240v diy power cord question

[bblv]

I'm looking to pickup 3 XPA Gen 3's and run them off 240v power and shopping for DIY power cord parts. I'm at a loss on what IEC connector to use from the amp to the wall. Every IEC connector I find is not compatible with a NEMA 6-15 wall receptacle (i.e. only compatible with 115v wall receptacles - or NEMA 5-15).

What am I missing?

[RichGuy]

The Marinco 320IEC15 which is the IEC that I use, will work fine and is rated to 250v

Specs:
www.marincopowerproducts.com/~/media/inRiver/350888-34892.pdf


Here it is on Amazon.

Link

[bblv]

How about for the cable to wall connection? The 15-amp wall receptacle for 240v has horizontal prongs, not the standard vertical "3-prong" configuration every IEC connector has, like these below (even though they are rated for 250v, makes no sense to me):

[RichGuy]

OK the connector in the picture I posted and the top connector in your picture are IEC connectors which is what you plug into your equipment. The other would be your wall plug and is not an IEC.

The wall plug is what will be most important since they do have the special prongs for 240v so they cannot be mistaken for one another. You can do a search for 240v wall plugs to find something you may like.

Here is one that may work well sold by Grainger, it is a Hospital Grade plug made by Hubbell (note there are different versions of prongs so you will need to match what you need)

Link



Here is another type

Link

[leonski]

The piicture above, is of a NEMA 6-15 plug. Thanks RichGuy.

the correct IEC is the 60320 C13

Here is link to the mouser page showing the drawing:

www.mouser.com/catalog/specsheets/kc-301194.pdf


ALL insulation is greater than the highest anticipated voltage.

[Talley]

I'm fixing to move to all 240v delivery to my entire system. I'll hardwire at the wall and have the marinco for the equipment side.

[leonski]

Talley,
You doing anything special for surge suppression or power conditioning?
Do you live in or near an area which gets lightning storms?

Here in SoCal, for example, we don't get lightning very often, though I was in Palm Springs once when a lightning storm blew threw and took out some telephone equipment and a computer modem. (years ago)
I also lived in Florida where knowing what I know now, I'd have whole-house surge suppression.    Florida was one lightning storm after another, all summer.  
And my experience with power conditioning has been to the positive. First installed when I still had CRT TV, the 'snow' completely disappeared leaving blacker blacks and denser / more saturated color.

[Talley]

We don't get too many lighting strikes here but don't look at surge protection as just protection against lightning strikes. Many other items can cause surges too including brown outs, even equipment in your own home will cause surges.

I have a really out of the ordinary thought pattern on this. I don't like surge devices because I have a weird feeling they have negative sonics on the audio. So for me I have a 80kva SPD on the line side of an isolation transformer. This way I get best protection against common mode and differential mode transients.

Some good information on lightning data and other SPD info would be found here:

download.schneider-electric.com/files?p_Reference=1300DB1101&p_EnDocType=Data%20Bulletin&p_File_Id=4216565805&p_File_Name=1300DB1101.pdf

www.erico.com/catalog/literature/TNCR016.pdf

Many whole home units are available for 80kva rating in the $100 range. Here is a couple:
www.amazon.com/CHSPT2ULTRA-Ultimate-Protection-Length-Height/dp/B01AQAKRSS/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_60_bs_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=B1XM8GMRXFKP6KXH6KFS

and another
www.amazon.com/Square-Schneider-Electric-HEPD80-Electronics/dp/B00CONA1OQ


You can see my phase 2 power delivery plan here (before me going to straight 240v... still using the transformer):

[leonski]

I get you about lightning not being the only source of power problems. I once lived near a large pumping station. When the pumps cycled, my lights would get BRIGHT, I'm guesing 130vac or more.
I have no idea of the nosie they put on the line, either. Glad I moved.

And lightning creates not just power problems but will induce a surge in ANY wiring. We had 3 near strikes when I was in Palm Springs many years ago. We lost a computer phone modem and I think the home owners
later reported another surge induced glitch. Everybody OUT of the Pool! And your CABLE system can catch it too, as well as even the relatively short runs from your 'small dish' setup.

I don't see how a Varister based device can harm power. In any way. They have such high impedance until 'bridged' that they are effectively OUT of the circuit. Of course they DO wear out and should be replaced at some point.

The Square 'D' you link looks nice and I wouldn't care that it IS sacrificial, given the low probability of surges where I live and therefore the low cost of ownership.

I use my small (400va) Iso transformer for my digitial and low current gear.

I'll do some reading you provide, later this evening when things settle down.

I just looked at your block diagram.   NICE.    Very ambitious compared to 99% of other home systems.    Lots of clean available balanced juice to your system.

[Talley]

I'm a master electrician.... I couldn't do it any other way lol

[leonski]

I only have a 100 amp service to my Casa. Few open slots in the box.
No way to do such an upgrade, short of going Up Service and running a LOT of new wire.

[bblv]

I have a dedicated 125-amp panel feeding my AV rack and an additional feed from my 60-amp backup panel that's connected to 2 Tesla Powerwalls and solar panel array (all fed by a 400-amp main). I was going to rely on the Powerwalls for surge protection. Do you see any issue with running the amps off the 125 panel and the processing (RMC-1 & MiniDSP) off the 60 panel? i.e. ground loop issues

[leonski]

bbllv
you need an electrician to tell YOU. I think code is ONE ground rod nearest the box. The MAIN box at power in.

I'm not sure using powerwall as surge protection is a great idea. Enough electronics inside to fry in the event of a ZAP.

Maybe some kind of Whole-House protection scheme? Are you in a lightning prone area?

[bblv]

Orange County, CA, so no lightning here. In the middle of a ground up house build.

My electrician is good, but didn't have technical answers when I asked about audio-related ground loops. He actually thinks I'm a little crazy when I gave him my plug schedule for my powers amps. He couldn't really comprehend 30kw RMS of power amps. He'll get it when he sees, hears and feels the final theater!!

[leonski]

regardless of the electricians knowledge of HT and thinking you might be nuts-o for wanting such a huge PS to the new room, he should be guided by CODE.
You need to speak to some kind of pro at such setups.
For example?
I insisted my dedicated line drop be from the SAME side of the box as the other outlets. That way they all had the same voltage on the 'hot'. Because of different neightborhood loadings on each leg, you might
have a different voltage on the 2 hots coming to your house.
Please ask a pro to confirm if I'm nuts or not.

Regardless, and even in OC (I'm 60 or 70 miles South) I'd like to see some surge protecti0n for the whole house. Just 3 nights ago? SDGE was working on a circuit near the circuit that feeds my house and area.
Microscopic surge / voltage spike went thru and shut down my Power Conditioner. I unplugged everything and called. I was told what was going on and decided to get out the transistor radio and a book.
I waited until well past the time of the repair and have had no issue since.