UK mains plug pins supplier

Hi all,

I have a very specific query and it is obliquely related to 3D printing which is why I'm posting it on these forums.

We have/are building some electronics which we want to house in a 3D-printed enclosure (we have printers, that's not the issue) complete with UK mains plug (and socket on the other side), something which will go between a socket and the load. In the style of commercially available mains timers or energy monitors and the like (we're trying to avoid using mains leads going into and away from the device). So we need to find a supplier of just the pins (and corresponding receptacles) of UK mains plugs (sockets).

I've googled "UK mains pins/components", had a look at RS, Rapid, Farnell, eBay but can't seem to find them. Do they have a particular name that i don't know of and that would yield some search results? Can anyone suggest a place to source these, short of disassembling mains plugs/sockets?

Cheers,
Bart

Why not just buy a 3-Pin Plug and take what you need out of it? Maybe what you are looking to create already exists? RCD Plug?

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. Taking the bits needed out of a plug is the last resort, least elegant solution: we'll do that if we can't get the pins separately. And no, we're not making an RCD.

Cheers,
Bart

I'd be really interested in something similar but for DIY Home automation stuff.. resorted to buying remote controlled socket outlets on ebay to butcher for the moment.

Maybe you are developing a smoke alarm that cuts the power to a 3D printer? That would be useful to have.

You could use something like this [uk.farnell.com] if you made your unit compatible with the contacts on the back of it. This would also give you an easy way to address non-UK markets, by using the other adapters in the same series.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

if you want over 10,000 sets... [wholesaler.alibaba.com]

Not very helpful I know, but was interesting that you can get them if you want far to many.

Maybe [www.made-in-china.com]
If you contact them...