Thick as shit question - will any kettle lead work to power an amplifier?

Jonathanthomas83

Feel really stupid asking this, but my new Mesa turned up from the seller without a kettle lead - can I just order any bog standard kettle lead from Amazon and it not blow anything up?

The ones on there say scary things like 13amp and 240v and C13 6A and all sorts...so I'm a bit wary!

I probably have a few lying about here, but can't be arsed to look for one.

Philtre

Depends on the amp. How much water can it hold?

Sorry...

Good question, though. I'd also like to know.

Fenderish

any undamaged IEC / mains lead will do. Amps don't go above 3 to 4A  at most (and most under 2A as per the mains fuse) and I don't know any lead of this kind under 6A

EricTheWeary

I think we've had this before but why are they called kettle leads when I've never seen one on a kettle? 

sweepy

Kettle leads have a notch in the bottom, whereas IEC leads don’t 

Philtre

EricTheWeary said:

I think we've had this before but why are they called kettle leads when I've never seen one on a kettle? 

Old kettles had this type of lead. I seem to remember band mates actually did use kettle leads in an emergency.

Maybe not the other way around though - http://www.blogquail.com/the-difference-between-iec-connectors/

Fenderish

rice cooker lead maybe ? Here in France some call it a computer cable !

Fenderish

fits perfectly an Orange Amp : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invero®-Kettle-Monitor-Screen-Printer-Orange/dp/B074QS6212/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=iec+cable&qid=1554973832&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

57Deluxe

Yes, but you have to wait about 3 mins before you can use the amp on power on

Jonathanthomas83

Fenderish said:

fits perfectly an Orange Amp : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Invero®-Kettle-Monitor-Screen-Printer-Orange/dp/B074QS6212/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=iec+cable&qid=1554973832&s=gateway&sr=8-2-spons&psc=1

That's a no brainer isn't it. My OCD would have to have that lead if I was an Orange amp owner.

Kittyfrisk

sweepy said:

Kettle leads have a notch in the bottom, whereas IEC leads don’t 

2 minutes with a blade & then they do    No children or dogs were harmed in this experiment.

ecc83

"KETTLE" leads are a special high temperature version of the stadard 3 pole IEC mains lead. No need to go to Thomann, B&Q or any electrical shop will have them as will music stores, PMT say.

Note, peeps often get worried because the cables are rated at 10 amps but are often fitted with a 13A fuse. Does not matter, the cable is easily capable of standing the fusing current of a 13A fuse. In fact a 13A fuse will blow in a 5A cable and the cable be perfectly fine.

Dave.

zepp76

My used JTM45 came without a kettle lead, I emailed Marshall asking where to get one from and they sent one out free of charge, not bad customer service! Maybe worth a try doing the same if Mesa have a U.K site?

Kittyfrisk

Find any local FE or HE college that has any quantity of IT kit. Go find a technician (friendly or otherwise) & ask nicely for a lead. If they are any good at all, they'll have a box of spares that they'll be pleased to get rid of. I must have given away hundreds of such items. 

prlgmnr

zepp76 said:

My used JTM45 came without a kettle lead, I emailed Marshall asking where to get one from and they sent one out free of charge, not bad customer service! Maybe worth a try doing the same if Mesa have a U.K site?

More likely to charge you £100 because it's a very special one with carefully selected components.

fretmeister

prlgmnr said:

zepp76 said:

My used JTM45 came without a kettle lead, I emailed Marshall asking where to get one from and they sent one out free of charge, not bad customer service! Maybe worth a try doing the same if Mesa have a U.K site?

More likely to charge you £100 because it's a very special one with carefully selected components.

Mesa cost was probably £5

Westside Distribution will then add £95

p90fool

I have a two-core one here, so no, not just any lead will do. It's a moulded plug too, so there's no way of telling without a multimeter or cutting one end off. 

theflyisback

I’ve got three ‘kettle’ leads plugged into a 4 way socket that I am too lazy to put away properly.

I run them into my laney amp, my pedalboard power supply and another sometimes into a second amp.

One of the 3 leads sounds remarkably a lot better plugged into the laney than the other 2 for some unlogical reason.  Reduces the hum and hiss. 

Philtre

theflyisback said:

I’ve got three ‘kettle’ leads plugged into a 4 way socket that I am too lazy to put away properly.

Room for one more there to power a kettle when you fancy a brew.

Grunfeld

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Fenderish said:

fits perfectly an Orange Amp

That's a no brainer isn't it. My OCD would have to have that lead if I was an Orange amp owner.

Guilty as charged! 

Not OCD though... just makes finding my amp and pedal board kettle leads really easy to find when it comes to breaking down after a gig.

ICBM

Kittyfrisk said:

sweepy said:

Kettle leads have a notch in the bottom, whereas IEC leads don’t 

2 minutes with a blade & then they do 

You may be joking, but do NOT do this.

The purpose of the notch is to prevent you putting a standard IEC cable into a kettle, because the proper kettle ones must be rated for a high temperature. A standard IEC plug may melt if you use it with a kettle.

It's absolutely fine the other way round.

theflyisback said:

One of the 3 leads sounds remarkably a lot better plugged into the laney than the other 2 for some unlogical reason.  Reduces the hum and hiss. 

The other two probably have faulty earth connections - it may just be that the 'fingers' of the contacts inside the hole may have been opened out too far so they aren't touching, or the problem could be at the plug end - or the good one is a specialist cable with suppression caps in it.

There is no other way a mains cable can affect the sound or the background noise of an amp.