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Detachable power cords... Why?

#207
I wonder why not every mic stand has a built in line of pickholders with picks in.... I always forget picks....it would be more convenient if they came with the stand... :blackeye:

[ironic sarcasm alert]:whistle:
 
#208
FWIW if I've ever even encountered ANY thing, with electronics, with a power cable that is NOT detachable, it'll definitely be a deal breaker for me, regardless of how good it is. It has to be such a low price and a bargain for me that I have to cope with it changing it out later on, to a detachable one. But more often than not, it isn't possible to modify them that way. But like 99,99 percent of the things, I'd rather pass and look for alternatives WITH detachable cables. I asked around my friends today, and music store personnell that I know, and everyone of them couldn't think of any advantage at all to a cord that is stuck in any unit. Regarding the notion that you forget it, they said

"Well then, you'll probably have some other personal issues to take care of first, and you'll forget other things just as well. Lead cables, picks, pedals, power strips, car keys, wallet, glasses, cell phone, whatever..."

On another topic, I think there was one combo from Ampeg, the OLD Ampeg BA-115 1x15 Combo. Not the new one but the version before. You can even tuck away the cable. Maybe something for you?

ampeg_ba115_000007.jpg



P5230164.jpg
 
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#211
I just came back from a music store, where I traded in my EBS 60 Session Combo (spiffed up) for a brand new Fender Rumble 100W. When I offered them the power cord cable they said "No keep it, then we just have to fetch the one belonging to the Fender". There was another amp builder visiting the store whom I chatted with. And showed him that old Ampeg that they had in a corner, and when I said "it's a non detachable power cord" he jumped and almost had a heart attack. So I am still doing empirical research for people who favors the old set power cord. Maybe we should have a voting poll around here? ;-)
 
#212
Slevage said:
Many pieces of equipment also carry the CE mark (Europe). The detachable power cord covers the "two pole disconnect" requirement.

You will often see more than one agency mark on equipment (CE, UL, CSA.....), some requirements overlap, some are there to satisfy only one of the agencies. It's more cost effective to make one piece of equipment to cover the global market. If you open an amp, you will see more than one option in the power supply section (jumpers installed or removed). With switching power supplies that are often used, the global market is easy to satisfy since these power supplies often operate at 100~264 VAC. CE (Europe) likes to see the ability to break both incoming legs of the supply.
A detachable power cord keeps the manufacturing costs down.
Click to expand...

At a previous employer in the early 90s I was working with an engineer from a potential customer in Germany, and the two-pole disconnect--either a two-pole power switch or a detachable power cable--was a particular requirement that I remember clearly, largely because it was one that was just not feasible for us to meet (our power amps had attached cords and used a circuit breaker mounted on the front panel as a power switch). Back then, IEC cables were seen as those "funny" power cords that computers use.
 
#213
Bob_Ross said:
^^^This. A million times, ^^^this.

I freely admit I'm perhaps a bit more anal compulsive than other people, so I don't expect them to be quite as meticulous in packing for gigs and packing up after gigs, even though (to me) putting the AC cord in the case/rack/bag with the amp seems like it oughtta be a no-brainer. People forget stuff, I get that. But the beauty of the IEC-standard detachable AC cord is that it's a standard; if you do forget yours, everyone else in the band -- or, heck, in the venue probably -- has another one they can loan you.

My bigger pet peeve is amps that have fuses rather than circuit breakers, 'cuz nobody ever has the same type of fuse I seem to need when one blows. Decades ago I started gaff taping a spare fuse to the back of the amp chassis next to the fuse holder, and then another whole box of spares into the case that the amp travels in. Learned that one the hard way.
Click to expand...

A better way to have spare fuses is this... install a fuseholder inside every amp, they cost like $1.29 at Radio Scrap - then you don't have to go digging through your toolbox (you do carry one, with soldering iron, multimeter, tape - don't you?) for the right value, slo-blo or not... Yes, sometimes all the band gear will need an assortment of fuses, among other things - I even carry an extra cable or 3 for the others who were never Boy Scouts LOL - including drumsticks.

The thing is, when you are more than a mile from your stash - something will break/be forgotten - count on it & be prepared, kinda like a 'professional'

Just what I have learned in the last 66 years...
 
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