A better lamp cord for my stereo equipment?

The reason repair pros don’t like to be involved in changing out power cords for larger diameter units or adding in iec connectors to do power cord swaps..is that this entails messing with the AC power input to the given system.

And THAT is a legal issue, big time.

Any changes to power input requires, by law, a complete re-certification of the given equipment.

Otherwise the legal aspects lie solely on the shoulders of the person who changed it. It is a giant snail trail of ever enlarging legal liability for anyone who does it repeatedly.

The same holds true for doing custom parts modifications that have different values or specs from the originals. Liability. Big time.

Having been introduced to the laws of the land during my electronics training, and taking courses on such, I’d have to say with about as much authority as I can muster, that you are dangerously misleading people.

changing hard wiring or receptacles on equipment is flat our contrary to the law regarding AC power that comes into your abode or domicile.

This is doubly, triply, quadruply, exponentially true -- when it comes to commercial installs of any kind. ’Don’t ever go there’ in a commercial or professional environment.


an electronics tech who is professionally papered and has business insurance, can change out a captured power cord with one that is identical in spec and sizing and legally specified and certified qualities, and has to be identical in how it mounts to the chassis. The end.

Otherwise the gear requires, re-certification by UL or in Canada, CSA.

If one want to dick around and do it all on their own, go ahead, but consider that the full weight of the law and courts might come down on your head if ever a problem erupts during the entire potential lifespan of the given equipment, post change.

think of it as a gasoline kind of issue. We have become inured to playing with gasoline all day, every day. Gasoline is ~unbelievably dangerous~. This is why there are strict laws about containers for gasoline, which are taken very seriously by all involved. Or, taken seriously by those who have seen the catastrophic results for being careless and complacent.

Electricity is the same - AC power is the same. We handle it, we are near by it, it surrounds us..all day long..but...We have strict laws about how it is handled, when you actually go looking at the fine details. And that’s what is actually keeping more of us safe from when things go wrong.

^ Not to mention, changing the original cord won’t improve performance unless it’s corroded or defective in some way. If your goal is the placebo effect, you can get one of those quantum, tychyon manipulating, unobtanium pronged noise supressors that plug into an adjacent outlet, or just install a Synergistic Research fuse.

@toolbox149,

As for your old 2 wire zip cord with a non-polarized 2 blade plug.
I have read on other audio forums, where guys didn’t want to modify, or didn’t have the room, to install an IEC inlet connector on the back of their vintage equipment so they could use aftermarket power cords. It was suggested if the old 2 wire power cord is not cracked, hard, or brittle the last few inches where it enters the piece of equipment, in other words in good condition, you can cut off the old cord leaving about 4" to 6" and install a male IEC connector on the cord. With the male IEC connector you will be able to use 2wire with ground after market power cords. You will not be using the equipment ground of the power cord though.

If you decide to go this route it is important before installing, wiring, the new IEC male connector to the 2 wire zip cord of the audio equipment to make sure you have the correct proper AC polarity orientation feeding the primary winding of the power transfer of the equipment. The equipment will sound better if the AC polarity is correct.

The neutral conductor of the Zip cord is identified by either a ridge or ridges down the entire length of the cord, or, the neutral conductor will have printing down the entire side/length of the zip cord. You can check your cords for the identified, neutral, conductor.
That does not guarantee though the correct AC polarity orientation is wired correctly to the primary winding of the power transformer. It can be checked using a mulimeter, set to AC volts, reversing the old non-polarized plug 180 degrees at the wall receptacle outlet. (If you decide you want to check for the proper AC polarity plug orientation post back and I will give the procedure you will need to follow.)
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Things that can influence an aftermarket power cord other than the size, wire gauge of the power cord.

Type of wire used.
Solid core conductor/wire or stranded wire.
Geometry, construction, of the cable. (Capacitance? Inductance? How does the geometry, construction of the cable affect EMI? RFI?
Shielded, non shielded.
The quality of the plug and IEC connector. Contact pressure of the female IEC connector. Type of plating material if used.

Jim

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