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2 prong cord to three prong [message #24567] Sat, 30 January 2016 10:58 Go to next message
bproctor is currently offline  bproctor
Messages: 11
Registered: December 2015
Location: BOSTON
Junior Member
First off,
I am sure this topic gets brought up a lot, so I apologize.
I have researched this a bit and have some questions about the process.

Here is my plan:
Buy 14 gauge , 3 wire cord.
Remove lug from death cap, remove death cap, solder this lug to the ground (which will be the longest of the three cords), and install the ground on the chasis bolt where the death cap was installed.

Install cord strain relief.

Now, it gets tricky:
Some folks say attach white and black to the original locations.

1. If I do this, I assume i will still have the ability to switch polarity. Is this a good thing?
2. I am a little worried about the solder and the fuse. Could I connect the new cord to the old cord leads using wire nuts or is that not smart given cord strain?
3. I have heard that people simply wire the white to the white transformer lead and change the wiring on the switch so that both pulls have the same effect. This seems easy to screw up as both my transformer wires are black and the DPDT switch seems a bit complicated.

In short, I would love to simply attach wire nuts to the old leads, install the ground, install the cord relief and call it a day, but is this a good idea?

Re: 2 prong cord to three prong [message #24571 is a reply to message #24567] Sat, 30 January 2016 11:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
chicagobill
Messages: 2005
Registered: April 2003
Senior Member
Your basic plan is fine, as long as the amp is always plugged into a correctly grounded outlet. As you noted, the power switch will still swap the Hot and Neutral connections to the power transformer. As long as the ground cap has been removed and the chassis is grounded to earth, this really shouldn't matter. It would not pass a technical inspection wired like this.

As for soldering or wire nuts, either method would be fine as long as the correct size wire nuts are used.
Re: 2 prong cord to three prong [message #24573 is a reply to message #24567] Sat, 30 January 2016 12:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
carlc is currently offline  carlc
Messages: 143
Registered: July 2006
Location: Summerville, SC
Senior Member
Don't use wire nuts. It's a pretty easy process to put in a new power cord. Remove the death cap and wire the new cord the same as the old one: White to where white was and black to to where black was. Secure the green wire to ground on the chassis either by soldering or via a lug. And of course the new power cord through the strain relief.
Re: 2 prong cord to three prong [message #24583 is a reply to message #24573] Sat, 30 January 2016 14:05 Go to previous message
pleat is currently offline  pleat
Messages: 1452
Registered: June 2004
Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
A tip that I use when replacing the AC cable. I buy good quality extension cord of 12 or 18 feet if I can find one. I cut off the female end to poke through the chassis hole. Before any wiring is done, I take the Male end of the extension cord, place it between the cord wraps and wind up the cable until I have just enough left to complete the wiring process.

Doing this will avoid having the male plug at the end of the cord wraps and then it's hard to secure, the plug.

pleat
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