Where to get (new?) power cords for vintage sets?
 

Among the things which need attention on my RCA are the power cord... cracked insulation, and a prior repair attempt with the end of a lamp cord twisted on and taped over. Amazing someone would try to use something like this everyday :eek:

I carefully drilled out the rivets holding it to the back cover and am using it as a cheater cord for now. Where does one get a serviceable power cord these days? Rob one off a junk set?

Thanks!

-Jason

Partly depends on how vintage - are both pins the same size, or is it polarized?
You can find sometimes on ebay by searching for cheater cord (but may not be the kind you need). Searching line cord or power cord gets you too many PC power supply cords, etc.

- good luck

It's a 57. Non polarized plug as I recall.

I'll keep looking on eBay.

Thanks,

-J

I googled "cheater cord" and found a place called Ken's - don't believe I have ever dealt with them, so no guarantees.

Belden 8871, 8872, 8873 and 8874 are part numbers for the polarized and non-polarized Cheater cords. We used to sell them in the 80's at the distributor I worked for. Dunno which one is which now, some had ears for rivets, others were "true" cheater cords, without the ears.

The long-nose Zenith cheater cord was another series, IIRC. Usually, a call to Zenith was necessary, as Carol cable and Zenith were about the only suppliers for the Zenith cord.

Some (early) Panasonic AC cords in the figure 8 style worked with standard AC interrlocks, but the newer stufff won't.

I recall we had about 15 - 20 cheater cords, and even one "suicide cord" with aligator clips on the end.

All told, we had cords for Sony 4 and 6 pin, BSR turntables, V-M Turntables, Polarized, non-polarized, one Panasonic "D",one Panasonic 8, early and late, an RCA 2-wire IEC, a Hitachi boombox cheater, a Zenith long nose, a dual cheater (for service calls), and a homemade Grundig table radio one, made of some of the greenest, stinkiest epoxy ever.

Edit:
Here's a pix of the 8873: www.talonix.com/images/pwr/Belden8873.jpg Still dunno about the rest.
Cheers,

Anyone know offhand the center-to-center distance of the two male prongs on an interlock? Mouser has Kobiconn, Volex and Qualtek two wire AC cords of varying center distances and diameters. Just another possible source.

I checked the usual suspects - MAT, ACME, UED and MCM, no joy. AES, maybe?

Cheers,

May want to also try Antique Electronic Supply, RadioDaze, Newark, Allied.

Tip from my Dad, a retired TV tech: GE hand mixers from the 60's and 70's had detachable cords that were ideal non-polarized cheater cords. Heavy duty - some were 16 gauge stranded, versus the 18 gauge SPT-1 wire. We had two of them - a red one and a white one. When the female connector got loose, we just crimped them a bit with a pair of pliers.

Just about any appliance service place should have them -

Here's a photo of one:

http://www.junque-ez.com/images/cata...ectric_540.jpg

No association with the website, usual disclaimer.

Cheers,

If anyone is interested, I have new 18 ga 6' polarized power cords (white in color) packed 10 ea. $10 pp. If you want non-polarized cords, you can always grind off the "ears".

Power cords, or cheater cords? What's on the end opposite the AC line plug?

They are plain power cords, white in color with the end stripped back 1/2". No connector, just the power cord with a polarized plug.

Anyone tried one of these?

http://www.mcmelectronics.com/product/23-020

Looks real close, can't tell if it's polarized.

Kevin

This looks like the real deal for non polarized TV backs with interlock.


http://www.electronicplus.com/prodSe...&Submit=Search

Another version.

http://www.electronicplus.com/prodSe...&Submit=Search

I was able to put QTY 10 of each in the shopping cart, no idea if they're really in stock.

Kevin