Steamer / kettle (not) PC lead?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Maplins for the "kettle" plug and make a for it.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[T i m]

Hi All,

I needed to use my wallpaper stripper / steamer the other day and found the power lead was missing? ;-(

A quick drive round all the likely places turned up nothing so I bought a new steamer .

I still need to replace the missing lead but find eBay / the net littered with what they describe as 'Kettle Leads' that wouldn't fit

*my* kettle (well it boils water ) and if they did they would probably melt because they are generally 'cold plugs' (the difference being the 'hot' 'kettle plugs' generally (always?) have a notch between two of the pins so you can't use a cold (PC) type plug in them by mistake).

I did think about buying a cheapo kettle just for the lead (I could put the kettle in my decorating box for brewups ) cbut they are all hard wired or on power bases these days?

1) Is there a common 'high street' place where I might pick one up please?

2) How did the missuse of the term 'Kettle lead' come about? (when I first saw both I realised there was a difference and guessed for a good reason)?

Or maybe you can get 'hot', non notched plugs?

All the best ..

T i m

[Harry Bloomfield]

T i m expressed precisely :

I didn't know about the 'notch', but the correct name for them is an IEC plug.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

It may have started in broadcasting - at least that's where I first heard it when IECs started replacing XRL LNE mains connectors - and falling out. ;-)

[Derek ^]

Kettle leads used to be easy to find in blister packs in supermarkets, I guess your line above explains why not so now nowadays.

The correct term is "Hot Condition" line socket (the plug would be the mating half on the kettle / steamer).

Product ID 447-027

Maplin

offer a "Hot Condition Euro Line Socket" product ID MK20W for £2.13. They have stores all over and will do mail order online.

Guess if it's got the notch then you can depend on it's performance in hot conditions according to some standard.

DG

[Frank Erskine]

I once mislaid my lead, so I went to B&Q (where I'd bought the stripper) and asked a guy in the relevant section whether I could buy a replacement. He rummaged around in a little cubby-hole and found a spare lead (from a faulty stripper), and gave it me FOC !

[T i m]

Ah, I used to work with kit (and would sometimes add to our servers etc) a clipped version of the socket that stopped the plug falling out .. ;-)

All the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

I think both (kettle and PC) carry the IEC bit Harry, if this is anything to go by?

the best ..

T i m

[T i m]

I did see that but the pic wasn't clear enough to be sure?

Cheers though ..

All the best ..

T i m

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

It doesn't have the groove if thats any help.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[T i m]

Yeah, I swore I saw such too .. ;-(

Thanks for that. The 'problem' with mail order is by the time I've bought the cable Plus Vat n P&P I'm not far short of a new steamer .. ?

Nothing 'local' to me though though, and you know how easy is is on there to get to the free postage valye .. ;-)

I believe so. I *think* you can use the notched ones in the non noched sockets so they would be more versatile?

All the best .. and thanks for the links etc

T i m

[T i m]

It is, ta ;-)

T i m

[T i m]

Result! .. And you *can* sometimes get help like that.

I believe 'officially' he shouldn't let you have it as any returns / ex display stuff have to 'go back' or be tested before they can sell them again (rules, shrug) ;-(

All the best ..

T i m

[Harry Bloomfield]

The plug and the socket are both called IEC and so far as I am aware, the kettle version is identical/interchangeable with the PC version - other than the length of lead and the 13amp plug fuse rating.

[Dave Liquorice]

Yeah thats fine for a bit of kit that is installed, left alone for a while, decomissioned and removed. But the stuff Dave and I am talking about would be chucked in flight case (or cardboard box), used for a few hours, bunged back in the box, thrown in the back of a wagon driven around a bit, used again somewhere else for a few hours and so on. The fiddly bit of wire wasn't strong enough to survive this stort of treatment long and tended to need a socket designed for it not a random one pulled from the box of 50 others in the back of the truck.

Then of course there are all the ones stuffed up the back of racks of kit that vibrate out during transit... IEC, PITA, don't like 'em.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

'Hot' condition IEC are rated at 10 amps. IEC line sockets may be 6.

[Adrian C]

Er... No.

An IEC lead intended for a PC won't fit into a kettle. The on-kettle receptacle has a lump of plastic in the way - and requires the IEC kettle lead variant which is notched.

[John Rumm]

Sort of... and IEC HOT (with notch) femail connector (for that is actually the sex of what most people call the "plug") will fit into either a HOT or COLD "socket". The reverse is not true.

(which all make sense when you think about it - you kettle lead will power your PC without risk but not the other way around)

[<me9]

Some kettles do use the 'cold' version of the lead.

[Harry Bloomfield]

In that case, I stand corrected. I don't have an older type kettle with which I could check for the notch, but I do remember being able to use kettle leads with PC's in emergencies.