Power Cord Grip

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Originally Posted by audio bill

It's not just the weight of a cable that can cause strain on the connector and lead to loose grip of its IEC, but it can also be caused by rigidity/stiffness of a particular cable causing strain on the connector's contacts.

Been there, unfortunately. Here's what a 7AWG power cord did to my previous voltage regulator. Not because the IEC grip wasn't solid, but because at 7-gauge, it was so rigid and inflexible it ripped part of the IEC plug's facing away.

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Being inspired by a Masterlu post on my other power cord thread, I'm going to take a look at my configuration to see if I can re-route some of the 2m and 1.5m power cords to take some potential stress off the IEC connection—even if I've had no issues with the particular cord.

The 1m cords (preamp and BD player) have been the worst offenders overall, and for those, either the tape has to work or I'll consider replacement with something else. So we'll start with re-taping the IEC heads and attempting to re-position those cords when I can get to it.

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My digital camera has decided to malfunction, else I'd post a picture for this.

I went through the same issues as always with the preamp's PC (WW 1m Electra) after unplugging it then plugging it back in. I tried routing it around the preamp shelf's right rear pillar (as you face the rack) to no avail. The angle was a bit severe for the flat Electra (I think a round cord would have done better with that), but the IEC sagged still and the connection lost. After three fruitless attempts with that, I tried routing the Electra around the pillar of the shelf beneath, and that worked. I didn't put additional tape around the IEC connector, though I may try that still.

The LD player's IEC/C7 adapter combo is now supported by plastic packaging from furniture feet used to support my equipment racks. I might look into a true C7 cord for that, though I have a C7 Jewel AC I know would grip solidly. The LD's cord doesn't lose connection, but really sags. It's the worst offender, visually.

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Here's the Wireworld Electra on my preamp, which doesn't droop now, and hasn't given me trouble since its re-routing. Sorry about the dust, it's been a while.

UPDATE 9/24: I pulled the 2300 to change tubes two days ago and had the same PC droop issue when re-inserting it into the system. I put an additional piece of tape on the underside of the IEC, and that seems to work. The IEC didn't droop immediately after being plugged in. I also pulled up a bit of slack to help.



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[miner]

A WW Aurora PC into my MC452 does not fit tight - if I move my component console the plug will come loose and need to be reseated. I guess I will try a wrap of electrical tape to snug it up.

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Originally Posted by miner

A WW Aurora PC into my MC452 does not fit tight - if I move my component console the plug will come loose and need to be reseated. I guess I will try a wrap of electrical tape to snug it up.

The photographic tape I'm using won't leave any residue, and seems to be working finally; I needed to put it on the right way. And I hope I didn't speak too soon, because if I change tubes in my 2300 again and I have to reseat the IEC several times that might be the proverbial straw.

If you can rearrange the cord so there's no/little downward pull on the IEC, that may help.

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Another droop episode today, this time the power supply on my phono preamp. I din't know what was going on at first, why I got no sound. I verified the connections were correct, then checked the power cord. Photographic tape was put on the IEC, and it seems to be more stable now. The connection loss was probably there for a while, as I don't play records as often as I used to.

As an aside, I swapped the cords for my CD and TV to see if there's any sonic difference on the CD, namely how it sounds on the brighter '60s stuff I like to play. The CD player's been using a WW Stratus, the TV a Shunyata Venom 3s. I think the Shunyata is slightly less bright, but the IEC also grips a bit better than the WW. Not sure yet, but that may start a trend.

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The WW Electra failed again, as I noticed earlier today it had slipped and lost connection again, this time of its own accord. That was it. I removed it from the C2300, and moved the Shunyata Venom 3s from the CD player and put it on the 2300. Much better connection. The WW Stratus on my LD player was moved to the CD player, its C7 adapter retired. A PS Audio Jewel AC with a C7 IEC is on the LD player now; no grip issues there.

With this arrangement, NPR sounds pretty good, rather smooth.

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A Transparent High Performance power cord has replaced the Shunyata on my 2300, and the grip is as good or a bit better. The sound is, too. The bottom end was more extended and robust using my usual test CDs in a brief session Wednesday evening. I was impressed.

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Here is an interesting thing. The WW Stratus which was shaky with its grip on my Pioneer Elite BDP-09FD, has a better grip on the BPD-88FD replacing it. Go figure.