Members TheDoctorMo Posted January 5, 2010 Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 In order to keep your racks looking organized, do any of you make custom-length IEC cables to power your racked equipment? Or do you just bundle up the excess cable and wire-tie them? I'm considering purchasing some female IEC connectors (shown below) and making my own cables that are long enough to reach the power strip. Female IEC Connector Along these lines, how many of you cut your hard-wired, non-IEC, power cables to a shorter length? Thanksmike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Unalaska Posted January 5, 2010 Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 GC had a blowout on some hosa edison male to dual IEC female. I musta bought 5 or 6. They are short though and are only good for about 8". For non-amp stuff I'll bundle a bunch of 6 foot 18' together and ziptie the mess to a rear rack rail. Usually it's only 3 or 4max. For 14ga IEC amp cords they get individually bundled and ziptied, usually living on the side between amp and case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted January 5, 2010 Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 i cut mine to length, leaving a little extra for wiggle room. i put a new edison end on the cut side. no reason to have 8 6' power cords in an 8 space rack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted January 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 GC had a blowout on some hosa edison male to dual IEC female. I musta bought 5 or 6. They are short though and are only good for about 8". I bought a couple of those, as well. They are great for space, but are pretty thick and somewhat hard to bend in a tight spot. Thanks for the replies. mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deke08 Posted January 5, 2010 Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 Check out these cables. They are cheaper than making your own.http://www.stayonline.com/detail.aspx?ID=2911 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldschooler Posted January 5, 2010 Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 I been ordering mine from monoprice.http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10228 They have the lowest price I ever found and can ship to me in 1-2 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Deke08 Posted January 5, 2010 Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 WOW.....even better prices. Great link! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted January 5, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 5, 2010 Perfect! Thanks, guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sailorman Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 I ordered about 20 different IEC and regular power cables from monoprice. With the shipping cost, and the low cost of the cables, it was worth it to buy a few more than I needed. The difference inside my admittedly small rack is amazing. Zero clutter and I have spares for everything just in case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted January 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 @OldSchooler and Sailor... I think I'm going to order some of the IEC cables from Monoprice. Given that each end/plug of a cable is attached, horizontally, how many rack spaces can you reach with a 1' or 2' IEC cable? Let's say you have a Furman power unit in the top space of your rack. How far down the rack will a 1' cable reach before you have to move up to a 2' cable? (Assuming that all equipment is of equal depth and you don't want to put much strain on the cables.) Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 Monoprice's cables are certainly inexpensive. However, I don't like molded ends and the PVC jackets are a PITA. I make all my own to length. Afterall, you'll plug them once and forget about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 Those monoprice cables are GREAT priced. Might have to get a few more. I got some from Mouser.com before, not cheap and the shipping sucked. Stayonline was better but monoprice beats them. I would NEVER get those IEC ends you linked because there is a HUGE length acting as a lever to loosen the connection. I have enough problems with IECs falling out in transit. I tried silicon on the connector and it helped till I reracked stuff ;>( Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chickentown Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 Anyone have experience with monoprice's black extention cords? Again, the price is right, but I wonder about the ends and jackets. Excited about picking up a bunch of their 25' IEC cables for my powered boxes - should really clean up the look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BillESC Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 I would NEVER get those IEC ends you linked because there is a HUGE length acting as a lever to loosen the connection. Boomerweps You might think that but the connection is so far superior tension wise to the molded IEC connectors, there is little fear of them falling out. They are an industrial level connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author Craig Vecchione Posted January 6, 2010 CMS Author Share Posted January 6, 2010 i cut mine to length, leaving a little extra for wiggle room. i put a new edison end on the cut side. no reason to have 8 6' power cords in an 8 space rack. Yep, plus Edison's are typically easier to find and cost less than IEC's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldschooler Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 @OldSchooler and Sailor...I think I'm going to order some of the IEC cables from Monoprice.Given that each end/plug of a cable is attached, horizontally, how many rack spaces can you reach with a 1' or 2' IEC cable?Let's say you have a Furman power unit in the top space of your rack. How far down the rack will a 1' cable reach before you have to move up to a 2' cable? (Assuming that all equipment is of equal depth and you don't want to put much strain on the cables.)Thanks! There are three things that affect the cable length. 