Sick of cheap power cords and extension cables for test/power equipment!

[SharpEars]

Warning: This is a rant...

As I was constructing a new power cord for my Agilent 6675A 120V/18A power supply, I came to the horrid realization that the pre-made cables you can buy on eBay and Amazon are pure crap. I wanted to have a 12/3 portable cord (SJTOOW or STOOW) with a quality NEMA 6-15P or NEMA 6-20P plug on it (e.g., Leviton or Hubbell). I couldn't find anything of the sort, just cheap Chinese made crap with molded on connectors catering to the "buy at the lowest possible price" crowd.

Then I started to shop around for 6-15/6-20 extension cords. Once again I ran across the same crap with 14/3 (or 12/3 if you got lucky) crap cables connected to even crappier male/female molded-on connectors. Quality was nowhere to be found, no matter where I looked. Everything was made to the cheapest price point and then sold for ridiculous prices, leading me to the following conclusion:

If you want a quality cable with quality connectors, you have no choice but to construct one yourself.

Am I crazy in this desire for a quality cable with quality connectors or do others share my opinion?

[HighVoltage]

If you want a quality cable with quality connectors, you have no choice but to construct one yourself.

It is a little better in Germany and most equipment that we buy here, has good quality connectors on both sides and a good quality cable.

But from time to time I get a cable that just sucks. Our wall plug here in Germany is much better quality than the US cable connector, so we usually have no problem with that side. But the connector that plugs in to the instruments and the cable itself just suck sometimes.

Always test the fitting and internal resistance.

[mjkuwp]

Manufacturers are just providing what we (consumers) tend to buy and I'd guess most consumers sort by price.

I highly suggest looking at Monoprice.com

granted, the products are not high-end but they are decent quality and you are unlikely to overpay.  I buy A/V cables from them and other small gear but I see they also have power cables.

I have also connected my own ends onto power cables and for that I go to Menard's or Home Depot

[SharpEars]

Manufacturers are just providing what we (consumers) tend to buy and I'd guess most consumers sort by price.

I highly suggest looking at Monoprice.com

granted, the products are not high-end but they are decent quality and you are unlikely to overpay.  I buy A/V cables from them and other small gear but I see they also have power cables.

I have also connected my own ends onto power cables and for that I go to Menard's or Home Depot

I just checked out Monoprice and they have mostly 16 and 18 AWG with a couple 14 AWG cables. So in other words, exactly the cheap Chinese crap I was ranting about in my original post.

Also, I love the disingenuous portrayal of a more conductive better cable by adding more plastic insulation to it thereby increasing its diameter, while still hiding thin copper wires inside.

[Monkeh]

Because thinner copper suitable to most applications makes it cheap chinese crap, yes..

14AWG is already huge for anything with a C13 on the end.

[wraper]

But what do you expect. There is no big reason to use wire thicker than 14 AWG for 15A and 20A current capability of NEMA 6-15P and NEMA 6-20P.

[SharpEars]

Because thinner copper suitable to most applications makes it cheap chinese crap, yes..

14AWG is already huge for anything with a C13 on the end.

That may be true for power cords. But add very long extension cords into the mix. These are very often 16/18 AWG crap also...

[Monkeh]

Because thinner copper suitable to most applications makes it cheap chinese crap, yes..

14AWG is already huge for anything with a C13 on the end.

That may be true for power cords. But add very long extension cords into the mix. These are very often 16/18 AWG crap also...

Their 100ft extensions are 12AWG. They offer 14AWG and 12AWG for 50ft.

Worst case 4% drop for the 100ft, excluding inrush (which I admit is a giant pain with some tools, but that's why we have proper voltages. Large motor loads on 120V are a joke and everyone knows it.).

[SharpEars]

Because thinner copper suitable to most applications makes it cheap chinese crap, yes..

14AWG is already huge for anything with a C13 on the end.

That may be true for power cords. But add very long extension cords into the mix. These are very often 16/18 AWG crap also...

Their 100ft extensions are 12AWG. They offer 14AWG and 12AWG for 50ft.

Worst case 4% drop for the 100ft, excluding inrush (which I admit is a giant pain with some tools, but that's why we have proper voltages. Large motor loads on 120V are a joke and everyone knows it.).

Found that, yep 12 AWG with some seriously crappy connectors...

