Porter Ports or Cabledyne Cryo Hubbell 5362

No problem.

Good luck with that-you'll be busy! No experience with the FIM here, but I am still using cryoed versions of the HBL 5362 and 8300H in my line conditioner. I think you'll find pretty big differences between the non-cryoed 8300H (check to see if they now have a steel backstrap as opposed to the 5362's which is brass-the old 8300H's used to be all brass and non-ferrous on the backstrap!) and the cryoed 5362 and 8300H but not so much difference between the cryoed 5362 and 8300H.

For what it's worth, I'm now running a cryoed Oyaide R1, along with the Oyaide wall plate at the wall as the main feed to my system and line conditioner. Never thought I'd spend that kind of money on a receptacle (I did end up e-baying the wall plate at a significant discount) but someone sent me a non-cryoed R1 to try out and I was hooked.

But definitely a lot more money than the cryoed Hubbells, which still represent really great value for money in the $25-$35 range (the Cabledyne's are very reasonably priced at $25 inc. delivery) and a huge upgrade for anyone coming from a stock receptacle.

I tend to agree with Sonic Genius on the isolated ground thing with a typical residential installation. It should be noted, though, (should have made it more clear in my earlier post) that the slimline Hubbell 8300H does have Olin 688 brass non-plated contacts (as does the 5362) unlike the standard Hubbell 8300 which has (like most hospital grades) nickel plated contacts and the full size body of the 5362.

Lall: You will have a lengthy break in period with all those receptacles. It's hard to do when they arrive (as you want to get them into your system right away!) but I'd really recommend you slot them into your house where you can have a very high current draw device like a refrigerator or chest freezer draw on each half of the receptacle for about a week and a half before you put them into your system.

Hdm
thanks again for your insightful suggestion. Just inspected my newly received Hubbell 8300H (with a green dot). Oddly though, on the box its written Hubbell 8300H and nowhere i can find the wordings "HBL8300H" whereas those used by Porter (http://new.audiogon.com/listings/porter-port-20-amp-porter-ports-cryo-ivory-or-white-color--11) has the wordings Hubbell HBL8300H clearly written in the ads. In my case the letters HBL is missing.
Is Hubbell 8300H with green dot different from Hubbell HBL8300H? Why can't Hubbell simply use straight forward model identification numbers to label their products? Why are they creating confusion? And their catalogue does not offer much help in terms of differentiating between these models?
I've even seen on ebay Hubbells clearly with writings "made in China" being advertised as genuine Hubbell US products.

For your info, this is what I just purchased and received.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-NIB-HUBBELL-HBL8300HW-8300HW-8300-HW-WHITE-DUPLEX-RECEPTACLE-HOSPITAL-GRADE-/130919080504?ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:US:1123

Is it the same receptacle used to make Porter Ports after modifications ? (i.e. the cryo; brass contact materials etc. (non nickel plated)? confusion, confusion ....

Lall: The one thing that disturbs me a bit about the e-bay link is that there is no HBL designation on the box. I have a couple of Hubbell boxes here, one from 2004 and another one from a few years ago (which was probably old stock), one for an 8200H and one for a 5262 and both boxes clearly have the HBL designation printed in front of the model #. The 8200H box is stickered, as yours is, but a slightly different sticker. The 5262 box I have is printed only, no sticker on the end of the box.

That being said, the receptacle in the photo does appear to be an 8300H compact slimline receptacle. I would expect, however, that it is very old stock, perhaps 10 years plus. There's not anything wrong with that and some might argue the old 8300H is superior as a result of having the brass, non-ferrous backstrap and mounting.

Is it an optical illusion or is there a chunk out of one of the holes in the receptacle? The box looks pretty ratty as well, the combination of the two leading me to believe that the receptacle might be used.

You can establish whether the contacts are plated by simply shining a flashlight into the recpetacle to check them out. If they're a shiny, silver colour, they're nickel plated and you definitely don't have a HBL 8300H; if not they should be dull gold, and that would inidcate a pretty high probability that you've got an 8300H with non-plated contacts, albeit probably quite an old one.

Just an educated guess here: unless Hubbell has started to manufacture the HBL 8300H with a brass backstrap again, I would expect your Porter Ports to be similar to what you have there with the exception of the backstrap and mounting, which would be a dull silver colour on the new Porter Ports if they're steel. Albert could jump in to clarify perhaps if he sees this thread.

The HBL8300GY I have are nickel plated contacts. The HBL5362 is the one you want and sounds just as good Furutech FTX golds, IMO. The Hubbell product codes are misleading. See the cabledyne blog that explains this in detail.
http://www.cabledyne.com/1/category/hubbell%20outlet%20confusion/1.html