Replacing vintage AC cord

[Mac Doktor]

I bought a Systron-Donner counter from eBay a few months back. Naturally the cord was chopped off and the fuse cap removed. 

I'm having trouble finding a suitable replacement.  It amounts to three conductor zip cord. I know I'm not going find the original stuff, at least not at a price mortals can afford.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

“...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", Cosmos, 1980

[Craig Smuda]

Not exactly what you want but Sundial Wire has 3-conductor options that might look quite good: https://sundialwire.com/collections/3-conductor-wire

On Apr 4, 2024, 8:55 PM -0500, Mac Doktor <themac...@gmail.com>, wrote:

I bought a Systron-Donner counter from eBay a few months back. Naturally the cord was chopped off and the fuse cap removed. 

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I'm having trouble finding a suitable replacement.  It amounts to three conductor zip cord. I know I'm not going find the original stuff, at least not at a price mortals can afford.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

“...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars, it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night", Cosmos, 1980

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[Craig Smuda]

SPT-2 or SPT-3 might also be close in the 3-conductor variant as at https://www.awcwire.com/power-cable-and-portable-cord/spt-3

[Toby Thain]

On 2024-04-04 9:55 p.m., Mac Doktor wrote:
> I bought a Systron-Donner counter from eBay a few months back. Naturally
> the cord was chopped off and the fuse cap removed.
>
>

> I'm having trouble finding a suitable replacement.  It amounts to three
> conductor zip cord. I know I'm not going find the original stuff, at
> least not at a price mortals can afford.

Suitable 3 wire cords with North American plug are available at Digikey
and Mouser, unless I'm misunderstanding the type you need. I even found
a coiled one to replace a similar one on a Tektronix 602 that was
wearing out.

--Toby

>
>
> Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
> "The Mac Doctor"
>

> https://www.astarcloseup.com <https://www.astarcloseup.com>

>
> “...the book said something astonishing, a very big thought. The stars,
> it said, were suns but very far away. The Sun was a star but close

> up.”—Carl Sagan, "The Backbone Of Night",/Cosmos/, 1980

>
>
> --
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> Groups "neonixie-l" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send
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[gregebert]

I've had battles with some of the strain-reliefs in the past. If they dont break coming out, they often will when going back in so best to get some spares if you can.

I'm not sure who adopted the IEC power connectors first, but they deserve a Nobel prize in my opinion.

[Mac Doktor]

Thanks to everyone who replied, here or privately. I have a lot to consider now.

On Apr 5, 2024, at 12:13 PM, gregebert <greg...@hotmail.com> wrote:

I've had battles with some of the strain-reliefs in the past. If they dont break coming out, they often will when going back in so best to get some spares if you can.

This one survived. It came out surprisingly easily.

I'm not sure who adopted the IEC power connectors first, but they deserve a Nobel prize in my opinion.

I've laid in a supply of the earlier cords with the funky connector. The ones uses by HP etc. They work well but they're getting pretty scare and it's really hard to find ones with the polarity "un-reversed". And then there are the sockets that have broken. The insulator is a flimsy piece of phenolic.

The less said about CD jewel cases the better. The most in-your-face obsolescent thing ever foisted on the public.

Terry Bowman, KA4HJH
"The Mac Doctor"

https://www.astarcloseup.com

“We’ve arranged a society on science and technology in which nobody understands anything about science and technology, and this combustible mixture of ignorance and power sooner or later is going to blow up in our faces. I mean, who is running the science and technology in a democracy if the people don’t know anything about it.”—Carl Sagan to Charlie Rose, May 27, 1996 (Sagan's last interview)

[Nick Andrews]

If you want a permanently attached cord,  you could cut the rectangular end off an IEC cord and install it with the strain relief. 

The fuse holder should be easy to find. 

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[J Forbes]

Huh....there is a Digital Museum of Plugs and Sockets....

https://www.plugsocketmuseum.nl/PowerCord1.html

[Mark Moulding]

I've had good luck just buying an extension cord and chopping off the female end.  They're available in all sorts of configurations, including the three-wire zip cord you described, and are often cheaper than the cost of the desired wire alone if purchased by by the foot.  The molded plug looks completely professional, too.

~~
Mark