Are there IEC socket cables with serial connectors

[living sounds]

I'm in the process of re-installing my studio. There are many rows of 19" units all fed power via standard IEC cables. With so many power cables things get cluttered quickly behind and below the rack.

So, I thought why don't we go from one socket to the next on a per-rack basis? Electrically it would be no problem with the low power consumption of studio rack gear and the short distances involved. Does anyone know of something like this availible commercially?

 

[Perm0]

I don't think you can buy those, and sometimes IEC sockets sit on the right and sometimes on the left side, so it will never be perfect for your needs.

I took a simple cheap plastic installation box for each rack cut all the IEC cords and connected them in the box with Wago connectors, just a couple of bucks and saved a whole bunch of cable mess.

I used a oversized ground wire to each box.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

May I suggest something like this?
https://www.ldlc.com/fiche/PB00206590.html

 

[john12ax7]

Having the power sometimes left sometimes right is super annoying. Personally I feel IEC should be on the left when looking at the rear panel, power switch on the right of the front panel.

To make things tidy I buy various length IEC cables so they are only as long as they need to be. Another option would be to mount a power strip on the side of the rack and then run short power cables to that.

Having a daisy chain as described would need to be one molded cable, but then how to decide how many plugs and what distance? Maybe too specific for someone to mass produce. If it was fully modular and expandable then you run the risk of having energized pins somewhere along the way, which is a big no no.

 

[Perm0]

It would probably be illegal.

I've used the boxes Abby suggested quite a lot in installs, and these connectors are prone to pop out, so everytime I cut a threaded M8 rod to racksize, put some shrinkwrap on it, mount it, so now I can tie all those connectors to my bar so they won't pop out.

I don't like those.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I've used the boxes Abby suggested quite a lot in installs, and these connectors are prone to pop out, so everytime I cut a threaded M8 rod to racksize, put some shrinkwrap on it, mount it, so now I can tie all those connectors to my bar so they won't pop out.

I don't like those.

I agree. In my rack I use the standard "kitchen" multi-plug and dual IEC cables.

 

[Madman]

Hi,
there are y cables from IEC C14 up to 5 (maybe more) C13 Y connectors available

https://inf-shop.de/hdmi-verteiler/...3-3m-10a-250v-y-splitter-s-7333048040015.html
Rgds

 

[Monte McGuire]

I've found that power strips attached to the rack vertically with cable ties will work well. Then, cable each device with an IEC cable, wrapped up with more cable ties to make a neat run to the power strip(s). Indeed, most studio stuff is low power, so it's not a safety problem at all. I've also never had problems with grounding either - the cable ties and neat bundling keeps loop areas low and keeps power stable and away from audio.

 

[Rob Flinn]

l use these PDU's made by HP screwed to the side of the rack. I haven't ever had issues with plugs popping out. With these particular PDU's it's a struggle to actually unplug things from them. Maybe HP quality. My racks are 15u, but a lot of my gear is 2u or more so only having 8 sockets is not so much of an issue. They weren't as expensive as this when I got them.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/313917020429?hash=item4916e9990d:g:DJ8AAOSwFZZcL5yP&LH_ItemCondition=4

 

[living sounds]

Thanks guys!

Unfortunately I don't see that much of an improvement to simply trying to tidy up what I've got already. That's because most of my racks don't have rails on the back, unfortunately.

 

[Rob Flinn]

That's because most of my racks don't have rails on the back, unfortunately.

Nor do mine. I screw the PDU's into the wood on the side of the rack.

 

[Gold]

I like DIN rail terminal blocks. Make all the cabling to length if you like tidy wiring.

 

[Phantasm]

Multidrop IEC cables don't exist for a very good reason - too easy for people to misuse with 8 kettles and cause a fire. There are much safer tidy options though.

If you're going to be powering a rack of gear it's as well to have a power strip. I found that even the cheaper end of the market still does away with clicks when the fridge switches on and such for those of us with home studios plus has an additional circuit breaker besides the fact that you have 1 mains plug for 8 devices that needs a wall socket. I use one of these in each rack and never had any problems:-
https://artproaudio.com/product/pb4x4-power-distribution-system/
If you have any wall wart PSU's a couple trailing sockets into the power strip which sit on the bottom of the rack out of the way work nicely and make custom length male to female IEC cables for extra neatness.

You can also get cable management rack pieces to fit to the rear of your rack for tidy cables between racks and other gear if you want to get fancy. I added these recently and made a huge difference having several meters of cable per device off of the floor behind the racks making it easy to follow cables and add or remove things instead of beating your way through cable spaghetti for hours. Look outside of audio places though and investigate network racks and such as those have a bunch of neat gizmo's and are standard 19".

 

[Tubetec]

We used those same IEC power distributors at a studio I worked , it saves a lot of space compared to a bank of the usual UK style plugs .

 

[Newmarket]

We used those same IEC power distributors at a studio I worked , it saves a lot of space compared to a bank of the usual UK style plugs .

That unit doesn't have IEC Outlets - although such units are available and do save space compared to standard UK plugs.

 

[Phantasm]

That unit doesn't have IEC Outlets - although such units are available and do save space compared to standard UK plugs.

The Art PB4x4 you mean?

 

[Newmarket]

The Art PB4x4 you mean?

Yes

 

[JohnRoberts]

Often when we see some obvious(?) market desire that goes unfilled, there may be practical regulatory/safety agency explanations.

JR

 

[Phantasm]

Yes

It does have IEC outlets - x 8. The picture isn't correct on the website for some reason. I have 2 of these units.

 

[Newmarket]

It does have IEC outlets - x 8. The picture isn't correct on the website for some reason. I have 2 of these units.

Okay. I see. Yes I was primarily judging from the image as those aren't IEC outlets.
But if they are IEC outlets then I guess the text about accommodating "Wall Warts" is also incorrect.