What replacement power cord do I need?

December 8, 2014 7:25 PM

I have a Koss HG857 stereo (1, 2) with an amazingly corroded power... wall plug part (?) on the power cord. Anyway, what is the name/type of this power cord? The end that plugs into the stereo doesn't match any of the cords I've been able to find.

I don't know enough about electronics to be confident in buying things that don't look exactly the same. I am willing to accept the judgment of Metafilter if you all think some specific sort of not-totally-identical cord will work, however.

The cord has the following things imprinted on it:

• 3-61
• Kawasaki KS-18
• 125V 7A

I am pretty sure the corrosion is due to approximately a decade of direct exposure to very inexpensive chocolate. It's a sad, sad story that may also involve mice.

posted by SMPA to Technology (7 answers total)

It reminds me of rice cooker power cords. The important elements would be diameter of plugs and spacing between them. It is rated 7 Amps.

Might be similar.

My best suggestion would be to visit a thrift store and their wall of lonely plugs looking for a match.
posted by nickggully at 7:41 PM on December 8, 2014

Is the end that plugs into the device corroded, too? I can't tell from the pics. If not, why not just save yourself the sleuthing, cut the cord back far enough to skip well past the wall p;lug and damaged wires and put on a replacement plug like you can get in the electrical section of any hardware store for a couple bucks? All you need to hook one of those in is a generic pair of wire strippers and a screwdriver. They're perfectly reliable. I use them for smaller commercial dishwashers with my job.

Replacing a Plug on a Power Cord: A HomeDepot DIY Tutorial
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:54 PM on December 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

It looks like a C7 connector, you can buy one here.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:32 PM on December 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

Actually, it looks like a C1 (scroll up on Confess, Fletch's first link) - note the lack of keying / notches on the original.

Though IIRC the pin diameter & spacing is the same on both, so you can use a C7 in place of a C1 (but not visa versa).
posted by Pinback at 9:20 PM on December 8, 2014

Agreed on both; the C7 is probably going to be the universal replacement.

I just had to buy one for my CPAP power supply and could not for the life of me remember the proper IEC name, and kept on Googling "shaver cord", but of course that's a specific receptacle for British electric shavers.
posted by Kakkerlak at 9:36 PM on December 8, 2014

Scrap what I said - the pin spacing & current ratings differ between C1 & C7.

It's probably one of the similar Japanese 'standard' connectors. I'm on my phone so can't double-check, but a C7 will probably fit - just check the pin spacing against what Wikipedia says.
posted by Pinback at 9:58 PM on December 8, 2014

It's almost certainly a C7, without the notches. From my distant memories of the 80s, I remember the notchless style being predominant, but it's the same cable. These cables are common as dirt -- for example, most power bricks (i.e. laptop power supplies) have one of these running to the outlet. If the socket on your receiver isn't polarized (I doubt it is), you should be able to use just about anything that fits.

FWIW, the cable only supplies raw AC power to the component, so as long as the cable can handle the current draw it'll be fine. The danger is in the cable melting, not your receiver getting fried. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the notches in the newer cables were put there to keep people from using (possibly substandard) un-notched cables in newer components.
posted by neckro23 at 4:15 PM on December 9, 2014