[Monkeh]

Found that, yep 12 AWG with some seriously crappy connectors...

Well they're NEMA, what did you expect?

Traditional shots aside, I wouldn't judge them until I got one.

[SeanB]

It is a pain trying to find a plugtop that will properly fit a 2.5mm cable, most seem to be cut to fit a 1mm cable, and struggle to fit a 1.5mm cable. Luckily I found some used old rubber industrial plugs that still had a cable grip with screws, and these fitted the cable. I do not like having a cord grip holding the inner wires only, though most electricians seem happy with cables that are only fit for cutting into scrap, and the plugs as well are often close to unusable. They are also fond of using lawn mower extension cord and putting a 3 pin earthed socket on the end, but the cord is only a 2 pin one.

At least they are better than the builders, who will happily push bare wires into a socket after using a nail to open the shutter, and hold them in with a wet stick jammed into each hole. That is if they do not break the socket and connect to the bare wires direct and leave them dangling, and then use the extension cord with the missing sections of insulation exposing green oxidised copper wire.

[SharpEars]

Found that, yep 12 AWG with some seriously crappy connectors...

Well they're NEMA, what did you expect?

Traditional shots aside, I wouldn't judge them until I got one.

What I expect for my minimal value 5-15 terminated crap cable (i.e., extension cord):

Plug end:


Connector end:


In between, decent 12/3 cable, e.g.:



What I don't want is 16/18 AWG crap with molded connectors in black, orange, yellow, blue or green. Made in China by the hundreds of millions (billions?) for under $1 USD each, then sold on Amazon in 6-10 ft length for $11-$19, I kid you not:

[SharpEars]

The SharpEars checklist for "quality power cable." All of the following must be true for it to be regarded as a good cable:

• You cut at least one finger trying to strip the jacket off of the cable with a razor blade or a box cutter due to the toughness of the insulation. Bonus points if the cut required stitches and a visit to the ER.
• Your Irwin VISE-GRIP Self-Adjusting wire stripper can't get the insulation off of even one of the three (12 AWG or larger) wires inside, no matter how many times or at what angles you try. It can't even score the insulation - all it does is stretch it.
• When you finally resort to using large diagonal cutters to get that darn insulation off of the individual wires, at least one of them loses a copper strand due to you cutting too deep with the cutters into and through its insulation. All is well though, because its just one strand out of the thirty or more in the wire.

[Monkeh]

So what you want is expensive rubber cable with expensive connectors which can't be fitted by automated tooling.

Yes, you will have to make that yourself.

[rx8pilot]

For more than 20 years I have been in the entertainment business - mainly specialty camera systems. I have owned sound and lighting trucks and worked in various technical capacities from design, mixing, to "guy who lifts heavy things". In this world 12/3 SO type cable and Hubbell are king of the hill. They are chosen partly becuase they last a very long time in very rough conditions. Also, type SO cable is a requirement in certain locations for safety. That type of cable is designed for brutal duty, mud, foot traffic, etc. I have owned, used, terminated thousands of these things in my early years.

I love the 'awesomeness' factor for sure, but could never be convinced that building my bench or any other indoor static setup is worth caring much about. I have been involved in some fixed installations where we used manually terminated SO and SJO types primarily to get exact length cables. Aside from pride and awesomness, do the 6 foot PVC jacketed 16/3 or 14/3 cables cause a real problem? I guess for your 2000+ watt PSU, maybe a 12/3 option is called for, but that is not a normal piece of gear. Crown (the amplifier company) uses 20A IEC connectors and provides 12/3 cables with them - but that is specialty stuff as well.
 

[LabSpokane]

Of course you're not going to find an industrial cord from consumer suppliers!  What did you think?  And of course you're going to build one - just like everyone else has to build one for that ampacity rating.  It only takes a few minutes, so I don't see what the big deal is.  Just go to your local electrical supply house, buy it, and be done with it.  I'm even able to find decent connectors at Home Depot these days.  The new connectors are so easy to terminate, a rhesus monkey could do it. 

And if you're having that much trouble stripping the jacket off, you're not doing it right.  Bend the cable where you want to cut, then just touch it lightly with the blade.  The jacket will split nicely without harming the wire insulation underneath.  Do that around the circumference, then peel off the jacket.  You may need to do a length-ways slice if you're stripping off a long piece. 