1. The outlet on the furman you are using. If in the middle of the furman, you will need a few more inches of cable. 2. The depth of the unit you are mounting. The longer the depth, the more cable you will need. 3. The placement of the unit on the rack. On my 10 space effect rack, I find 1 footers would work for me. But all my IECs are on one side and its a straight run from a surge protector placed in the middle of the rack.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TheDoctorMo Posted January 6, 2010 Author Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 Yeah, I just whipped up an image of the back of my rack using screen captures from the interwebs. My Furman has three wall-wart-sized outlets on the rear-left. The other, tighter five are on the rear-right. All of my processors' plugs are rear-left. So, I can tell I will need to have a few longer cables. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members boomerweps Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 For the price, I'd just pick up 4 each of the 1 and 2 footers to start with. Even a half dozen each. I use 14 & 12AWG in my amp racks and 14 & 16AWG shorties in my FOH racks. You can tie wrap the extra lengths on cables but the less extra cable in there, the better. You have to allow for the stiffness of the cable, the loss of length from going out horizontally, and the plug position s on your power strips. Boomerweps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 I just coil the excess and tie it down. Custom cut cables are a bad idea in that you wind up with cables that can't be used anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 I just coil the excess and tie it down. Custom cut cables are a bad idea in that you wind up with cables that can't be used anywhere else. i disagree. the cables can be used in any number of other racks, or with other gear. how often do you rerack your gear anyway? besides, i have a million IEC cables in the shop, way more than i have equipment for. you can usually find them for $1 if you know where to look, the 18 and 16 gauge ones are all over the place. the 12 gauge cables are a little more rare and usually only come with amps, but how often do you rerack your amps? and how short are you cutting the cables that you would have trouble reracking your amps? you can get edison ends for about $1 to $2 that are suitable enough for this, no need for the $10+ cable ends. you will only be plugging it in a few times in its life anyway. who wants to carry 32'+ of excess cable in their racks? its messy too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 i disagree. the cables can be used in any number of other racks, or with other gear. how often do you rerack your gear anyway? Each of my racks (I have at least ten) has been re-arranged at least three times. As your system grows you find better arrangements for better efficiency. I have a pretty modular system now. I quickly learned the disadvantage of custom cut cables. who wants to carry 32'+ of excess cable in their racks? its messy too. You need to learn to be organized. The rear of my racks aren't messy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Coaster Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 i still disagree. i have no issue adding to or rearranging my racks. in fact i am failing to see the problem here, anything in any of my racks can go anywhere in the rack with the shortened iec cables. and i am very organized; i just dont have wadded up tied off cables in the back of my racks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted January 6, 2010 Members Share Posted January 6, 2010 I bought a bunch of these in 1', 2' and 3' and if I rearrange stuff I just swap in the right length cable: http://www.monoprice.com/products/search.asp?keyword=iec&x=0&y=0 I also bought 25' ones for powered mains. The prices are really low and the quality seems as good as any I've seen . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Real MC Posted January 7, 2010 Members Share Posted January 7, 2010 i just dont have wadded up tied off cables in the back of my racks. Neither do I... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members agedhorse Posted January 7, 2010 Members Share Posted January 7, 2010 With IEC cables, we wire up the amp racks so that there's an IEC available every 2 rack spaces plus one extra at the top space for DSP. We always use QSC's so the IEC's end up at the same spot on every space. When we swap an amp, the cable harness remains unchanged. We do this to some extent in our processing racks too. Sometimes, we will terminate all the IEC sources in a J-box (we fabricate switched power distribution too) and run the harness out of the J-box to each location on the back oft he rack. This makes it very neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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