good fancy mains barrel connector?

[sarepairman2]

I'm sure we all have fancy equipment that has a cable protruding from the chassis and it is either difficult or impossible to add a proper mains connector that can be disconnected directly on the chassis.

Is there any kind of interconnect that would be minimalist and aesthetically pleasing while also locking (preferably screw lock). Let's say you wanted to make your Hakko 888 have a easy disconnect without totally having to try to cut a hole out the back to put a IEC connector.

Like the tektronix amplifiers for current/differential probes have one on the power supply, but it is only 15v. But its thin, high quality and made of metal.

Does something like this exist while being compatible with mains? That looks like a thin little barrel spliced into the cable?

One that locks would be best for these things (since they are in fact moved around alot, I don't think IEC cuts it). I would not want IEC on a soldering station that I move all the time.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The gotcha here is that you immediately get into regulatory issues. Exactly which ones and how depends a bit on what country (and possibly what state / province) you live in. We get away with the barrel stuff because it is *after* the plug into the wall. More or less the regulation changes big time at that point. So the first question:

How do you feel about breaking the law?

If the answer is not so much, then you are stuck with the normal IEC suspects or something even bigger.

If the answer is ... sure let's go. Well remember, if the house burns down, the insurance now has a reason not to pay.

Still interested?

(Yes I could go on about killing small children, but you should have the idea by now).

Ok, take a look at LEMO connectors. They pretty much fill the bill.

Bob

[Monkeh]

http://www.neutrik.co.uk/en-uk/powercon/powercon-true1-cable-connectors/

Probably more expensive than you'd like. Also probably bigger, but.. it's kinda hard to put 240VAC in a small connector.

E: Actually, I'm not sure you can lock the male and female together that way.

[sarepairman2]

I think a regulatory agency would look kindly at the fact that you replaced a mystery meat connector from a piece of equipment bought on EBAY with something widely accepted for industrial use.

[dom0]

LEMO has a few small connectors that are iirc rated to 300 VAC or so. Unless you find them NOS ... you don't want to pay for LEMO connectors new from factory as a private person.

[Richard Crowley]

Neutrik used to make these connectors for mains power.
They are the same outside dimensions/construction as the uber-popular XLR audio connectors.



Not completely clear why they don't make them anymore?  Perhaps regulatory problems?
Now replaced with the (much larger) PowerCon....

[dmills]

The LNE connector (that thing that looks like an XLR) was EVIL!

They were made out of a plastic that tended to de plasticise with time, the earth contact did not reliably mate first, they were at best marginally touch proof, and the big UK user of the things (The BBC) were not at all clear as to which way around the things were to be used (and in fact used the male/female halves in either configuration for power in/out at various sites....).

The powercon is better in ALL ways.

Regards, Dan.

[dom0]

PowerCon isn't really (much) larger than XLR. It's still just a D cutout (which is a bit larger than the older XLR cutouts). The advantage of the D cutout is that both male and female XLRs as well as PowerCon's and Speakon's have the exact same cutout, so breakout panels and the like are universal. There are TR/TRS sockets for the D cutout, too.

[Cerebus]

The LNE connector (that thing that looks like an XLR) was EVIL!

[snip]

In defence of the LNE connector, it predates the IEC connectors we're all familiar with, and was WAY better than similar sized alternatives that were available at the time. Most of the alternatives available in the UK were made by Bulgin and were made out of low quality, brittle Bakelite and were way less touch-proof than the LNE connectors. The LNE connector had a strong metal shell, locked and the sheathing of the live and neutral connectors was adequate if you got the gender right and, yes, I've encountered random gendering of these too. I think what confused people was that you ought to use them opposite to what was normal on the similar XLR. (XLR - male = output, LNE - female = output)

On paper the Powercon connectors look a similar size to the old LNEs, but get them in your hand with an XLR beside them and they are significantly bigger. I plumbed some of the Speakon speaker version of these into my living room wall, thinking the amount of plug and strain relief sticking out would be the same as an XLR but there's more there than I expected - fortunately it's hidden by the curtains but it's less elegant than something truly XLR sized would have been.

Ian