Anyone know what kind of power cord this is?

[Zorlond]

Lemme start off by saying Dell has thoroughly failed to impress me with their professionalism today. Tried to get some help from them for a recent purchase, and after being bounced around on the phone to Six different departments, each of which said that they were the wrong department for the issue, I arrived to someone who's phone kept cutting in and out every half second, making conversation impossible on any level. I finally hung up to find out I had been on the phone over an hour to get nowhere...

The item I ordered was a UPS, a handy little thing that keeps your PC running when the electricity gets twitchy or blackouts completely. Just one problem. The power cord included, which supposedly plugs into the wall, has a prong that has been turned 90 degrees. It was clearly designed this way, and it also cannot fit into any wall socket in my entire house. What kind of plug is this supposed to go into? Does anyone out there know?

[Palomine]

A picture would help, or even mention of what part of the world you live in (as some kinds of AC connectors are regional). You should be able to ID it specifically using this Wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_power_plugs_and_sockets

...(the North American ones are about halfway down, assuming you're in N.A.) and then get an adapter of some sort if possible. Assuming the UPS is rated for regular 110VAC household current, and it has a standard computer power cord socket on the back, couldn't you just swap out your funny cord for a regular computer power cord?

Yes I agree btw, Dell generally sucks dirty donkey d1ck, based on my experience as a Dell customer.

[Zorlond]

I live in the US, where most plugs are like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Domestic_AC_Type_B_USA.jpg

However, the cord they sent has one of the flat prongs turned 90 degrees. So it looks a bit more like it would fit into this socket:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:I-_outlet.jpg

The socket in that picture doesn't have a hole for the ground pin, though. According to that Wiki page, it is also a US outlet, but I have never seen one configured like that before. There certainly isn't one in my house.
I'll take a look at the documentation for whatever electrical stats it might have, but I'm not hopeful.

What really bites is I ordered this thing on the advice of a Dell sales rep. Not gonna make that mistake again!

[Zorlond]

Well, anyone got some salt for this crow wing I'm munching on?

Since the wiki page said that socket was in the US, somewhere, I looked around the house again. In a section that had gotten remodled some years ago, I found a socket this cord could plug into. Yay. (for reference, the socket looks like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Electrical_outlet_with_label.jpg )

Now for the 'Boo' part. The room with this socket is downstairs, and already has someone else's computer in it. Boo.

Doesn't excuse Dell's abysmal tech support, though.

[Zorlond]

A check on Amazon revealed adapters that, as stated in the customer reviews, are apparently a bad idea because the wiring is likely to short out of I try to use them.

So I either risk starting a fire in my house, get an electrician in here to re-wire one room, give the UPS away as a gift to the owner of the downstairs computer, or find a hella lot of paper to use my shiny new paperweight with...

*sigh* Can some kind soul offer an alternative?

[Palomine]

A check on Amazon revealed adapters that, as stated in the customer reviews, are apparently a bad idea because the wiring is likely to short out of I try to use them.

So I either risk starting a fire in my house, get an electrician in here to re-wire one room, give the UPS away as a gift to the owner of the downstairs computer, or find a hella lot of paper to use my shiny new paperweight with...

*sigh* Can some kind soul offer an alternative?

Again, please just confirm that you live in the states and use our standard 110VAC power at home. And please provide a pic of the funny plug that came with the UPS so we can know what it is you're trying to deal with.

If it's just an uncommon plug but is still used for regular 110VAC grounded power, you can change a socket in the wall to have the appropriate recepticle. It will involve a maximum of 4 screws and cost no more than $15. max to do that... assuming you can shut off the circuit breaker for that socket and are comfortable doing it yourself.

Alternately, you can get a different cord (again, voltages allowing).

And finally, the correct adapter, properly used, will not 'short' anything.

Is this UPS old? Do you even know if the battery is good anymore? They're just regular lead-acid batteries and require replacing every 3-6 years usually IME. It might not even be worth going to this trouble... a replacement battery often costs more (with shipping) than getting a new UPS with the same amp-hour rating.

