PSU compatibility with wall socket

[AlbinoTurtles]

Hello,

i am in the market for a new PC and currently i'm deciding which PSU to buy. I have found a few suitable for my build but none of them have the same PSU to wall socket type. I have type F but they all have the B type. Should i look for one that has the same type as me or should i buy a converter and would the converter affect my PSU performance? Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

[mariushm]

Power supplies have a standardized connector on them called C13 / C14  (C13 is the female connector that you plug into the power supply, and C14 is the male connector on the power supply. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C13.2FC14_coupler

Some high wattage power supplies (usually above 1000w) may have the C19 / C20 combination of connectors, where the pins are a bit thicker and arranged differently.

 

The point is that if your power supply has universal (it says on the label something like 90v .. 250v AC 50/60 Hz) you don't need a converter, you only need to replace the power cable with one that has your type F plug and C13 on the other end)

 

[paddy-stone]

Here in the UK at least the connector for the power supply to the wall is the same one that is used on most monitors/printers/PC/televisions now too. We call it a "kettle" lead as it was the lead that used to be on kettles more often, but nowadays kettles have different cables, but PCs and other high wattage items still have them. I would imagine if you're buying the PSU in the saem country that you are from that it will have the correct wall socket connector anyway.

[Gameking002]

probably a converter will do fine. most PSU's can run on both ~120 volts as ~230 volts. and the converter only changes the connector. furthermore it is just a hard wired link inside the converter that lets power travel from input to output (or other way round). the converter doesnt do anything with the power itself and should therefore not affect performance. unless you got a crappy converter which is not wired well. then i would look for one with better quality

[mariushm]

No need for converters like I said, you can just buy the power cable separately. Most computer stores will have them.

[AlbinoTurtles]

32 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Power supplies have a standardized connector on them called C13 / C14  (C13 is the female connector that you plug into the power supply, and C14 is the male connector on the power supply. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEC_60320#C13.2FC14_coupler

Some high wattage power supplies (usually above 1000w) may have the C19 / C20 combination of connectors, where the pins are a bit thicker and arranged differently.

 

The point is that if your power supply has universal (it says on the label something like 90v .. 250v AC 50/60 Hz) you don't need a converter, you only need to replace the power cable with one that has your type F plug and C13 on the other end)

 

The problem is they're all partly modular and i can't replace the power cable on them so i should look for a fully modular and buy a cable that fits my wall socket and the C13 PSU?

[mariushm]

I'm not aware of any power supply that has the mains cable non-removable.

 

The modular or semi-modular on computer power supplies usually refers to the fact that the secondary side (low voltage) may or may not be removable from the power supply case, in order to reduce the number of wires inside the computer case. The mains cable is usually always removable. It's actually an additional safety measure.. if the computer falls off the desk or something like that, the mains cable should snap out and not break exposing live wires.

 

Anyway.. even if you can't actually remove the cable ... if the power supply is designed to support a wide range of input voltages, you could simply CUT the US style plug and screw the wires into a European style mains plug.

You can buy the European plugs from literally everywhere in electrical parts stores or home improvement stores and there's only three wires with different colors in the mains cable, so they're easy to connect to a plug.

 

One of them is the earth wire (green with yellow stripes usually), and the other two are NEUTRAL and LIVE ( the LIVE is usually brown or black, brown as in you're gonna sh*t your pants if you touch it while it's plugged in) and neutral is blue or white/gray). Live wire usually goes on the right pin but with type F plugs it doesn't matter that much if you put LIVE and NEUTRAL the wrong way.

 

 

[quan289]

18 minutes ago, AlbinoTurtles said:

The problem is they're all partly modular and i can't replace the power cable on them so i should look for a fully modular and buy a cable that fits my wall socket and the C13 PSU?

Modularity referred to the cables that you are going to be plugging into your components. That's not an issue here, as what you need to make sure your PSU works is the power cord that's plugged into the wall from the back of the PSU (opposite from the cables for the components). Something like this: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/power-cable-assemblies/7316169/

 

Basically, if I get this PSU which is a non-modular PSU: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371044

it will come with this cable: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270406

 

If I were to moved to the UK, all I need to do is buy the cable in my first link for the PSU to work.

[AlbinoTurtles]

Thank you mariushm and quan289 for explaining it to me. I though non-modular meant no cables could be removed apparently that's not true. I will buy the PSU i wanted to and an extra cable for my wall socket type. The problem arose because i'm online shopping and not in my country. Thank you all again

[mariushm]

Just double check that the power supply accepts a wide range of input voltages, anything between around 90-100v and 230-250v. It should be on the power supply label or on the power supply packaging.

 

Power supplies love working on higher voltages like 220v-230v. There's almost no power supply designed to work only with 110v, but there are some power supplies which work only on 200v..250v because it's slightly cheaper to make them like that.