Plug & play pair?

[mattylad]

Hi folks,
at work we sometimes get asked to make appliances plug and play (although there is no play bit - its just the term) where multiple or very long appliances can be split down and simply plugged into each other rather than hard wired. (this is for ease of installation, requiring no electrician on site.)

To do this we currently have the Niglon LC3P Quickloop 3 pole +loop terminal connectors forced upon us and to be frank these can only be described as crap! totally unsuitable for the purpose, but to get a manager to realize that even if it says they are good for 20A, it does not actually mean that they really are.

We'd rather use something like the 3 pole connector pair used on lawnmower leads (but they are only 10A) and have just done it using 16A commmando plug/inline socket but this is a bit big & bulky.

Can you recommend anything else?
Needs to be able to handle a 2.5mm flexible cable (round) into it (not T&E) and upto 20A (ish).

 

[Robin0577]

Neutrik Powercon True1. 20A, IP65 when mated. will accept 2.5mm2 H07RN-F. only just over an inch diameter.

Widely used in the entertainment industry and readily available from RS, CPC/Farnell, etc.

https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/powercon/powercon-true1/powercon-true1-cable-connectors

Beware of cheap copies though.

 

[mattylad]

Nice but oof... not cheap at over £11 a pair.
That would be a hard sell to managers that don't have a clue what the difference is apart from the number of beans.

 

[SUNRAY]

Neutrik Powercon True1. 20A, IP65 when mated. will accept 2.5mm2 H07RN-F. only just over an inch diameter.

Widely used in the entertainment industry and readily available from RS, CPC/Farnell, etc.

https://www.neutrik.com/en/neutrik/products/powercon/powercon-true1/powercon-true1-cable-connectors

Beware of cheap copies though.

Ahhh now then...


The advantage of the True1 over the original Powercon is the ability to mate/unmate under load, the savings can be big if that feature is not required.

The big disadvantage with True1's is after a relatively small mumber of matings they wear to the point they can be inserted upside down and then the 'L' supply can eventually contact the devices 'E' with naughty results.

Cheap copies... So far I have encoutered copies which have performed perfectly when mated within the same manufacturers parts, the problems have always been when mated with 'proper' powercons. I wouldn't normally suggest sourcing cheap copies but my experience (and others may very well be in a position to offer different experinces) of using them for permanent installations has to date been good when mated with themselves.

 

[plugwash]

The advantage of the True1 over the original Powercon is the ability to mate/unmate under load, the savings can be big if that feature is not required.

The other advantage of the true1 is it can be used for cable to cable joins without needing a seperate coupler block.

The downsides of the true1 compared to the traditional powercon seem to be that it's only rated to 16A under European standards (It's rated to 20A under american standards) and the panel outlet (but not the inlet) is substantially larger.

 

[plugwash]

If 16A is sufficient for you and you don't need locking or IP rating then I would consider IEC C19/C20 connectors e.g.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/iec-connectors/7769129/

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/iec-connectors/7769125/

 

[SUNRAY]

The other advantage of the true1 is it can be used for cable to cable joins without needing a seperate coupler block.

Ah yes indeed that is one of the advantages of cheap copies, they do make free plugs.

Edit: to correctly quote

 

[SUNRAY]

If 16A is sufficient for you and you don't need locking or IP rating then I would consider IEC C19/C20 connectors e.g.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/iec-connectors/7769129/

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/iec-connectors/7769125/

I have been using this style recently, specifically to provide something different from Powercon and I quite like them but find them to be more expensive.

 

[mattylad]

Well I never, we have the IEC socket as a stock item, I didn't realise these were good for 16A.
Certainly something to look into, I'll see if we can get our 2.5mm flex into them.

I'll print some info & take it in after Easter and we'll see where we go.
We'd rather spend a bit more to be certain we don't have a call out for a burnt out pair but it can be hard getting managemenent to realize this.

Asa this is likely to be a permanent connection, I'd also be interested in cheaper copies of the Neutrik powercons

 

[plugwash]

Normal IECs (C13/C14) are 10A (according to IEC), the C19/C20 are 16A (again according to IEC).