General > General Technical Chat
Lighweight AC line cords?
IDEngineer:
Does anyone make really lightweight line cords?
I have a fair bit of portable electronic equipment. Most of it uses the standard detachable three conductor line cords. But despite the units consuming maybe 1-2 amps maximum, they all ship with thick, heavy, stiff line cords typically rated for a full 15 amps. When I roll those up for transport they consume a lot more space than required.
I'd like to replace those with short (one meter / 3 feet would be more than sufficient in most cases), small diameter, flexible, lightweight line cords. A 3A rating would be more than enough, since most of the time they're powering sub-50W puppy-in-the-python switchers consuming an amp at most.
Anyone know of a source for these? Thanks!
Ian.M:
How would that be safe? Most of the world (including North America) doesn't use fused domestic mains plugs, so plugging such a lightweight cord into a high power appliance would result in overheating and possible fire. Mixups happen, and a moment of inattention on your part e.g. forgetting one, could result in someone who doesn't know better overloading it.
The best you can do to save weight and space, except in countries with fused plugs, is to shorten the detachable cord as much as you can tolerate.
If I was being cynical, I would say that many of the suppliers in Shenzhen could meet all your stated requirements except flexibility, as they do tend to bulk up the insulation to disguise the grossly undersized conductors! >:D
johansen:
Its not safe but you could use thin, xlr cable.
IDEngineer:
I guess I'd hope that all our choices aren't dictated by the least intelligent amongst us. It's already possible to buy an under-15A extension cord, which would pose exactly the same risk as what you describe (in fact, technically it would be even riskier due to the net increase in length). If those are available, why not line cords?
More: Actually, many extension cords have one plug and multiple outlets. I can easily imagine a typical user seeing "7 amp extension cord" and thinking "Cool, three 7 amp heaters on a single cord!" Obviously we're not protecting folks like that....
IDEngineer:
--- Quote from: johansen on January 30, 2024, 11:39:42 pm ---Its not safe but you could use thin, xlr cable.
--- End quote ---
That would not have molded connectors on the ends. It's already possible to build from scratch, I'm hoping for molded cords.
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