Your wire stripper is dull.  Throw that one out and get a proper one from Ideal.  I think you can get them up to 10 ga or 8 ga.  If you're stripping with dikes, you're almost certainly breaking the strands in the process. 

[SharpEars]

For more than 20 years I have been in the entertainment business - mainly specialty camera systems. I have owned sound and lighting trucks and worked in various technical capacities from design, mixing, to "guy who lifts heavy things". In this world 12/3 SO type cable and Hubbell are king of the hill. They are chosen partly becuase they last a very long time in very rough conditions. Also, type SO cable is a requirement in certain locations for safety. That type of cable is designed for brutal duty, mud, foot traffic, etc. I have owned, used, terminated thousands of these things in my early years.

I love the 'awesomeness' factor for sure, but could never be convinced that building my bench or any other indoor static setup is worth caring much about. I have been involved in some fixed installations where we used manually terminated SO and SJO types primarily to get exact length cables. Aside from pride and awesomness, do the 6 foot PVC jacketed 16/3 or 14/3 cables cause a real problem? I guess for your 2000+ watt PSU, maybe a 12/3 option is called for, but that is not a normal piece of gear. Crown (the amplifier company) uses 20A IEC connectors and provides 12/3 cables with them - but that is specialty stuff as well.

I was saying, "Amen brother!" all through your first paragraph. Then I started the second one and . I guess I've become a cable snob...

[SharpEars]

So what you want is expensive rubber cable with expensive connectors which can't be fitted by automated tooling.

Yes, you will have to make that yourself.

Buy am I alone in my little OCD voltnut world or do others share this opinion?

[free_electron]

http://www.l-com.com/power-products-power-cords


http://www.stayonline.com/15-amp-power-cords.aspx

[LabSpokane]

This is what I use for nearly everything save for Romex:

http://www.idealind.com/prodDetail.do?prodId=stripmaster_wire_stripper&div=3&l1=wire_strippers

Two sizes will cover nearly every type of wire you will run into, save for 1/0, coax, etc....  They're $45 each on Amazon and worth it. 

[Monkeh]

So what you want is expensive rubber cable with expensive connectors which can't be fitted by automated tooling.

Yes, you will have to make that yourself.

Buy am I alone in my little OCD voltnut world or do others share this opinion?

I appreciate quality cables where needed.

Fixed equipment sat on a bench need not apply.

[LabSpokane]

So what you want is expensive rubber cable with expensive connectors which can't be fitted by automated tooling.

Yes, you will have to make that yourself.

Buy am I alone in my little OCD voltnut world or do others share this opinion?

You're alone.  Save for ampacity requirements like your 20A situation, I hack the $3 pre-molded IEC cables all the time and have had I think one bad cable over many years.  The cables may be from China, but are largely safe and reliable. 

[SharpEars]

This is what I use for nearly everything save for Romex:

http://www.idealind.com/prodDetail.do?prodId=stripmaster_wire_stripper&div=3&l1=wire_strippers

Two sizes will cover nearly every type of wire you will run into, save for 1/0, coax, etc....  They're $45 each on Amazon and worth it.

Thanks for that! I just bought the #8-#12 wire version from Amazon. Let's see how it works out on the 12/3 and 10/3 I need to strip.

[SharpEars]

So what you want is expensive rubber cable with expensive connectors which can't be fitted by automated tooling.

Yes, you will have to make that yourself.

Buy am I alone in my little OCD voltnut world or do others share this opinion?

You're alone.  Save for ampacity requirements like your 20A situation, I hack the $3 pre-molded IEC cables all the time and have had I think one bad cable over many years.  The cables may be from China, but are largely safe and reliable.

Buy how do they go with your expensive suit?  I suppose I am just being silly - form over function...

[rx8pilot]

Buy am I alone in my little OCD voltnut world or do others share this opinion?

I simply have to choose my battles wisely. I made/used awesome cables because there was no other option in the portable entertainment world.

Now, I design mechanical and electrical products from concept to sales. Solidworks to 5 axis CNC, schematics to software. My only chance of survival is to not worry about things that do not directly contribute to a finished product. If the crappy AC cables were causing problems in my lab, I would replace them in a second. They annoy me when I am trying to neatly arrange things with strangly little cables, but they are at least dong the job. Apple notebook supplies use good supple cable that I appreciate, then again - they charge for it.