Making Your Own Multioutlet Cable

Let’s see if we can get back to the problem I was discussing in my Aug. 3 postings.I was lamenting not being able to meet a customers need for a better multioutlet cable because of the need to order in huge lots and to wait months for design and manufacturing processes to play out.

The customer had a real need and the solution to his problem would have given the world a better mouse trap, but, because the product, Electratrac multioutlet cables, was sourced in China, there was no practical way to get him what he needed.

Why not just build the product on a custom basis, using off-the-shelf parts? The unit cost, when factoring much more expensive US based labor, would be higher, but there would not be a large minimum order, there would be no complicated design and tooling costs, and the time line for getting the product into the users hands would be cut by months.

Here is my idea on making that better moustrap.

Neutrik now makes a line and panel mount connector, similar to their extremely popular Speakon connector system that that is intended for low to moderate amperage AC power distribution. It is called “Powercon” and it is a really well designed connector package.

Powercon is designed so that both the line mount and the panel mount connectors are insulated and shielded in a manner that insures that there are never any exposed electrical connections. It is safe, simple to use, and has a well made twist lock locking mechanism that keeps it secure. It would be great for a multioutlet cable design, based on this diagram.
Using this concept, it would be possible to essentially make up a cable of any number of outlet boxes, spaced at whatever interval you chose. You could have outlet boxes with single, dual or quad outlets and you could have multiple choices of cables to connect the boxes.

There are two problems that could be easily managed by someone with a little electrical savvy, but they could really cause a lot of trouble if used by someone who didn’t understand some basics regarding electrical power distribution.1. Since the voltage delivered by your cable drops over distance, you would need to take care not to extend your cable too far. Larger gauge cable allows more proper current (voltage) to be delivered over greater distances, but the larger the cable gauge the greater the weight-and the cost. As long as you were doing something like tent lighting, a reasonable voltage drop over distance would be acceptable, but if you were using the cable to power multiple electronic devices or computer work stations, voltage drop would really cause a lot of problems.

2. The second, and potentially much more important problem, would be the impact that overloading the cable (too many devices drawing too much current) would cause. It’s not hard to imagine a scenario where a fire danger was created or, in a really extreme case, the jacket of the cable actually melted.

It appears that the item that is missing from my design is some sort of inline circuit breaker that would see the entire load on the cable system, regardless of how many outlet boxes or lengths of intermediate able were used.

This would not solve the problem of voltage drop, but at least the safety issue would be addressed.

There are still a couple of more pretty good sized impediments to getting this better mousetrap to market. I’ll discuss them next time.
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