Again, if you can provide some info/pix about what you're dealing with, it'd make trying to help you a lot easier.

[Zorlond]

Wish I could provide a pic of my own. No digital camera, no cell phone. Sorry I'm not more "plugged in". Not sure I'm sorry about the pun, though.

The other end of the cord is a special design for the back of the UPS (no surprise), the other computer cords I have won't fit that end.

The UPS is brand-new, ordered and bought this month, arrived today. Battery should be fine, unless Dell decided to **** that up too...

The adapter I noticed was this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002GXPF4/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_g267_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1WH3RQKWBR2PX4QAC7K5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

The female end of the picture on that page looks like it'd fit this UPS's cord perfectly. Dunno how I could explain it clearer with no picture-taking ability... But as I said, the reviews of that product warned to not use it in the first place.

Here's a slice of Dell's store page on the UPS's stats (didn't find a damn thing in the documentation):

Input Voltage AC 100/110/120/127 V
Frequency Required 50/60 Hz
Input Connector(s) 1 x power IEC 320 EN 60320 C20
Power Output Connectors Details 10 x power NEMA 5-20
Power Provided 1.92 kW

I do indeed live in the US (NH, specifically), and the house I'm in has been here for 200-some-odd years. The circuit breaker box is pretty new (within a decade at most, hasn't even lost it's glossy yet), and while I am not privy to the exact stats of the wiring here, I did notice a '120/240V' mark on the big main breaker. Sorry I can't provide anything more specific.

[Zorlond]

Dell just called me back.

Guy wanted to help me with the issue I called them about this morning.

When I told him what it was, he offered to bounce me to another department.

..... I tried to be as polite as possible when I told him 'no'. >: (

[Palomine]

Wish I could provide a pic of my own. No digital camera, no cell phone. Sorry I'm not more "plugged in". Not sure I'm sorry about the pun, though.

The other end of the cord is a special design for the back of the UPS (no surprise), the other computer cords I have won't fit that end.

The UPS is brand-new, ordered and bought this month, arrived today. Battery should be fine, unless Dell decided to **** that up too...

The adapter I noticed was this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002GXPF4/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_d0_g267_i3?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1WH3RQKWBR2PX4QAC7K5&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

The female end of the picture on that page looks like it'd fit this UPS's cord perfectly. Dunno how I could explain it clearer with no picture-taking ability... But as I said, the reviews of that product warned to not use it in the first place.

Here's a slice of Dell's store page on the UPS's stats (didn't find a damn thing in the documentation):

Input Voltage AC 100/110/120/127 V
Frequency Required 50/60 Hz
Input Connector(s) 1 x power IEC 320 EN 60320 C20
Power Output Connectors Details 10 x power NEMA 5-20
Power Provided 1.92 kW

I do indeed live in the US (NH, specifically), and the house I'm in has been here for 200-some-odd years. The circuit breaker box is pretty new (within a decade at most, hasn't even lost it's glossy yet), and while I am not privy to the exact stats of the wiring here, I did notice a '120/240V' mark on the big main breaker. Sorry I can't provide anything more specific.

That info is all that was needed, thanks.

The socket on that adapter (which you say fits the prongs on the plug on the back of the UPS) is known as a NEMA 6-20 (amp) ...pic attached. Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3ANEMA_connector If you think that will fit the UPS, I'd say go ahead and buy it... it's not any more likely to cause a short than whatever cord Dell originally supplied by itself. Adding the adapter to the NEMA cord Dell supplied shouldn't be any problem or create any significant risk at all.

If Dell hadn't disclosed that the UPS had a non-standard connector on back, they'd be at fault. However, from your cut-and-paste of the specs on it from their site:

"Power Output Connectors Details 10 x power NEMA 5-20"

...they did mention it: "NEMA". The fact remains that nobody (I know) has the NEMA receptacle at home. You could try to duke it out with them, but that'd take more time and effort than just paying for the adapter. Good luck!

