Heavy Duty IEC AC Power Cable

[Rockbobmel]

15ft Medical Grade Power Cord NEMA 5-15P to Locking IEC C13 by AC WORKS® | eBay

 

[DJ Bebop]

Oh for cris sakes

Yep
He's a good player and all but his knowledge on gear, I don't know

 

[Coolhandjjl]

What’s wrong with just getting a new end and attaching it? Yah, it won’t be a molded end, but what’s wrong with that?

 

[Coolhandjjl]

15ft Medical Grade Power Cord NEMA 5-15P to Locking IEC C13 by AC WORKS® | eBay

Does the connector on the amp have to be a special locking one too? Are these super flexible? Like others have stated, flexibility is important, and heavy ones often have stiffness and that create a bad situation.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Does the connector on the amp have to be a special locking one too? Are these super flexible? Like others have stated, flexibility is important, and heavy ones often have stiffness and that create a bad situation.

And at $26+shipping. That still seems unnecessary.
Although it's far better than $250

 

[Coolhandjjl]

These eBay hospital grade cords are decent for the money.
Bake them in the oven at about 120 degrees F; I heat up the oven, check the temp with gun, and put the cable in for 20 minutes. I let it cool and then repeat twice. They really stay a little more pliable.
I've spent hours looking for a rubber IEC cable that isn't stiff other than the one I have from a ancient HP Spectrum Analyzer.

I have a couple of Ampeg B100R combo amps that have permanently attached cords, about as stiff as coat hangers with kinks that never ease out. Wrapping them up is a real PITA. I cut them a foot from the amp and added in-line IEC connectors, but they still are a PITA with their stiffness. I always wanted to leave them out on the asphalt drive on a 100 degree day and see what happens. Maybe I’ll try your cooking method.

 

[stringtapper]

What’s wrong with just getting a new end and attaching it? Yah, it won’t be a molded end, but what’s wrong with that?

Nothing! I just currently don’t have the time to do it, much less learn how to do it. It’s also not disconnected. It’s just the outer housing has severed at amp side plug. It still powers.

And so people don’t think me a complete fool, I know there’s no sonic reason for a heavier gauge power cord. That’s not why I was asking. It just always seemed like a very sturdy cable so I wanted to get the exact same thing if I could.

Those snake oil cables are such a racket and it’s mystifying to me that people are naive enough to fall for it.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Nothing! I just currently don’t have the time to do it, much less learn how to do it. It’s also not disconnected. It’s just the outer housing has severed at amp side plug. It still powers.

And so people don’t think me a complete fool, I know there’s no sonic reason for a heavier gauge power cord. That’s not why I was asking. It just always seemed like a very sturdy cable so I wanted to get the exact same thing if I could.

Those snake oil cables are such a racket and it’s mystifying to me that people are naive enough to fall for it.

As most have said, get an old computer power cable. Maybe some at work they will give you. Some around the house. Older amp or computer you may have.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Nothing! I just currently don’t have the time to do it, much less learn how to do it. It’s also not disconnected. It’s just the outer housing has severed at amp side plug. It still powers.

And so people don’t think me a complete fool, I know there’s no sonic reason for a heavier gauge power cord. That’s not why I was asking. It just always seemed like a very sturdy cable so I wanted to get the exact same thing if I could.

Those snake oil cables are such a racket and it’s mystifying to me that people are naive enough to fall for it.

I was thinking that if one is a PA company, the liability policy or local codes may require molded end power cords only, but if you’re a band with a basic liability insurance policy (if you have one at all), is there any drawbacks to a user attached end?

 

[walterw]

I have a couple of Ampeg B100R combo amps that have permanently attached cords, about as stiff as coat hangers with kinks that never ease out. Wrapping them up is a real PITA. I cut them a foot from the amp and added in-line IEC connectors, but they still are a PITA with their stiffness.

ehh, now you have the worst of both worlds, a permanent cable flopping around to break and a separate cable to lose

it's not hard to remove the cable entirely, take a metal nibbler to notch out the hole in the chassis then put a regular IEC receptacle in there

 

[DJ Bebop]

Those snake oil cables are such a racket and it’s mystifying to me that people are naive enough to fall for it.

What ya tryin' to say?

 

[frankie5string]

I was thinking that if one is a PA company, the liability policy or local codes may require molded end power cords only, but if you’re a band with a basic liability insurance policy (if you have one at all), is there any drawbacks to a user attached end?

No, that doesn't make sense. Only the short, digital (ie: light duty) stuff was connected using molded-end power cords. Everything else (that was single-phase) that hooked to high-power needs like amps and lighting had massive hand-assembled plugs and receivers. The cables themselves, coiled up weighed 40-100 pounds and they were all hand-made to the lengths we needed/wanted with screwed on and secured plugs. The only thing we couldn't use were vampire taps.

 

[stringtapper]

As most have said, get an old computer power cable. Maybe some at work they will give you. Some around the house. Older amp or computer you may have.

Thanks. I have tons of IEC cables, just nothing of that gauge.

 

[DJ Bebop]

Thanks. I have tons of IEC cables, just nothing of that gauge.

I think what you have will be fine unless it's usually thin.

 

[agedhorse]

YES, How true. I bought a pair of "SpeakOn" end speaker cables that I could not even plug in. They went back and monoprice would only give me a partial refund. Done with them. No More.!!

