rewire a Japanese ThinkPad Power Adapter cable for NZ...

[CurlieWigsO]

Hi, I am a new boy here and I am 55 years old.
...I have started trying to maintain and repair computer bits and pieces and have repaired some 15" LCD monitors. I enjoy what I am trying to do but I have very little experience with these devices.
I saw some interesting posts after searching the internet for help and I have a question so I registered here tonight.

I want to rewire a power cable that is used with a Japanese ThinkPad power adapter which has the same power specs required for devices used through NZ power points.
I have since removed the 3 pin power plug to the wall socket from the cable and find there is 2 black wires and a green Earth wire.
Figuring out what to do with the earth wire is easy but what about the 2 black wires. Some people say it does not matter but someone says one black wire may be neutral and the other may be phase.

Here is a photo at Image Shack of the end of the cable showing the ends of each wire in the cable and the plug to the adapter and the removed Japanese power plug.
One edge of the cable has 3 lines and the other edge of the cable is rounded and smooth maybe giving someone a clue as to which wire is neutral and which wire is phase.
The cable and the removed power plug and the figure 8 plug are running in the same direction in the photo (smooth edge & the edge with the 3 lines on it) the smooth edge is on the left and the 3 lines on the right looking at the picture.

By nickleboms at 2009-01-03

I am sure now I can just cut the power plug that does not fit the wall power socket and replace with a NZ power plug but which black wire should go to which power plug pin.
...I would love some advice...
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[plugwash]

I'm pretty sure the middle wire is earth, the way round the other two are doesn't really matter (there is probablly a "correct" way round but not all countries use polarised plugs so devices have to be designed to deal with either).

Be aware that the power cable probablly doesn't meet NZ standards so if you are planning to sell it or use it at work I would advise replacing the mains lead (it looks like a standard cloverleaf lead to me so getting a replacement shouldn't be too hard).

 

[CurlieWigsO]

Hi, yes middle for earth.
The A for Active and P for Phase details were on the plugs I used and the flat 3 wire power cable had ridges on the left and not on the right of it leading to the Active and the Phase wires which eventually made life easy for me...
The clover plug has full power pin sleeves whereas another clover plug I have on another cable has the power pin sleeves divided into 3rds.
The adapter gets very hot when I use the clover power plug with the full metal sleeves and not so hot when I use the clover plug with the sleeves in 3rds.
So now I am on the lookout for a clover plug with the metal pin sleeves in thirds to hopefully reduce the heat the adapter has to resist.
However the cable works ok.
Now I want to find out how to use the multimeter I bought cheap.

 

[solair]

That cable is available as standard from ANY PC shop or decent electrical/electronics retailer. It does not have to be from Levano/IBM

It's likely that your ThinkPad power adaptor will handle 100-240V (check the label).

Simply buy a NZ/Australia version of the same cable, it's not likely to be much more expensive than a rewirable NZ plug anyway!