old non-nema 'pin-out' style twistlocks

mrb

Active Member
Do many schools / theaters still have the old non nema 'pin-out' style twistlocks? Dont know what made me think of it. My HS had them (mid 90s) and it was a nightmare to get ahold of them, and most of our cable inventory had the bakelite females that would shatter when dropped on the ground.
 
We have these and we are trying to phase them out when we transistion to a renovated space within the next two years. My source who was able to find these for me the last time I needed replacements said that I may have bought all that was left of this kind in the market. What a pain.....
 
Some things just refuse to die. We were trying to phase these out when I worked in a lighting shop in the mid-80s. See TLGO.
 
The Bakelite ones were the worst. We had those in my high school. They probably still have them - I havent been back in two years, but not much happens around there in terms of tech improvements. You'd just let the connector hit the floor and it would explode all over the place.
 
Actually, NEMA does still list some dog-out twistlock styles, although most of those are in the 277/480 voltage ranges. Just because it's dog-out, doesn't mean it's non-NEMA (although it's probably not the 'correct' one for your use).

Kind of like the XLR cable/mic cable discussion....
 
Many "Non-Nema" plugs are still on the market in being made. So what was that... hot towards hook or other concept in wiring them right or wrong? Perhaps one at a time get them swapped out our at least for a standard do a paint marker standard in wiring them both hot terminals for you in how it's wired. Someone wiring up such a thing in seeing a white verses black marked terminal would get the idea. Switch over with time or with a few hundred in cash or parts.
 
Many "Non-Nema" plugs are still on the market in being made. So what was that... hot towards hook or other concept in wiring them right or wrong? Perhaps one at a time get them swapped out our at least for a standard do a paint marker standard in wiring them both hot terminals for you in how it's wired. Someone wiring up such a thing in seeing a white verses black marked terminal would get the idea. Switch over with time or with a few hundred in cash or parts.


I agree they should get swapped out as budget permits. They could be changed in groups with adaptors made out of the plugs removed. Its not that bad...

Ship, you and I both know what twistlocks and stagepin can be purchased for........
 
Strange, these connectors were installed in a new high school I have mentioned in previous posts! Its brand new and was just built last year...
 
Strange, these connectors were installed in a new high school I have mentioned in previous posts! Its brand new and was just built last year...

Are you sure it was the outdated non-NEMA connectors in question, or are they some kind of NEMA connector (most likely a variety of NEMA L5-15 or L5-20 given that you're in the US)? I would think connectors that have the tendency to break like that explained earlier would be hard to get past code, but I can think of a few good reasons to have all twist locking power cables. Not the least of which is that being the recommended standard for certain cables if you utilize ETC's dimmer doubling, as well as there handy locking characteristic to make troubleshooting easier, and finally to ensure constant connection if you are going to have a lot of vertical cable runs where the connectors might be on the vertical run and therefore under constant stress because of the weight of the cable.
 
... I would think connectors that have the tendency to break like that explained earlier would be hard to get past code, ...
Only the older TLGO connectors were made from Bakelite. Newer ones are plastic and Nylon, just like the L5-20.

...I can think of a few good reasons to have all twist locking power cables. ...
Most of us can think of many more reasons NOT to use a TwistLock connector, there Pork: http://www.controlbooth.com/forums/lighting/11759-2p-g-stage-pin-vs-edison-vs-twist-lock.html.
 
Our theatre dept on campus has these plugs all throughout their theatre (built in the 60's)
However, there's some older plugs in the floor pockets that have spring loaded centers with 3 pins similar to a twistlock plug. Never seen these in my life, and we've got 2 or 3 boxes full of these in storage. Something tells me they were removed at sometime and upgraded to the current twistlock that we have now.
I'm just fortunate that my theatre has all stage pin, I hate dealing with adapters just to make everything work.
 
Our theatre dept on campus has these plugs all throughout their theatre (built in the 60's)
However, there's some older plugs in the floor pockets that have spring loaded centers with 3 pins similar to a twistlock plug. Never seen these in my life, and we've got 2 or 3 boxes full of these in storage. Something tells me they were removed at sometime and upgraded to the current twistlock that we have now.
I'm just fortunate that my theatre has all stage pin, I hate dealing with adapters just to make everything work.

on those old ones, is the center of the female a plastic plate that pushes in, and the male has a solid plastic post sticking out of it with contacts on the sides of it? Those are cool as they are listed for disconnecting under load. They are still used in industry and hospitals use them for X ray machines and stuff. I forget the name of them, but hubbell calls them hubbellock
 
on those old ones, is the center of the female a plastic plate that pushes in, and the male has a solid plastic post sticking out of it with contacts on the sides of it? Those are cool as they are listed for disconnecting under load. They are still used in industry and hospitals use them for X ray machines and stuff. I forget the name of them, but hubbell calls them hubbellock

That would be them. Had no idea they were still used, always thought they were obsolete. I haven't found any of the male plugs around there yet, guessing most of them are long gone.
 
Never hearing of such an animal, I had to Google till I found a picture.
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Cleaning up here at school I found a box of two-prong twist lock. Kept a few for my own collection but tossed the rest. (Sorry)
 
Interesting looking plug. I'll be over in the other theatre today. I'll snag one of those old female plugs and post a picture.. that is if anyone is curious about what they look like. (don't want to drag this off topic)
 
Interesting looking plug. I'll be over in the other theatre today. I'll snag one of those old female plugs and post a picture.. that is if anyone is curious about what they look like. (don't want to drag this off topic)


I think we are ok if we keep talking about obsolete connectors.
 

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