IEC contacts fits badly in my 400 amps.

[thumb5]

The Furutech FI-15 Plus fits really good but the problem is the cover, it fits but lifts up something like 2mm in the side where the iec is...bummer. But Furutech has a smaller version called FI-15E that is about 3mm smaller in total so that would give around 1,5mm lower on the top...that could work. Looking for a specsheat of it but cant find any, would like to see if the part of the plug that goes in to the iec is the same length as the Plus model.

Just to say -- I'm using FI-15Es and can confirm both that they fit under the rear cover (with no lifting) and also they're a pretty tight fit into the power receptacle (certainly not sloppy).

[Manoet]

The devil's in the details... FI-15 is 35/34mm cross-section while the E is 31/33.3mm. Gives you an additional 2mm on top to snick the cover home! Good to know the newer version F'tech's work as they now feature a one-piece nose whereas previously the entire body & nose was split and could be separated like many lesser-quality DIY FIEC's today. As I mentioned above that one-piece nose makes ALL the difference!!!

[octaviars]

The Furutech FI-15 Plus fits really good but the problem is the cover, it fits but lifts up something like 2mm in the side where the iec is...bummer. But Furutech has a smaller version called FI-15E that is about 3mm smaller in total so that would give around 1,5mm lower on the top...that could work. Looking for a specsheat of it but cant find any, would like to see if the part of the plug that goes in to the iec is the same length as the Plus model.

Just to say -- I'm using FI-15Es and can confirm both that they fit under the rear cover (with no lifting) and also they're a pretty tight fit into the power receptacle (certainly not sloppy).

Good to hear that, if the "nose" is the same on the FI-15E as it is on the Plus model then I am happy because that had an ecellent fit. I think I will place an order on 2 FI-15E so this problem can be out of my way.

[mauidan]

If your hard plastic IEC plug doesn't fix tight, just put some heat shrink on it:

[Manoet]

Approaching things this way while sure to snug things up certainly does nothing for the bigger problem internally of a loose/sloppy conductive electrical contact. In the tests we carried out above there's 'zero' interference-fit between the MIEC outer sleeve ID and the one-piece FIEC inner sleeve OD. Sure they're probably a better fit than some of the cheaper 2-piece DIY modular FIEC's. The actual problem is specifically related to loose fit/poor conductivity more than non-conductive alignment of the inner/outer plastic housings. On a budget? Open the FIEC up and pinch the line & neutral conductors closed a small or moderate amount with small needle-nose pliars (easy-peasy tweak!). You can always do more after a quick test-fit if necessary. After that sleeve-away if it suits ya but electrically conductive grip and alignment trumps plastic housing shimming for alignment & grip every time!

The nominal dimensional spec for an MIEC inlet housing width is 24mm while the FIEC housing runs 23mm. The MIEC inlet housing height runs 16mm nominal and the FIEC 15mm nominal. .5mm clearance all around inner/outer housing is the design spec and the male/female conductors (on a quality MIEC/FIEC pair) is (or should be) the sole 'snugging mechanism.' The grip or friction coefficient for installation/removal and alignment of the plug should come from male/female conductor pair's interference-fit rather than an external sleeve on the FEIC. Of course the sleeve doesn't hurt anything but doesn't gain anything either from an electrical or conductivity POV. If the IEC is loose/sloppy its because the contacts are loose/sloppy and external sleeving won't fix, cure or heal that. It might lessen it slightly in some instances but given that's possible we'd be remiss to not at least acknowledge, with manufacturing tolerances, it also risks making it worse. It might push one conductor more tightly into one side conductor but away from the opposite conductor as well. Best to allow all four female conductors to center & self-align the two male spades & ground pin upon plug-in... it is after all, the grand design of things. Then make a test-pull on the FIEC with a cheap fish scale (available for <$10 on Amazon and others). If it takes more than 3-4 lbs effort to remove the FIEC from it's conductor's grip ALONE then you should be good-to-go. If it pulls out easier than that I'd suggest looking for a better quality part, pinching or pinching tighter. But hey, that's just me!

[mauidan]

Tightening the internal contacts is a very good suggestion.

I tried this when I built my first Supra LoRad PC, but without a tight connection between the FIEC body and the MIEC,
I still got cable droop.

Adding the heat shrink solved the problem and I haven't had any problems for the last ten years.

IMO, unless you're using a PC FIEC and MIEC/PEM made by the same manufacturer, you have the potential for a loose/sloppy fit.

I'm sure Devialet's take on all of this, would be that the fit of the stock PCs into the PEMs is perfectly tight.

