Buying new power cables
Hi,
Rather than take all my UK power cables (the mainstream ones like http://www.cables2u.co.uk/images/pro...ower_cable.jpg and http://www.crazycables.co.uk/catalog...s/l_50.139.jpg) and use loads of adapters I'm considering leaving all my UK cables behind and just buying a bulk load of US style cables. Has anyone any good sources of these cables? Buying from a place that sells one at a time is probably going to be expensive, but if I could buy a bulk lot of 10 or 20 it would probably be workable. Has anyone else done this? |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Samiad
(Post 11054336)
..... if I could buy a bulk lot of 10 or 20 it would probably be workable. Has anyone else done this?
There is nothing to stop you chopping the plugs off and replacing them with US plugs that you can buy at Home Depot or Lowes. |
Re: Buying new power cables
The first one you have is a NEMA 5 type and the second one is sometimes called a 2-ear.
They are the kind of things that if you buy from a local shop might cost $10-15 in fancy packaging but buy online for $1-2 each. Look on eBay, Amazon or Google search. Here is one outfit that will supply both... http://www.ascendtech.us/lot-of-10-p...nvpclot10.aspx |
Re: Buying new power cables
Do NOT cut cables. It's dangerous and I don't think you can buy US- style plugs from anywhere! US plugs are usually molded at both ends and in 16 years, I've never seen one that has been screwed together!
You can get what you need from monoprice.com. I've ordered lots froom them (HDMI cables, mostly) and they have exactly what you need for reasonable prices. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Guindalf
(Post 11054553)
Do NOT cut cables. It's dangerous and I don't think you can buy US- style plugs from anywhere! US plugs are usually molded at both ends and in 16 years, I've never seen one that has been screwed together! .....
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Re: Buying new power cables
Thanks for the replies - looks like Monoprice is exactly what I need (cheap and with bulk discounts)
Swapping the plug is a good suggestion (completely slipped my mind) but I think it'll be a pain to swap out 20+ cables when they're so cheap at Monoprice. |
Re: Buying new power cables
I've bought and wired my own plugs in the US too. Piece of piss. Sometimes I like to do it while stood in a bucket of water for extra spice.
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Re: Buying new power cables
Ebay...
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Re: Buying new power cables
BTW, the best source for HDMI cables is Amazon.
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Samiad
(Post 11054336)
Hi,
Rather than take all my UK power cables (the mainstream ones like http://www.cables2u.co.uk/images/pro...ower_cable.jpg and http://www.crazycables.co.uk/catalog...s/l_50.139.jpg) and use loads of adapters I'm considering leaving all my UK cables behind and just buying a bulk load of US style cables. Has anyone any good sources of these cables? Buying from a place that sells one at a time is probably going to be expensive, but if I could buy a bulk lot of 10 or 20 it would probably be workable. Has anyone else done this? Also, the US is like the continent and does not have the fused plugs like the UK. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by S Folinsky
(Post 11054715)
BTW, the best source for HDMI cables is Amazon.
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Re: Buying new power cables
You probably want to avoid these :eek:
I had not realized that the insanity surrounding ridiculously over priced audio and video cables had also been seen as a "marketing opportunity" for power cords ... :ohmy: |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by md95065
(Post 11054722)
You probably want to avoid these :eek:
I had not realized that the insanity surrounding ridiculously over priced audio and video cables had also been seen as a "marketing opportunity" for power cords ... :ohmy: |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by hungryhorace
(Post 11054736)
Audioquest are a fantastic brand, I own several of their HDMI cables. Worth every penny. http://www.whathifi.com/review/audioquest-pearl-hdmi
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by hungryhorace
(Post 11054736)
Audioquest are a fantastic brand, I own several of their HDMI cables. Worth every penny. http://www.whathifi.com/review/audioquest-pearl-hdmi
$1,099 for a 10' AC power cord is insane. I don't doubt that it is a good quality power cable - it just isn't worth over $1,000. |
Re: Buying new power cables
both Lowes and Home Depot sell replacement plugs You can buy the ready made cable online for much less. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by md95065
(Post 11054754)
£26 for an HDMI cable, while not cheap, is not an unreasonable price in either the UK or the US.
$1,099 for a 10' AC power cord is insane. I don't doubt that it is a good quality power cable - it just isn't worth over $1,000. |
Re: Buying new power cables
You could always get these speaker cables. :eek:
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by hungryhorace
(Post 11054777)
Yep, completely agree there. I think that cable is aimed at businesses such as theater's, or millionaires who are kitting out their home theater.
Now, as for the person who said you can't get rewireable NEMA (Edison/US) plugs - you absolutely can! They're not cheap though, usually new moulded cables are cheaper. US plugs are not fused because we don't use ring wiring here. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by markuhde
(Post 11055120)
.... US plugs are not fused because we don't use ring wiring here.
I have a fair amount of cabling experience, including rewiring the ring mains in my house in the UK, but I can't immediately see the connection between ring mains and the need for fuses. :confused: |
Re: Buying new power cables
I would recommend holding on to a couple of the UK cables. I use my UK cables and chargers when going back to the UK, just seems easier to me than using adapters.
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Re: Buying new power cables
Ring circuits are capable of providing more amperage than an individual appliance cable can handle and the main fuse for the circuit will be much higher than a radial circuit like in the US or Europe. So, in order to protect each appliance and its cable the plug on a ring circuit is fused at a much lower rating than the main fuse on the ring.