PS: this other Wiki page is the one I use a lot for identifying other kinds of odd AC power cords... it doesn't apply in this case, but I'm linking it for future reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320

[Zorlond]

Oh, the power cord's a 10-foot'er, plenty long enough to reach. It was just the male end that's all wrong... But if the adapter's likely to be fine, then I guess the only issue is shelling out $20 and waiting another few days.

I think you might have misunderstood, though. The NEMA end is the male end, the one that goes into the wall socket (which, as you mentioned, isn't common in homes, and I wasn't even aware of the distinction, thus the mention in the tech specs is near-useless unless you're tech-savvy or an electrician (I only really knot that volts, amps, and watts are all pretty important and should match up where possible)). The female end (that goes in the back of the UPS) is another shape I don't recognize, and I figured Dell made it themselves to make sure anyone who wanted a new cord had to go through them. If you're curious, it looks a bit like a computer power cord's female end, except instead of three vertical slots, it's three horizontal slots. But whatever.

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In any case, Much Appreciated for the help, Palomine.

You're welcome and I agree, it's just Dell being a PITA: most every consumer-level UPS I've seen takes a standard computer power cord, of which we all have dozens of extras lying around. The connector that looks like a computer power connector but has horizontal prongs instead is a IEC 60320, either a C19 (rectangular exterior) or a C21 (vaguely traepezoidal exterior).

Barring some missing info, the adapter you linked to should work fine to connect Dell's original/weird IEC 60320 to NEMA cord to a standard grounded socket in your house. Take care! -Pal

Oh yeah, it's a grounded socket. Wouldn't dare plug a PC into anything else! -Z

[MasterDragonfly]

After going through this thread for the first time and clicking this and that, let me offer up this tidbit:

It seems the NEMA 6-20, as has been touched on, is rated for 20 amps. And it would seem the standard 3-prong outlet is only rated for 15 amps. Which, going from distant memory, is pretty typical for a serious 110/120V appliance.

See if you can find out how many amps the UPS is rated for. If it's 15A tops, you should be golden.

Conversely, see if you can find out what the rating of the outlet is that you want to plug into. Meaning:

- the rating of the plug socket itself
- the rating of the wire which goes back to the main panel
- the rating of the circuit breaker which services that wire

Clearly a 20A draw on a 15A capacity circuit would turn that wire into a wall toaster. Not something you want.

You could probably find out how to vet this yourself, but if you want to be absolutely certain, hire an electrician if only to double-check your work. You could optionally get a quote to have it upgraded, but I suspect this isn't a direction you want to pursue.

We've got 3 UPS's, off the shelf from Best Buy (going from memory). I think they were around $65/ea. One services the TV/DVR/DVD/receiver, one services the big Mac, and one services the router/games room TV/Xbox/Wii. Regular plug.

[SamV]

Most backup UPSs that are rated at more that about 1.5 KVA or higher will typical require a 20 Amp rated electrical service outlet. But then most US homes only have outlets and wiring rated to handle up to 15 Amps. That is why the higher rated male electrical plug is different on this UPS so you can't plug it in to an inadequate female outlet.

Now the other thing wrong about this UPS is the size. Most UPS's with a power rating over about 1.0 KVA are typically used to provide power protection to medium to large file servers, not desktops. And most file servers that require that size of a UPS are usually used in commercial buildings that have been wired with 20 Amp or more electrical service for their data center.

So with an output rating of 1.92 KW on this UPS I'm not sure why you purchased such a large unit, but I wouldn't go plugging it in anywhere in your home using any kind of an electrical adapter because you may be creating a potential fire hazard.

Better to return it and get one more properly sized for use on a desktop computer. On my own desktops I'm using one rated at 550 VA, which provides plenty of power to allow the computer to graceful shutdown in the event of a long lasting electrical outage.
   

[rtpoe]

Oh, and if it's a Monster brand cable, it's priced about ten times what it's really worth....