Schurter IEC V Wattgate IEC

[worthingpagan]

Can someone tell me, apart from looks, what distinguishes these 2 apart from each other, other than price? How can the price difference be justified, they both do the same job. If I had a Silver Schurter,would it not perform better than a standard wattgate 320i? Yet it is 3x cheaper :scratch:

[Effem]

I will tell you what the difference is between a Schurter and a Wattgate.

The Schurter IEC connector is a frail delicate little thing that will arc like a bitch because the female 'tangs' inside the connector that fits on to the male pins on the IEC inlet are thin (in comparison to other IEC connectors), inclined to flex around and not return to shape, hence the arcing. I fitted Schurters for a while to the mains cables I sold and far too many were being returned for arcing problems so I discontinued fitting them. Went over to Bulgin IECs and no problems at all with them arcing.

The Wattgate is a well made connector, very easy to fit without any soldering skills being required. Whether or not there is "improved sound" from using them may be another matter because I never bothered to do an AB test against any other type of connector.

[worthingpagan]

I will tell you what the difference is between a Schurter and a Wattgate.

The Schurter IEC connector is a frail delicate little thing that will arc like a bitch because the female 'tangs' inside the connector that fits on to the male pins on the IEC inlet are thin (in comparison to other IEC connectors), inclined to flex around and not return to shape, hence the arcing. I fitted Schurters for a while to the mains cables I sold and far too many were being returned for arcing problems so I discontinued fitting them. Went over to Bulgin IECs and no problems at all with them arcing.

The Wattgate is a well made connector, very easy to fit without any soldering skills being required. Whether or not there is "improved sound" from using them may be another matter because I never bothered to do an AB test against any other type of connector.



Crikey Frank, i'm worried now................i've ordered replacements now and will swap the Schurter's out of the equation for good, cheers for the info, good man :cool:

[Mark Grant]

The Schurters have a 'fork' shaped contact which only grips at the end.

Look at the photo here:

http://www.canford.co.uk/images/itemimages/large/42-051_02.jpg

The best reasonable price IEC I could find was Martin Kaiser for Germany which is why I started using them a few years ago. Others now copy, as usual. :)

Look at the contacts in the Martin Kaiser in this picture on my site:

http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=45_16&products_id=112

The Martin Kaiser IEC has a contacts that have parallel sides and grips the pins in the sockets completely.

If any customer ever makes a negative comment about the Martin Kaiser 794 it is that is is too tight :) ( It should be tight)

There is an ebay Shurter seller that claims the Martin Kaiser are made from 'thin strips of bent steel' but they are actually good quality brass contacts, not steel and most places supply them silver or gold plated etc.

Not tried the Bulgin IEC for years, I will have a look at some, thanks Frank :)

[Effem]

Thanks for the photo links Mark, it explains it better than my wording does :)

I also like the look of the Martin Kaisers which have a decent screw terminal which are far safer and more secure than the clamp down screw which CAN allow stray wire whiskers to protrude when people that are not electricity savvy try to fit them - especially with the thicker gauges of wire. If a plug had screw clamp or solder tag I always threw away the screw and soldered the wires in for a safe permanent connection.

[worthingpagan]

The Schurters have a 'fork' shaped contact which only grips at the end.

Look at the photo here:

http://www.canford.co.uk/images/itemimages/large/42-051_02.jpg

The best reasonable price IEC I could find was Martin Kaiser for Germany which is why I started using them a few years ago. Others now copy, as usual. :)

Look at the contacts in the Martin Kaiser in this picture on my site:

http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=45_16&products_id=112

The Martin Kaiser IEC has a contacts that have parallel sides and grips the pins in the sockets completely.

If any customer ever makes a negative comment about the Martin Kaiser 794 it is that is is too tight :) ( It should be tight)

There is an ebay Shurter seller that claims the Martin Kaiser are made from 'thin strips of bent steel' but they are actually good quality brass contacts, not steel and most places supply them silver or gold plated etc.

Not tried the Bulgin IEC for years, I will have a look at some, thanks Frank :)


Many thanks Mark :cool: You'd have thought the BS people would have done something about this :rolleyes:

[Mark Grant]

There is nothing wrong with the Schurter IEC when used with 'normal' cable that they where designed for such as 1.5mm PVC flex.

Just that when they are fitted with huge and heavy cables that are not very flexible they don't grip the sockets too well.

They will meet all standards :)