighting circuit rather than the power circuit is more likely to be the source.
But let's concentrate on solutions rather than discussing Best Practices.

I don't recall Boris ever making a post that concentrates on discussing solutions????

Reality is that via the internet it is impossible to know where they are supplied from...
Lights/Sockets/Dedicated circuit... etc..
they could even be back to a bit of flex and a 3pin plug poking out the wall somewhere!?

 

[Murdoch]

Why does the OP want to get rid of them?

 

[Phoenix]

Wow! £30 for a clock connector!

I suspect its because they are very low volume these days. I suspect someone at MK feels they have to keep offering them because, well they still sell some, hardly anyone else does, and well they still have the tooling and its reasonably possible to do a limited run every so often and keep a few thousand in stock, but its expensive to do so, so they have to mark them up a lot to make it worthwhile, and folk are ovbiously still needing and buying them at that price, I suspect though that very soon they will fade out completely. I should imagine that if you showed a clock connector to a load of folks who had just come out of their time then at least 50% wouldn't have a clue. I've been in the industry 15 years and I cannot recall ever fitting one.

Were batteries at one time too expensive/too short lasting leading to a preference for mains clocks? Or was it that the properties of quartz han't been discovered yet, and you could either keep time witha pendulum or pick up on the 50hz mains frequency? These days if you fit a new alakaline cell to a clock you'll hvae to get the steps out and adjust it for GMT/BMT many times before you have to change battery! I'd rather have a radio adjusted clock on a battery than a mains clock which needs adjusting at least every 6 months (more if there are power cuts). I'm tight though!, I use the batteries that my test kit complains are too low for clocks and remote controls and get a bit more out of them before chucking!

 

[Andy™]

I cannot recall ever fitting one.

never fitted any either

some stuff does still use frequency - texecom alarms have a frequency setting

 

[Geoff1946]

Making small synchronous motors has been a simple matter for many decades. Quartz crystal too has been around for a long while, but I think the clock revolution stemmed from the availability of the micro-electronics needed to cheaply make the oscillator and stepping motor driver.

 

[Geoff1946]

When I bought my first house in 1971 the two main rooms each had, by the fireplace, a 15 amp socket, a 5amp socket and a clock connector.
On investigation, the clock plugs were wired across as a short circuit, and the device was in series with a live feed from the 15amp socket to the 5amp one. A sort of early fused spur I suppose.

 

[Mike P]

I remember seeing these in the sixty’s, when I was a child.