[Music or sound]

My group of 5 local audio guys who get together once a month tested a batch of FIEC plugs a year or so ago and were quite surprised with the results. Any/all full-size high-end/aftermarket FIEC's could easily lift & hold an 11lb/5kg component (a W4S mAMP mono block with 3 symposium acoustic upper feet w/o lower feet/bearings was the test weight). Full size F'tech F!-50, Oyaide and Watt-Gate FIEC's lifted and held fine with no slippage. We could easily pick the mono block up by its power cord/FIEC. Every other OEM cord with a OEM molded FIEC tested was also able to pick up and hold the amp with zero slippage after a couple minutes suspended. However, ALL... yep 100% of the modular DIY FIEC's failed before the component was off the pillows we were testing above. They were F'tech, Oyaide and Cardas. I don't remember model #'s but do know they were all split horizontally around their midline so that two halves could be separated and whatever power cord was on the menu could be used with them. This conveyed to us that DIY FIEC's can NEVER be as strong or have the electrical contact patch grip of a one-piece molded plug be it OEM or aftermarket.

Armed with that I think people have 3 choices they should be looking at FIEC-wise; 1) If you want the best-there-is ya lose the cover and buy the best there is! 2) If you want the next-best electrical contact coupled with most tenacious contact grip and to run the cover, use the Devialet OEM cord or a larger conductor gauge cord than OEM with an integral OEM or spliced-in aftermarket vulcanized/molded OEM FIEC plug and go! 3) If you want an aftermarket FIEC that allows you to run the cover and have exotic plating with a loose/sloppy fit I'd simply ask WHY!?! if your FIEC cord/terminal setup can't easily lift at least 7+lbs/3+Kg's and hold it for a minute or two without slipping away from it's socket I'd suggest looking around a bit... your's is leaking, making Rice Krispies sounds (even if you don't hear it) and leaving unused SQ on the table!

My bet is the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) has a specification related to grip tension just like NEMA does here in the states that would likely specify somewhere upwards of the 7+lbs/3+Kg's I mentioned above but I just know it would be dry read finding it and I'm not up for that today. Some days ya feel like a nut. Some days ya don't ;-)

I am not sure that lifting 5 kg is necessary but I find the Oyaide 4781 which fits the D250 easily does not make good connections with Devialets and also sounds not so good but works on some other equipment well (blade width seems to vary). I find the recent Cardas (some recent Furutech model look very much the same)to give a good grip and sound good but need some sanding on the upper/ right side not to obstruct the cover of the D250.

[Manoet]

Nor do I believe a 5kg 'tooth' to be overly important but surprisingly achievable with any number of OEM M/F IEC outlet combinations. With that said however, I can't think of a soul who'd throw one back if it did! Its those pesky modular 2-piece FIEC's with the midline horizontal separation around their entire circumference that can't seem to get an acceptably tenacious grip on their respective mating male blades. The one-piece noses have nowhere near the same problems/issues related to loose/sloppy fitment due to much more heavy-duty and robust clamping force... good thing too as you probably can't gain access to pinch their female conductors further-closed.

I do believe 3lbs (tested) conductor only grip to be a good jumping-off point and so very easy to do with a cheap LED or spring operated mechanical $5 fish weighing scale.

Interestingly I measured a handful of FIEC/MIEC's while writing some of the earlier posts and most were spot-on tho a few were .1 to .15mm outta whack. The MEIC's were all 24 X 16 specification and all one-piece FEIC's were the correct 23 X 15 including the OEM molded power cord FEIC's. Not surprisingly it was ALL full-split housing model FEIC's with the variance. This tells me most are very good but split-nose FEIC's should be avoided. An interesting aside to this is all split-nose FEIC's seem under good lighting and 4-12 X magnification to be 100% cast parts while all one-piece noses seem to be molded parts, absent of any casting marks/indications whatsoever. Even when a cast, split-body with a one-piece nose are assembled the body appears cast and the nose molded as separate parts then attached to the cast, split-body. Ok, never mind, just figured it out. Because heavy-duty conductors have to be completely encased in their housings, they are molded instead of cast one-piece noses due to risk of splitting, cracking or splintering upon insertion of plug. Those more robust moldings containing more robust internal conductors are fitted into the cast bodies as cast parts can never take the plug-in expansion stress or contain conductors anywhere near as robust as the molded part without risk of fracturing. A molded one-piece nose integrated into a cast two-piece housing. There it is... I think we've nailed it!

[Antoine]

My power cords have Oyaide p-079e IEC plugs and they indeed also have some room/aren't a perfect and tight fit. However I do feel there's a solid electrical connection as I feel the 'click' when inserting the IEC.

The heat shrink is a good tip, although I suppose some layers of electrical insulating tape will do the trick as well.

[Music or sound]

I am confused: isn't the P-079e is a wall plug?
What counts in an IEC female connector is that there is a good electrical contact from either 2 spring plates or some U shaped blade ( like some Martin Kaiser IEC plugs have). The last version can make good contact initially but weakens over time as do designs which use too soft metal (like pure cooper - which is great for male side as there is no spring action required). I bought a cheap small no-name IEC plug made from beryllium copper many years ago and it was great but never found it again.