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AUDIO FORUMS >> General Discussion and Support >> Power Cable Fit
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Message started by Burgermeester on 06/16/23 at 10:06:26

Title: Power Cable Fit
Post by Burgermeester on 06/16/23 at 10:06:26

Things are finally getting delivered and as I start doing some preliminary system setup, I'm running into an unexpected issue--power cables with female connectors that are too large for a given piece of gear.

I have 2 cable flavors, Decware DHC2 and Pangea. Each brand only fits about half the gear I have (US/Japanese/Chinese), and where they fit it is often not the pieces I need them to fit based on the cable length I ordered. I was surprised to find that the Decware DHC2 female connecter doesn't fit the Decware CSP325 very well. It's too big.

Where the connector is too big, I can seat the cable about halfway before it stops and sits there, pretty wobbly.

After measuring the problem in both cable brands, the scope of the oversize seems to be about 0.5mm of hard plastic, with the location differing by brand. Since the plastic is hard, 0.5mm is all it takes to keep the connector from seating in a stable way. I'm very hestant to use anything approaching force to seat these connecters.

Before I get out a file and start scraping away at hard-molded plastic, has anyone had experience with this form of frustration? I could reterminate, but it seems elaborate compared to scraping away less than a square inch of plastic by half a millimeter. I'd have to check a lot of replacement female connectors in advance to find one that didn't have the same issue. OTOH scraping away at a high-end fitting seems sort of crude.

Advice appreciated in advance for this very minor issue.

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by Kamran on 06/16/23 at 15:45:07

I have the same issue with only 2 PC’s. The Classic + cables from Puritan Audio. The female side does not fully grasp the IEC inlet of my DAC and Streamer. However, even with the less then perfect connection, both components are working fine so I didn’t mess with it any further (for the time being). I will most likely switch them out with TWL PC’s overtime, but have been focusing on other parts of the rig for now.

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by Same Old DD on 06/17/23 at 01:19:27

When I was still using hospital grade power cables for some of my gear, I had similar very tight fitting ends at times and they would reach a certain point and "click in" once past the point of resistance.

I never had one that was so tight that gutting up some and using a little more force did not work, though. The female ends were always very hard plastic of some kind, but all my chassis mount male ends do have some degree of flex to them.

0.5mm difference seems like a lot to deal with.

Have you tried putting the cables into the freezer, inside a ziplock bag for a while before trying drastic measures?

Replacing cable ends on a power cable is not difficult at all, but before taking a chance on destroying some synergistic mating between the cable and its termination, I think I would try a razor sharp scraper (applied very lightly) on the outer surface first.

Determine for certain which surface is behaving oddly or possibly out of spec and give that a try.
To me, replacing the terminals would be like a "give up and go to last resort" type of move.

Good luck with this. Let us know how it goes.

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by Burgermeester on 06/17/23 at 02:08:54

Many thanks for this advice, it gives me something to work with. I'll report on how it goes.

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by Geno on 06/17/23 at 03:42:36

I just got two Decware power cables two days ago. I think Steve designs them to fit very tightly. Same principle as to why hospital grade outlets are better than standard. The tighter the fit, the better the flow of electricity.

I plugged one of the new ones into my SE84, and had to really work it in. It was a struggle. Just make sure it is lined up just right, and use some extra elbow grease.

Tight, just like prom night… [smiley=50.gif]

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by CAJames on 06/17/23 at 03:51:13

I've used a very little bit of liquid soap around the outside of the plug to smooth things over when a cable has been too hard to insert. FWIW.

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by Burgermeester on 06/17/23 at 04:02:28

Yes, that occurred to me as well. I'm glad to hear about a real-world case of it being done!

Title: Re: Power Cable Fit
Post by CAJames on 06/17/23 at 04:39:00

Full disclosure: I’ve only done that for hard to reach network gear, but it should be fine for audio as well.

Like Geno I’ve been able to get all the audio cables seated with a little care and elbow grease.

I’ll take the 5th on prom night…