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wyzazz · 10-09-2012, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runs4beer

They are rated for this application; follow the links to see the specs. To be sure I double check w/ switchcraft and they confirmed they are good for exactly what I had in mind and I've never had a problem so far they don't even get warm...
They are like $4 for the outlets and $6 for the plugs.

Connectors STRAIGHT CORD PLUG
Panel mount power Outlet

Awesome! This is going to save me so much space on my control panel! Thanks for the tip!

**jeffmeh** · 10-09-2012, 11:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by runs4beer

Yes, even though it is a male plug the contacts are on the inside of the barrle and are not exposed, male or female, cord end or panle mount this type of conection keeps all of the contaacts safely covered. It is not uncomen to do "hot patches" wirh these at an events such as rock shows when a light or an amp goes down. not as much as they once were but rocks are still seat of the pants and Switchcraft knows this.

Thanks. From what I can tell, the panel mounts are always female. So if you have, say, a 230V 4-wire input, a 230V 3-wire output, and a 115V 3-wire output on the panel, it's not quite as idiot-proof as it would be if you had different receptacles for each. Is that correct? Labels and/or color-coding would certainly help. Any other tricks?

runs4beer · 10-10-2012, 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffmeh

Thanks. From what I can tell, the panel mounts are always female. So if you have, say, a 230V 4-wire input, a 230V 3-wire output, and a 115V 3-wire output on the panel, it's not quite as idiot-proof as it would be if you had different receptacles for each. Is that correct? Labels and/or color-coding would certainly help. Any other tricks?

I didn't look into that, I have a hard wired 10/4 coming out of my spa panel to my CP and then two 10/3 lengths from the CP the power the elements so nothing for me to confuse. I kept the basic wall plugs for my pumps. I guess I'd use different color e-tape and labels to keep it all straight

**DustBow** · 10-10-2012, 04:57 PM

I assume all the brands there on Mouser under the loud speaker connections are universal....So if you wanted a female "cable mount" instead of/in addition to the female control panel mount, the other brands would work fine?

runs4beer · 10-10-2012, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DustBow

I assume all the brands there on Mouser under the loud speaker connections are universal....So if you wanted a female "cable mount" instead of/in addition to the female control panel mount, the other brands would work fine?

That should be true. Also, I might have implied that switchcraft designed this type of connection; they did not. They just make a less expensive version, mouser is a dealer for the company that did (it's name escapes me at the moment) but it was a dollars or two more so I went w/ switchcraft. There maybe a few manufacture of this type of connection but be sure (as always) to check the specs I think some I looked at were under rated for this application.

OMJ · 10-10-2012, 06:27 PM

They also have elbow connectors which would be great for connecting to the side of a control pannel.

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Switchcraft/HPCC4RAF/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtAYTMy7wxAr8ZPx%2fM65zhe%252bLwf5SsH gXk%3d

ODI3 · 10-12-2012, 01:28 AM

Since these plugs are universal, if power was sent to the "out" port on a control panel rather than the "in" port, would that be considered dangerous and/or fry the unit some how?

**kal** · 10-12-2012, 04:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODI3

Since these plugs are universal, if power was sent to the "out" port on a control panel rather than the "in" port, would that be considered dangerous and/or fry the unit some how?

Depends on how things are wired, but there's a good chance that yes, putting power into an output receptacle is never a good thing.

I would recommend always designing such that you CAN'T do this by accident. Doesn't matter how well you label things, accidents always happen. Brew days are hectic, brewers have had a few beers, hands are wet, plug something into
the wrong receptacle, not a good combination.

Reminds me of the Simpsons episode where groundskeeper Willie posts a small sign near a dangerous well hole that says "Caution: Well" (instead of the more sensible option of just boarding up the well).

Kal

**jeffmeh** · 10-12-2012, 11:24 AM

Neutrik does make the STX series that has both male and female receptacles, and male and female plugs. That said, they do clearly state not to use these Speakon connectors for power mains. I know people have done so, but do we have a definitive answer as to whether this is really safe and appropriate?

**kal** · 10-12-2012, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffmeh

That said, they do clearly state not to use these Speakon connectors for power mains. I know people have done so, but do we have a definitive answer as to whether this is really safe and appropriate?

You just answered your own question. The manufacturer says that these should not be used for power mains. They are not rated for use with power mains. It is therefore not appropriate to use them for power mains.

This topic has come up in the past and the general idea is that the breakdown voltage of 1500V AC isn't high enough. It needs to be about double (2300V by the old standard, 3000V by the new). There's likely a whole pile of other testing/regulations that must be adhered to to have a connector be rated for power mains usage. Things that most people do not or should not have to know about like how the connector behaves over 1000's of inserts/extractions, contact surface and how it behaves if there's some corrosion, etc. Please don't just look at the "specs" and try to summize that since the specs seem to be adequate that you can therefore safely use a product meant for application "X" in application "Y". It's never that straight forward.

Loudspeakers cables see very little voltage/current on average. There are peaks but never a continuous current of (say) 25-50A. An industrial audio power amplifier like the ones meant to be used with these loudspeaker cables may be rated at being able to put out 1000-2000W of power but 99.9% of the time the speaker only sees a fraction of a single watt. Even if you're playing music extremely loud most of the time the amp floats around putting out less than a watt of power. It's only during a loud slam (like a drum pedal hit) where the amp is required to instantaneously put out a ton of watts for a split second. The power drops right off then.

These things are as inexpensive as they are because they are simply not rated for continuous high power mains usage. That requires a whole other level of regulation/testing/etc. I'm sure they are very good loudspeaker connectors but power mains connectors they are not. They are not a straight substitute for power mains connectors.

Since the manufacturer specifically states that these are "loudspeaker connectors" and not meant for mains power connectors, that would be the only answer I need. I wouldn't use them myself. YMMV.

Kal