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by mwdake
(Post 11055660)
Ring circuits are capable of providing more amperage than an individual appliance cable can handle and the main fuse for the circuit will be much higher than a radial circuit like in the US or Europe. So, in order to protect each appliance and its cable the plug on a ring circuit is fused at a much lower rating than the main fuse on the ring.
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11055570)
"We don't use fuses in our plugs because the socket is connected to the breaker box by two different cables in parallel", sounds suspiciously like a nonsequiteur to me. Please can you explain?
I have a fair amount of cabling experience, including rewiring the ring mains in my house in the UK, but I can't immediately see the connection between ring mains and the need for fuses. :confused: In US wiring, the circuit breaker is usually 20A. While much higher than the rating of appliance zip cord, the zip cord can handle that for a tiny amount of time in the case of a gross fault - just long enough for the breaker to trip. In the UK, the breaker rating is usually 32A - a current appliance cord shouldn't be subject to even instantaneously, because it's more likely it won't carry that much current, overheat, and start a fire than it is that it will actually let that much current through for an instant to trip the breaker. Hope that helps! P.S. ring wiring has safety issues too - mostly if half the ring breaks, you won't know until you've overloaded the other half and started a fire. Both systems have pros and cons. Both are equally safe when in good repair, and both can fail in different, equally catastrophic, ways. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by markuhde
(Post 11055709)
...... ring wiring has safety issues too - mostly if half the ring breaks, you won't know until you've overloaded the other half and started a fire. .....
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11055722)
I realised that a few years ago, while explaining the British ring-main system to a licensed electrician here in the US, who was doing some wiring work for me. .... When I rewired my house in the UK I tested the completeness of the ring before connecting it to the fuse box. :)
The wiring in the rest of the world (let's not just say American here, ring circuits are pretty uniquely British and places heavily British-influenced thing - Republic of Ireland, Indonesia, Singapore, etc) aka radial circuits, well, failure can be just as catastrophic but you'll usually know closer to the time of the failure. IDEALLY, it won't be quite as catastrophic since if you are lucky the circuit will break completely instead of coming loose, thus won't get overloaded and cause a fire. That's often not reality though, the truth is both systems fail in deadly ways. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11055704)
Interesting. So the US system is pretty much dependent on there being a breaker box with dozens of breakers, and wiring many more sockets onto a thicker cable with a higher value breaker would cause safety issues. Hmmm. :huh:
The UK ring circuit was introduced as a method of using less copper in the wiring. [BTW, be careful when purchasing houses wired with aluminum wire in the US from the late 60's to mid-70's]. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by S Folinsky
(Post 11055782)
This has been a topic of discussion in the past. There are a fair number of on-line articles -- Google is your friend. There are historical reasons for the differences.
The UK ring circuit was introduced as a method of using less copper in the wiring. [BTW, be careful when purchasing houses wired with aluminum wire in the US from the late 60's to mid-70's]. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Samiad
(Post 11054336)
Hi,
Rather than take all my UK power cables (the mainstream ones like http://www.cables2u.co.uk/images/pro...ower_cable.jpg and http://www.crazycables.co.uk/catalog...s/l_50.139.jpg) and use loads of adapters I'm considering leaving all my UK cables behind and just buying a bulk load of US style cables. Has anyone any good sources of these cables? Buying from a place that sells one at a time is probably going to be expensive, but if I could buy a bulk lot of 10 or 20 it would probably be workable. Has anyone else done this? |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Pulaski
(Post 11055722)
I realised that a few years ago, while explaining the British ring-main system to a licensed electrician here in the US, who was doing some wiring work for me. .... When I rewired my house in the UK I tested the completeness of the ring before connecting it to the fuse box. :)
|
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by tonrob
(Post 11054680)
I've bought and wired my own plugs in the US too. Piece of piss. Sometimes I like to do it while stood in a bucket of water for extra spice.
:lol: haha |
Re: Buying new power cables
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Re: Buying new power cables
:eek: wow better you than me.
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Re: Buying new power cables
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by markuhde
(Post 11060102)
I REALLY hope that was a GFCI-protected circuit! Or just a staged photo. Otherwise, a couple people could be winning the Darwin Award :(
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by Nutek
(Post 11060106)
I'm assuming it's fake, but it makes me laugh either way. :)
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by markuhde
(Post 11060102)
I REALLY hope that was a GFCI-protected circuit! Or just a staged photo. Otherwise, a couple people could be winning the Darwin Award :(
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Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by markuhde
(Post 11060108)
Indeed! I trust GFCI's more than the UK government does (yay for not being able to use a hairdryer in the bathroom :ohmy: ), but not quite enough to try THAT.
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Re: Buying new power cables
It is not the water that conducts electricity but the stuff in it like salts etc or the salts on your skin.
I used to live in a city that if you took regular tap water and hooked up battery and lamp and placed the leads in the water it would not conduct and light the lamp. |
Re: Buying new power cables
Originally Posted by mwdake
(Post 11060538)
It is not the water that conducts electricity but the stuff in it like salts etc or the salts on your skin.
I used to live in a city that if you took regular tap water and hooked up battery and lamp and placed the leads in the water it would not conduct and light the lamp. Regardless, NO ONE would call this a bright idea, so let's all just get a laugh from it and move on :) As for a conventional socket in a UK bathroom - how? Every one I've ever seen is transformer-isolated low current. Which strikes me as stupid, to be honest - it's no safer than a GFCI yet is very limiting in usefulness. But UK electrical code is very strict - you can't even have a light switch in a bathroom. It has to either be in the ceiling on a pull cord or outside the bathroom where your little cousins turn it on and off while you're in the shower (okay, that probably just happens to me). |
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