Power bar question

Posted by: Mike Sae on 22 January 2002

Does anyone know the technical terms for power bars which are soldered at one point:

versus ones that are hooked up at multiple points:

thanks!

Posted on: 23 January 2002 by Craig B

Hi Mike,

The plastic bodied el-cheapo has its 'sockets' wired in series via a (somewhat tatty looking) bus bar arrangement, whereas, the electrical box appears to have its duplex sockets split and then wired in a diasy chained series arrangement following the AC cords entry into the box in both cases.

The electrical box would offer far superior performance due to it not including a voltage dependant resistor (VDR), a power switch, or a 15 amp circuit breaker(?) as does the plastic power bar.

Having tried a large number of different arrangements over the years, I have found that a quality directly connected (ie. no switches, breakers or especially VDRs), series wired, bus bar work best. The Wiremold (US) is the best off the shelf solution, however, Hammond (Canada) also offer a very well built switchless model for much less money (although it does includes an easily removable circuit breaker). I use the Wiremold in my main system and a modified Hammond in my second 'spare room' system.

E-mail me offline if you would like model numbers and contact information.

Craig

Posted on: 23 January 2002 by Mike Sae

I'll call the homemade box a "daisy chain" arragement, then.

quote:
The Wiremold (US) is the best off the shelf solution, however, Hammond (Canada) also offer a very well built switchless model

Is the Wiremold L10320 wired in series?

Where does one get a Hammond? I seem to recall the name... Home Depot?

Posted on: 23 January 2002 by Mike Sae

is the Musicworks block wired in series as well?

Posted on: 23 January 2002 by Craig B

I haven't had a look inside the Wiremold. It has an alloy housing with what appear to be separate molded sockets rather than socket pairs. Judging by the layout I would think that they are wired in series using a bus bar arrangement. Maybe David Dever has some details here.

I haven't noticed the Hammond brand in the local Home Depot. I got mine from Allied Electronics. The quality of the Hammond is right up there with the Wiremold.

Mine is a model 1584H6A1 15amp, 6 outlet (4 and 8 outlet versions are available), 6ft 14ga. cord with NEMA 5-15P straight blade plug similar to that on Naim power cords, red illuminated (neon) power switch (removed) and 15 amp circuit breaker (removed). The parts are all very high quality and can even be ordered separately as spares.

Interestingly, Hammond started out in 1917 producing tube radio receivers and is located in Guelph, Ontario. Check them out at Hammond Manufacturing.

Craig
P.S. I don't know anything about the Musicworks blocks. The search moped should reveal something about their construction.