Poland Classic heavy duty plugs and sockets

 

Sockets and plugs shown below were used in Poland in the second half of the 20st century, but are replaced gradually in favor of IEC 60309 devices. Each of the plugs and sockets has been collected for the museum by Wojciech Maciak.

 

Found on nos. 1 (socket), 2 (25A), 3 (socket + plug), 5 (plug).

A-19 mark, found on nos. 1 (plug), 4 (socket), 7 (plug). Logo with A-4 mark, found on socket nos. 6 and 8. See also A-4 mark on 63A socket (image no. 14).

1	Bakelite, polarized single phase socket and plug, rated at 16A - 380V. Flat blade pin sizes: width 8 mm; 2.9 mm thick; length: 22.3 mm (power pins),  25.2 mm (earth pin). Manufacturer of socket: Ospel S.A., a Polish company founded in the 1950s and still producing plugs, socket, switches etc. Matching plug has no Ospel logo, but an A-19 mark (see image on second row, right). See note on A-marks at bottom of page.
2	25A - 380V plug, comparable to the 16A version (no.1). Flat blade pin sizes: width 9 mm; 3.4 mm thick; length: 25 mm (power pins),  28.3 mm (earth pin). Manufacturer: Ospel S.A.
3	Bakelite, three-phase, 4-pin socket and plug, rated at 25A - 380V. Flat blade pin sizes: power pins 9 x 3.3 x 25.8 mm; earth pin: 9 x 3.4 x 29 mm. Specification of power pins (R, S, T / L1, L2, L3) is not indicated. Manufacturer: Ospel S.A.

4, 5

Bakelite, round pin single phase socket and plug, rated at 25A - 380V. Pin length: 24 mm; diameter: 7 mm (power pins) and 5 mm (earth pin). Manufacturer of plug: Ospel S.A.; socket has an A-19 mark.

6, 7

Bakelite, round pin three-phase, 4-pin socket and plug, rated at 25A - 380V. Pin length: 24 mm; pin diameter: 7 mm. The plug is polarized because of the off-center position of the earth pin. Moreover, the spacing between the top two power pins is 4.8 mm larger than the spacing between top and bottom pin. Power pins are not specified. Manufacturer of socket has a logo with A 4 that also has been found on 25A socket no. 8. Plug has an A-19 mark. See note on A-marks at bottom of page.

	Images of sockets and plugs nos. 8 - 13 are shown in proportion. Each has a zinc alloy die cast housing.
8	25A - 380V, 3-pin, three-phase socket. A clip (see inset) serves as protective earth connection between plug and socket. The unknown logo has also been found on the 25A - 380V Bakelite socket no. 6.
9	16A - 500V single phase socket. The earth contact (see image no. 15) is connected to a screw, indicated by an earth symbol, on the outside of the cast. This feature applies also to socket nos. 11 and 13. The socket has a 'cn' (?) mark that has also been found on several other die cast items.
10	Three-phase 16A - 500V plug with cap. The corresponding socket is not in the collection. Socket contacts resemble those of socket no. 11 (see image no. 15 for difference in size).
11, 12	32A - 500V three-phase socket and plug. Both have an IP44 protection against ingress of dust and splash water. Plug has a paper leaflet mentioning that it was made in 1989 by Polam-Naklo.
13	63A - 500V three-phase socket. Socket is polarized because of a subtle difference in offset of the earth pin, indicated by a red arrow in image no. 15. Ingress protection according to IP44 protocol.

14

Information given on the cast of 32A socket no. 11 (left) and a 63A socket identical to no. 13. The significance of the mark showing a circle with cn (or ch?) inside is still a mystery. Please contact me if you recognize these Polish marks (museum address is given at the home page). Details about the other marks are given below.

15

Comparison of slot configurations of 16A, 32A and 63A - 500V sockets. 32A and 63A material has a Polish Center for Testing and Certification (Polski Centrum Badan I Certyfikacji) mark. Red arrow points to the larger offset of the earth slot, compared to R, S and T slots. According to a 2016 catalog this material is still available, probably only for replacement of old devices that are still in use. For new installations IEC 60309 material has to be used. * slot configuration is deduced from 16A plug no. 10.

Marks on plugs and sockets made in Poland from 1950s until end of 1980s. The Polam mark has been used by the Polish Union of state-owned producers of light sources and armatures. Some manufacturers produced also switches, plugs and sockets, among others the  Electrical equipment and manufacting  company in Naklo (now Zaklady Sprzetu Instalacyjnego Polam-Naklo S.A). Polam unification was effective from December 31, 1971 until 1989. The name Polam was derived from the leading Polam light bulb factory in Pabianice. See source for additional information (in polish language). The company specific marks have a letter indicating the type of industry, followed by a number that specifies the manufacturer. 'A' indicated producers of fuse boxes, switches, plugs, sockets and similar small electrical accessories. 'M' referred to manufacturers of motor and transformers; 'T' to radio and telecommunication. A, M and T marks have been introduced in the 1950s, mainly for hiding the company name and its location. 4 =   Electrical equipment factory in Bydgoszcz, founded in 1923 by Stefan Ciszewski.         In 1957 renamed to Eltra. Now Elda-Eltra S.A, part of Schneider Electrics. 19 = Polam-OSPEL in Wierbka, now OSPEL S.A. The museum is grateful to Jarosław Dubowski for providing information about Polam and A, M, T marks.

 

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