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Medical Grade Power Cords?

post #1 of 16
10/18/09 at 4:09am
Thread Starter 
This one's for the cable believers;

If audiophile grade power cords are designed to eliminate EMI and RFI to produce a cleaner transmission of electricity to your components, what's your take on medical/hospital grade power cords?

To my (limited) understanding, these cords are supposed to be badass. Am I wrong?
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post #2 of 16
10/18/09 at 11:27am
I believe they're supposed to be snugger fitting when plugged in. As in, less likely to become unplugged if tripped over, stressed, etc.

Source.
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post #3 of 16
10/18/09 at 12:38pm
Here is a link on medical grade power cords, it's mostly about the plug

http://www.interpower.com/ic/medical_info.asp#T1
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post #4 of 16
10/18/09 at 12:59pm
Are these the cable you were referring to?





I think these are being sold for USD $70/ each
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post #5 of 16
10/18/09 at 1:15pm
I buy hospital grade because the specs on them are top notch and they are cheaper then audiophile offerings. You can get jellyfish cables for half the price they are sold for easily, you can even find them easily on google product search by searching for "hospital power cord".
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post #6 of 16
10/18/09 at 1:41pm
For hospital grade cords you could try these. NEW Lot of 6 - Hospital Grade Power Cord Cables 8' - eBay (item 380150544672 end time Sep-17-09 17:52:12 PDT)
I ordered these and they are just as described.
These are not hospital grade but are heavy gauge and good quality. Amazon.com: Propower Detachable Iec Power Cord: Electronics The price is up about $8 since I ordered mine.

I wanted to find some cheap quality power cables to see if I could hear any improvements from my gear. I'm still working on that.
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post #7 of 16
10/18/09 at 3:26pm
I have the ones from Amazon and I agree that for the money they are quite good. I remember paying under $10, but it was at least a year ago.
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post #8 of 16
10/18/09 at 3:27pm
I usually buy these. Kind of long though:

Hospital Medical Grade Power Cord - www.Cables.com
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post #9 of 16
10/18/09 at 5:43pm
I'm using a one foot hospital cord. Got it from a Stryker rep. installing monitors. It works real nice out of an isolation transformer for my DAC.
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post #10 of 16
10/18/09 at 6:20pm
I feel confident that hospital grade power cords will have better strain relief, and will be more resistant to corrosion by blood
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post #11 of 16
10/18/09 at 6:29pm
These are all I buy for more expensive equipment. It is a cheaper way to get more substantial cables that are built well.
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post #12 of 16
10/18/09 at 6:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by xkRoWx View Post
This one's for the cable believers;

If audiophile grade power cords are designed to eliminate EMI and RFI to produce a cleaner transmission of electricity to your components, what's your take on medical/hospital grade power cords?

To my (limited) understanding, these cords are supposed to be badass. Am I wrong?
It would depend on the power supply inside your gear.

Some power supplies are designed to remove EMI and RFI from the power. Not to mention filtering and cleaning the AC into nice DC. That's not a magical mystery proposition, either. You can use standard test equipment to conclusively prove that a power supply does these things.

Oh, and if you want to filter RFI and EMI, you can always use something like this:



That's an IEC jack with built in RFI and EMI filtering.

They're about $3 or $4.
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post #13 of 16
10/19/09 at 5:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by crapback View Post
I ordered these and they are just as described.
These are not hospital grade but are heavy gauge and good quality. Amazon.com: Propower Detachable Iec Power Cord: Electronics The price is up about $8 since I ordered mine.
Although those cables are heavy gauge, AC power cords are available in even heavier gauge. And it was my understanding that in addition to heavy gauge that a "shielded" cable is also a feature that's desirable. It does state that it features a Heavy-duty UltraFlex jacket for maximum cable protection. But I''m not sure that's going to adequately shield against radiated noise generated by the equipment its plugged into. Can anyone verify?

And would this be a good AC cable for use between the wall receptacle and a power conditioner?
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post #14 of 16
10/19/09 at 6:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by HotHead View Post
But I''m not sure that's going to adequately shield against radiated noise generated by the equipment its plugged into. Can anyone verify?

And would this be a good AC cable for use between the wall receptacle and a power conditioner?
First, you have to know whether radiated noise is actually present. Otherwise, that's like putting on sunscreen before touring a cave. You can go on and on about the SPF, but you're not going to need it if you're not in the sun.

Second, not all radiated noise comes in through the power cord. Radio frequency interference (RFI) comes in and bounces around the room just like a sound wave will. The power cable does not necessarily let the RFI into the gear. The RFI can get in directly through a case, an interconnect, or even a tube sticking out of the top. If the RFI is coming in through the case, then how will a shielded power cable do any good?

Third, people don't seem to realize that a power supply is a power conditioner. There's lots of literature on this. You can also build a power supply and see for yourself. Power supplies clean and filter power. You can take a "belt and suspenders" approach, but that's just more money spent and with no real benefit.
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post #15 of 16
10/19/09 at 7:25am
Very informative, thanks. But I'm still wondering if This Cable's Heavy-duty UltraFlex jacket indicates that its actually a "shielded" cable and if its acceptable for use in an application between wall socket and power conditioner.
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