As a rule I rarely post anything political on this website however the election campaign in New South Wales took a turn for the better today when Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, bought a Kriesler 11-20 for the retiring Member for Baulkham Hills, Wayne Merton, at a Salvation Army store he officially opened today in the inner-west Sydney suburb of Croydon.

Congratulations to Mr O'Farrell on his tastes in old wares. I've no idea what the Premier was doing today however.

LOL!

BTW: How did you pick it as an 11-20 from that photo?

I like plum pudding

Pun intended.

I'm surprised he found that! In Victoria the Salvos banned old electrical goods from ther shops.

It is probably due to inexperience of the store manager. It is a general rule now that electrical items are not accepted by charity shops whether it be Vinnies, the Salvos, the Smith Family or whatever though in stark contrast, I was on an antique shop this morning and the shop owner has no less than fifteen radios on display, all for sale.

He also had electric jugs, toasters, art deco light fittings, old desk fans and even a 'beehive' heater.

It is a sad fact that due to petty litigation by some in our community that some organisations have resorted to banning their stores from passing on electrical goods.

If governments could show some leadership and make people more responsible for their own actions then it would render disclaimers like the one at the bottom of this page obsolete. I can't see it happening any time soon though.

Beehive as in shape of element, which sits "naked" in the middle of a chromed concave dish with no grille? Family had one of those when I was a kid.

As for selling antique electric equipment, rather than outright bans perhaps a sensible compromise would be to require the mains lead to be cut off prior to display for sale and a tag fitted saying "not to be connected to mains power".

That's the answer, GTC.

In some shops they label the items as tested, or not to be used unless tested, but they're the exception. At the tip, you have to tell them you're buying something "for spares"; I suppose that's to demonstrate you have some electrical knowledge and won't just plug it and expect it to work.

So there are many ways of satisfying the safety requirements, but most places don't want to bother.