These are the same ends that had players complaining that the AMPS were defective, even though they did it on multiple amps of different brands. It's a big problem.

No, that doesn't make sense. Only the short, digital (ie: light duty) stuff was connected using molded-end power cords. Everything else (that was single-phase) that hooked to high-power needs like amps and lighting had massive hand-assembled plugs and receivers. The cables themselves, coiled up weighed 40-100 pounds and they were all hand-made to the lengths we needed/wanted with screwed on and secured plugs. The only thing we couldn't use were vampire taps.

That's not true... I haven't seen an amp in many years that didn't have a molded IEC connector. As the amps become larger, the cable gauge increases in order to meet code and regulations but since there's a 1/8-duty cycle built into the regs, even with companies choosing a 1/3-duty cycle have no problems with 2000 watts/channel amps using 14 gauge IEC cables. Legal and perfectly safe.

Lighting dimmer packs and power distro is a different thing entirely, and fall under different code sections and listing regulations. I used to design lighting dimmer and distro equipment in a past life.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

...The only thing we couldn't use were vampire taps.

All my low voltage outdoor lighting used those and every single one of them failed. Every single one. I ended up replacing everything with regular crimped butt connectors.

 

[frankie5string]

These are the same ends that had players complaining that the AMPS were defective, even though they did it on multiple amps of different brands. It's a big problem.


That's not true... I haven't seen an amp in many years that didn't have a molded IEC connector. As the amps become larger, the cable gauge increases in order to meet code and regulations but since there's a 1/8-duty cycle built into the regs, even with companies choosing a 1/3-duty cycle have no problems with 2000 watts/channel amps using 14 gauge IEC cables. Legal and perfectly safe.

Lighting dimmer packs and power distro is a different thing entirely, and fall under different code sections and listing regulations. I used to design lighting dimmer and distro equipment in a past life.

None of my power amp gear had any molded plugs. It was all custom wired. For example, on my Apogee rig (which I kept because it was obsoleted by the gear the sound company replaced it with), the power amp was wired to the back of the Apogee controller for power (the Apogee had power control built in) with a 1-foot 12AWG hand-made plug to jack. It had to be made a certain way so it didn't get in the way of the plug-in audio transformers on the back of the power amp.
We always had boxes of spare custom made cables like that as they retired the systems that used them. Then the power cable coming off the Apogee controller was a 150 foot 12AWG with custom ends. I believe they were made by Rapco for the guy who owned the gear.

The QSC PLX units I have for an EV rig had all of their molded power cables swapped out for custom short cables with industrial plugs. Nobody wanted a mess of 6-foot loop cables back there.
Only the Driverack had a computer-style molded power cable. This was all pre-PowerCON. I rarely ever saw computer power cables on amps unless it was stuff like those power mixers or amps made by ABI for a tiny TOA speaker-on-stilts PA setup.

Oh and Bose... All the Bose stuff had its plugs changed because their power cables used to wear out at the stress-relief "boot" or "flex".

My own QSC GX5 amp does have a molded plug cable.

All the distro stuff was multi-phase and I never had to connect any of that - it was all done for me. Straight out to a breaker panel.

 

[bbh]

None of my power amp gear had any molded plugs. It was all custom wired. For example, on my Apogee rig (which I kept because it was obsoleted by the gear the sound company replaced it with), the power amp was wired to the back of the Apogee controller for power (the Apogee had power control built in) with a 1-foot 12AWG hand-made plug to jack. It had to be made a certain way so it didn't get in the way of the plug-in audio transformers on the back of the power amp.
We always had boxes of spare custom made cables like that as they retired the systems that used them. Then the power cable coming off the Apogee controller was a 150 foot 12AWG with custom ends. I believe they were made by Rapco for the guy who owned the gear.

The QSC PLX units I have for an EV rig had all of their molded power cables swapped out for custom short cables with industrial plugs. Nobody wanted a mess of 6-foot loop cables back there.
Only the Driverack had a computer-style molded power cable. This was all pre-PowerCON. I rarely ever saw computer power cables on amps unless it was stuff like those power mixers or amps made by ABI for a tiny TOA speaker-on-stilts PA setup.

Oh and Bose... All the Bose stuff had its plugs changed because their power cables used to wear out at the stress-relief "boot" or "flex".

My own QSC GX5 amp does have a molded plug cable.

All the distro stuff was multi-phase and I never had to connect any of that - it was all done for me. Straight out to a breaker panel.

Rapco doesn’t make high quality. I used to be a dealer for them.

 

[frankie5string]

Rapco doesn’t make high quality. I used to be a dealer for them.

Might have been whatever BRTB used to be called. It sounded like RapCo... It was 25 years ago.
I have some custom RapCo stuff, and it was made with Canare cable, too... It's lasted fine, though.

I have to get the Apogee rig out of storage. It needs to go in for service before it's powered up - the power amplifier may need to be refurbished.

 

[bbh]

Might have been whatever BRTB used to be called. It sounded like RapCo... It was 25 years ago.
I have some custom RapCo stuff, and it was made with Canare cable, too... It's lasted fine, though.

I agree that all of the Rapco cables that I sold did work. We did mostly snakes, mic and guitar cables.