US Members - How do you explain this lead?

[thermionic]

On Saturday a friend who's moved here from NY came over, for the purpose of having her Levinson preamp (it measured pretty well by modern standards, I must say - shame they don't make those pots anymore...) converted from 120v to 240v operation (a simple procedure, documented by ML in the manual).

When she produced this cable I went mad... She wouldn't let me destroy it on the spot, but promised it wouldn't be used again.

So, my American friends, can you tell me what the maker of this IEC lead was thinking? I appreciate that 120v is not as lethal as 240v, but what if someone used it for devices with HT circuits, containing CRTs or the like?

I'm flabbergasted that such a lead exists.

Justin

edit - I should note that I regularly see gear imported from the US, where someone's snipped off the Earth terminal - that's not the OEM's fault. The maker of this cable never intended it to connect to earth...

 

[JohnRoberts]

You could have fixed it on the spot by cutting it in half....

JR 

 

[thermionic]

I put it in the bin. She and her husband paid ridiculous amounts for the ML preamp (it came with spare modules and original packaging) and she wanted to keep it purely for 'completeness'. I can't say I'm totally into destroying friends' / clients' gear even when they don't want me to...

Have you ever seen one of these cables before? I'm intrigued how such a thing came to exist...hence my post here.

oh yeah - I must say it's a new one for me, when I get berated for not destroying someone else's hardware 

 

[Andy Peters]

On Saturday a friend who's moved here from NY came over, for the purpose of having her Levinson preamp (it measured pretty well by modern standards, I must say - shame they don't make those pots anymore...) converted from 120v to 240v operation (a simple procedure, documented by ML in the manual).

When she produced this cable I went mad... She wouldn't let me destroy it on the spot, but promised it wouldn't be used again.

So, my American friends, can you tell me what the maker of this IEC lead was thinking? I appreciate that 120v is not as lethal as 240v, but what if someone used it for devices with HT circuits, containing CRTs or the like?

I'm flabbergasted that such a lead exists.

Justin

edit - I should note that I regularly see gear imported from the US, where someone's snipped off the Earth terminal - that's not the OEM's fault. The maker of this cable never intended it to connect to earth...

I saw this kind of cable recently. It came with something we ordered here at work. I can't remember what it was. I had the same reaction.

-a

 

[Spiritworks]

Was one blade wider than the other? If so, it's polarized so that the wider blade only can go into the neutral side of the outlet. There are  lots of places here in the US where two-prong receptacles still are being used. It won't carry ground directly, but the neutral is earthed back at the mains. Your friend's cable looks to me like an adapter of sorts.

 

[pucho812]

Thats almost like the ones found on the mackie powered speakers. You know the ones that are molded standard IEC plug but have no ground. This the there is no ground hole on the female side

 

[JohnRoberts]

One obvious question is does the product have a chassis ground connected to that third lead in the lIEC socket, or just the hot and neutral? A second question, was there any agency mark on the line cord?

Consumer gear with double insulated primaries manage just fine without a discrete safety ground line cord connection.

The Chinese line cord manufacturers would put banana plugs on the ends if you ordered a few K of them, and paid for it.

JR

 

[thermionic]

to answer your questions:

The male plug has nothing to denote polarity, physically or otherwise - it goes either way.

The preamp is class 1, with dedicated ground lead between head unit and external psu. I doubt the lead is the one ML would've sold - it was bought scondhand.

J