Power cord construction techniques


Hi.

I've started down the path of building my own power cords. I'm starting with Belden 83803 (thanks Subaruguru) and Marinco ends (PartsExpress). After finishing my first cord and trying it out I decided to take off the ends of two of my specialty cords (shall remain nameless for now) and seeing how they were made. I was a little more than surprised at what I found...

1) Both cords used two wires for the neutral hookup. Hence there are four wires total in each cord.

2) One cord has a capacitor wired across the hot and neutral terminals. My initial investigation says it's a 125L Vishay capacitor designed for EMI reduction.

My questions, if they aren't obvious, are what are the benefits of 1) and 2) and should I be doing this too?

Thanks!

leo.
leoturetsky
1) twisted pair helps reduce RMI/EFI
2) a filter capacitor is added to reduce RMI/EFI

Yes, you can do this to your cord. Twisted pair is recommended by many audiogoners here.
As far as adding filter goes, it really depends on the outcome. Remember, you're taking something out from your power. It also help reduce the power on/off "pop" noise on some equipment.
Instead of putting the capacitors on your cord, put them on the back of the duplex. I believe the tweak I read was to use 2 .47uf 600v caps wired in parallel across the back of the duplex. Please verify this before burning your house down. Also, I would make sure that the second neutral wire on your cords was connected on both ends and not just at the wall.