If you believe in the “sound” of mains cables, then look away now.
I get really peeved by IEC mains cables. They’re always too long, too stiff and it’s easy to knock a connector loose when you’re moving stuff around or plugging components together.
Benchmark Media supplies locking IEC cables with its components, however they’re only US versions, which have the wrong core colours for use in the UK and the connectors are only strictly 120V rated despite easily passing a 1kV insulation resistance test.
So, I decided to make some of my own in custom lengths for my gear:
Standard IECs come with H05VV-F cable which is PVC insulated on the inner and outer and quite stiff. I’m a real fan of “rubber” (neoprene) cables for their flexibility, having used quite a lot of them outdoors.
I picked up some H05RN-F and H07RN-F and a bunch of plugs from my local Screwfix and some locking IEC connectors from Data Comms Direct. They’re also available from most of the big electrical suppliers (RS, CPC, Farnell etc.)
At least your plugs are removable , SA plugs are either 2 Pin Euro or 3 Pin SA both molded in place you have to chop them off . Not good if you need to return something !!
Most of the cables supplied with stuff here are fully moulded too. I buy a lot of plug tops. When we moved from the UK to Austria, I spent days changing plugs on all the stuff we took with us. There was one consolation, though - it’s all more or less the same voltage!
Mains cabling is a bit of a minefield across Europe. I see lots of Chinese manufactured stuff for sale in the UK intended for outdoor use fitted with indoor mains flex.
My recently purchased ice bath chiller (7 kW heat pump) arrived with an indoor cable fitted. I had lots of lengthy email exchanges with the UK “manufacturer”. They’ve subsequently gone back to their Chinese contract manufacturer and stipulated all units are to be fitted with H07RN-F cabling from now on.
To be fair, the EN standards are a bit of a mess. Many of the older standards haven’t been updated to reflect changes in the supplementary standards and still reference obsolete/withdrawn documents.
It does make me wonder how many of the “exotic” mains cables on the market have actually been assembled, tested and certified to recognised safety standards for their component parts and final construction…
There’s a delatching tool for those locking C13 plugs that I’d highly recommend getting. The unlatching tab isn’t the most robust and it’s a pain getting the plug out when they break. Make sure to pull straight back on the release when you want to unplug. Any side-loading of that tab will end up breaking it. I stopped using them a couple years ago because they just broke too easily. My experience has been that cables that don’t get moved around much don’t need a locking connector.
I’ve been making custom-length power and interconnect cables for years. For cables I can’t make (like HDMI) or don’t want to make (shielded network patch cables) I order.
I use a similar US spec cable for power cords - SJEOOW. I have some that’s shielded too. If it’s where it can be seen, I’ll use Techflex on it to make it look a little nicer.
