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Securing loose IEC power connectors- looking for ideas

BassinCT

BassinCT

…still tuning…
Jun 17, 2006
2,663
2,626
Connecticut, USA
#1
Does anyone have a temporary fix to keep their IEC power cables from accidentally pulling out of the inlet on the amp? Gaffers tape is the first thing that comes to mind, but I'm sure someone else has a better solution.

There is a YouTube video demonstrating the use of hanger hooks and cable ties for keeping the cables in place for semi-permanent rack rigs.
Any other ideas?
 
#2
They make IEC receptacles with various built in retention methods, from friction clamps to wire clips. If it mattered to me, I'd just replace the IEC.

But I learned a long time ago that I'd rather have the plug pull out than have the head ripped off the full stack and bounced across the floor...
 
#3
Good point about the trade off... The cable I'm using is 10ft long and heavy gauge, and it puts enough downward force on the junction to pull the cable out slightly on its own. If the fit of the connector could be a little tighter then it would stay in place.
 
#5
It is a MoMark amp head-a 500w class A/B. The cable is a replacement for the original and I don't know if I need to pay attention to the gauge of wire for this application if I replace it. I have power cables from equipment that draws much less current and the plugs fit better...
 
#7
BassinCT said:
If the fit of the connector could be a little tighter then it would stay in place.
Click to expand...

Years ago in some magazine interview Billy Sheehan described a way of getting a tighter fit on the neck joint of bolt-on basses, and it seems to me a similar approach could work quite well for a loose-fitting IEC receptacle:

Mix up some epoxy. Slather it on the outside of the connector & the inside of the receptacle. Plug the connector into the receptacle, allow the epoxy to just start to set up, then carefully remove the plug from the receptacle and leave them apart until the epoxy fully cures.

You now have a slightly larger-than-normal connector and a slightly smaller-than-normal receptacle...albeit custom form-fit to one another.
 
#10
I would use a strain relief of some type which left a loop of power cable between the strain relief and the IEC socket.

A strap type cable clamp secured somewhere to an amp chassis or rack cab would work.

A well fitted IEC connector will fit tight based on the contact tension in the connector body. If the connector is loose, the contacts are becoming sprung. Best to replace it in that case. I like an IEC connector body to insert easily into the IEC socket, and only become tight as the contacts inside the body engage the blades in the socket. If the molded body itself is a tight fit, one cannot judge the fit of the electrical contacts.

-
 
#11
megafiddle said:
A well fitted IEC connector will fit tight based on the contact tension in the connector body. If the connector is loose, the contacts are becoming sprung. Best to replace it in that case. I like an IEC connector body to insert easily into the IEC socket, and only become tight as the contacts inside the body engage the blades in the socket. If the molded body itself is a tight fit, one cannot judge the fit of the electrical contacts.
-
Click to expand...

Thanks! I am getting a backup/replacement.
 

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