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AC outlet Upgrade

nabeelsayegh

nabeelsayegh

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Evening AK...

Can anyone recommend a good source to buy replacement AC accessory outlets for vintage gear? Looking to upgrade the non-polarized outlets to polarized. I am mainly looking for ones that have two screws that hold in the outlet on either side....about 31mm spacing. Rough opening is about 22mm x 12mm.

I checked all the usually places and can find snap in versions....and that works for some systems, but more often than not, I end up with these size outlets and pretty much all my Customers want them upgraded to polarized (without modifying the back panel if at all possible.)
 
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nabeelsayegh said:
Evening AK...

Can anyone recommend a good source to buy replacement AC accessory outlets for vintage gear? Looking to upgrade the non-polarized outlets to polarized. I am mainly looking for ones that have two screws that hold in the outlet on either side....about 31mm spacing. Rough opening is about 22mm x 12mm.

I checked all the usually places and can find snap in versions....and that works for some systems, but more often than not, I end up with these size outlets and pretty much all my Customers want them upgraded to polarized (without modifying the back panel if at all possible.)
Click to expand...
Are also running a dedicated circuit for the rig? Made a big difference. Grounded of course
 
If I am reading this correctly, the OP is not interested in replacing a wall socket or power cord, but rather upgrade the accessory sockets on the back of the piece of gear to polarized sockets without having to modify the current cut-out in the back panel of the unit in which the current non-polarized sockets are mounted. This might be something that is available from PE, but I have no idea--I never use those on-board accessory outlets anyways. Best guess would be to find some more modern BPC junkers for a couple bucks at a thrift or yard sale that has something you can salvage--maybe something from the late 80's or more recent.

Good Luck!!!
 
nabeelsayegh said:
pretty much all my Customers want them upgraded to polarized (without modifying the back panel if at all possible.)
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OMGCat! said:
You'd have to replace the original power cord as well if it's not polarized.
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Since it's pretty clear you are in the audio repair business, I'm sure the necessity of a polarized power cord was brought up to your customers. Seeing as they don't want to modify the chassis, I would imagine they may not want to replace a cord which actually has the manufacturer's name on the plug end. What I've done in those cases is use a magic marker and mark one prong of the original plug so the owner would know which way to insert the plug into a polarized outlet.
 
why? looking at the power supply section of some vintage gear, the neutral (white) and hot(black) are interchangeable really. Perhaps there is something in newer gear that ties the neutral closer to ground, I don't know. I do know that polarized plugs allow the hot to be switched and fused so that if anything shorts out, it is the hot lead that is cut. Or is it simply to allow polarized plugs to be used at all since you need a wider slot? The only stuff I have plugged into my vintage gear accessory sockets is other vintage gear...
 
efzauner said:
why?
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Equipment using neutral pronged plugs were made specifically for the power to be supplied in one direction only. Increased level of shock hazard is one good reason for it since you'd want power coming from the wall outlet stopped at the switch (with switch "off") rather than have have it going through your equipment first and then stopped at the switch.
 
yes thats what I said... so the switch and fuse cut the hot wire from the circuit. But it is only an extra measure. I don`t think non polarized plugs really are a hazard on vintage gear. I would be more worried about a 40 year old power cord degradation.
 
As you indicated, vintage equipment which came without polarized plugs have no operational issues with how the plug is placed in the outlet. However, the accessory outlets are another story. What does one use the accessory outlets for? Not everyone uses those outlets solely to power additional vintage equipment. So proper polarization may make a difference in what one uses those accessory outlets for.
 
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eiraved said:
vintage equipment which came without polarized plugs have no operational issues with how the plug is placed in the outlet
Click to expand...

Mostly true, it will function, but sometimes you will get a persistent hum in vintage (non-polarized) gear that can be resolved by flipping the plug over in the outlet (reversing the polarity)--encountered this before.
 
savatage1973 said:
Mostly true,
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Not dismissing your experience, but there's differences in opinion on this. I've had hum on several tube amps which were not remedied by "flipping the plug", although I was sincerely hoping for it! Either way, the primary object of my post was to point out the need to identify proper polarization of the equipment plug if planning to replace the outlets to a polarized type.
 
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eiraved said:
I'm sure the necessity of a polarized power cord was brought up to your customers.
Click to expand...

"Necessity" being relative and open to interpretation in this case. Most I've ever done is upgrade the "death cap" whenever I see it ...
 
nabeelsayegh said:
...pretty much all my Customers want them upgraded to polarized
Click to expand...
sKiZo said:
"Necessity" being relative and open to interpretation in this case. Most I've ever done is upgrade the "death cap" whenever I see it ...
Click to expand...
Since the customer made a request to upgrade the accessory outlets, I would hope they were notified of the need to upgrade (or modify) the power cord as well. I would have made a point to inform them of this, but that's just me...
 
Customer rules!

You want what? Will do!
You want it when? Let's talk about that ... <G>
 
Thanks guys for the feedback....and sorry for the delay in responding....had an family emergency and was out of it for while. In any case, I probably should have mentioned that I was changing over the power cord to a grounded; polarized version because your right, it would not really make sense to have polarized accessory outlets and not have the unit itself be configured to the right orientation of hot/common/ground. This particular customer along with others typically like to keep their wiring 'clean' in the back of their setups which is why they like using the accessory outlets....no need to run more than 1 power cable down to their wall outlet or power strip. When trying to do this with things like DVD/CD players or even some newer cassette decks and turntables....those units have polarized plugs....hence the need to swap them out. Usually, the Customers do not want the chassis modified....in this case grinding out the opening to make way for a bigger plug. The original outlets on the Sansui Six were mounted using two screws on either side of the opening; about 31mm apart. I was trying to find an identical version of this outlet that was screw mounted but came up short. I actually did check on newer 80's/90's gear to see if I could harvest something, but still no dice. So, I ended up settling for a 'snap in' version that actually fit the opening pretty good. I then just reinstalled the original screws to cover up the holes and it actually looks pretty slick. Here is a couple before/after pics to show what I ended up with.
 

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