I clean all contacts with 0000 steel wool and then clean with acetone only. I never touch any hifi contact with my fingers before use. Polish with metal polish leaves a film of residue and not advised.
How many amps will a 500 series system use? I will bet it is nothing like 45,50 or 65 amps which is the mains cable people are quizzing a sparky over.
My best guess is 9amps total at 230v
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This. Iâve had two mains installations in the last dew years, and on both occasions the electricians have tried the âyou donât need itâ, backed up with âitâs too difficult to fitâ. A double tea-pot, a steely stare, and a smile is needed!
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Good point regards socket choice, terminating the cables requires patience, and lots of tea.
Tea is probably the most important thing. Our friendly plumber, Martin, has an asbestos mouth - he can down a whole mug immediately and be ready for the next one.
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You need a box sinker and a very deep backing box, I think I used 47mm, certainly no less, then the 10mmsq cable will fit but only just, you wonât run another on from there, itâs hard work getting that cutout deep enough. I ended up doing my own as the first electrician stood there in his special electricianâs trousers with a holster for his Avo and another for his cutters and screwdrivers sucking the air over his teeth and proceeded to lecture me on how it wasnât possible, was a waste of time anyway, and he had to rewire the whole house or he wouldnât touch anything. As I had a plasterer booked I had no option but DIY, I than found another electrician to fit the new consumer unit rewire the lighting circuits, which did need doing, and certify my work.
That looks interestingâŚ
We have to see it from the non audiophile sparks view âwhy wire a 13 amp wall socket to a 65 amp cable?â Then plug something into said socket that only has a 3.15 amp case fuse and a 13 amp plug fuse.
As far as I can gather Naim do not need to fit a 13 amp mains plug fuse (in the UK) for some of the gear as it could be 3 or 5 amps based on power usage of the component but for the 2m or less cable length and of the 0.75mm standard they can fit as they choose
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I also use brasso wadding for copper only and in addition the duraglit for silver contacts and this remove all the accrued dirt which can be seen on the new cloth. I then rub polish with clean dry cloth before buffing with elbow grease to remove virtually all residue and it leaves a bone dry and extremely shiny finish better than new. All new copper and silver material seems to come pre-dirty ie, thereâs a small accrued oil or dirt which i think could be part of the manufacturing process and the wadding, polishing and rubbing removes this. I especially use the brasso on the naca5 copper ends before crimping.
Are you local?
I reckon you could charge good money for all that buffing!
Yep you need a lot of patience and elbow grease.
Get a different electrician, Iâd say. Definitely go for 10mm cable, it does fit even though it is a bit of a bugger.
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Does anyone by chance have a pic of a 10mm wrangling success with a wall plug socket ?
Could be of use to show a reluctant sparky.
Hi all, thought Iâd chip in here with the electrical importance of cable and breaker size type.
Whether dedicated circuits help SQ or not is certainly open to debate and opinion. What i am often reading though is a miss understanding of the electrical aspects.
Thick cables heat up less under load than thin ones, have a lower resistance and ultimately suffer less voltage drop. Over longer distances this is very measurable, less so in the short lengths typically found in our houses. The number of people reporting that 10mm cables are best does seem to suggest the difference is audible, so there you are.
Breakers however are clearly very misunderstood. The point of the cable is to provide a suitable current carrying capacity for the device it connects. The breaker just protects the cable. If the connected device were to short or draw too much power the breaker must trip before the cable fails. Using a 6amp breaker on a 10mm cable is fine if the device hanging of the end draws less than 6amps. Using a 50amp breaker is also fine as the 10mm cable can take it. If you have a plug top fitted with a 13 amp fuse, that will pop way before your 50amp breaker even notices. So, do you need a 50amp breaker? No, you do not. In fact i would consider this more dangerous to connect a low power device to, plenty of scope for an over current situation. Bear in mind a typical UK household supply is fused at 80amp total!
Type B and C breakers are also misunderstood. A type C is generally considered for running of induction motors. When these start up they can draw up to 10x their full load current and a Type C can handle this. A type B may pop at 5x, which is fine for none motor loads but no good for industrial motors. Now, the large power supplies in Naim kit have big capacitors in, these actually also have a large inrush current at first connection, hence the myth you need a Type C for them. In reality the current draw is low, so even with a high capacitive inrush a normal Type B should not pop.
Do i have a dedicated radial, yes a 10mm one. Do is use a big fat Type C breaker, no I have a normal Type B, its actually an RCBO which also protects against earth leakage. I guess thatâs something there will also be many a SQ opinion on! I run a full 500 system off mine, no issues.
Cheers, Phil
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I have an idea that sound quality is not all about voltage drop so personally would no contemplate 10mm cable but would consider the quality of a mains cable, not all coper is created equal.
I would strongly consider PCOCC A or pure copper as electrons will find a less restive path through a higher quality but still big enough cable 20a/30a than a poorer bigger cable if it does not need the amps/current.
only downside is its expensive at ÂŁ72.00 a meter but in the context of a 500 system this is peanuts.
I would even consider it in a lesser pre power system as I have a tried a 99.99999 pure copper mains flex solid silver iec on a old nait5 and it was significantly better in terms of dynamics, resolution ect. elevating it within a whisker of a whole box upgrade.
I also tried it on a CDX2 and I have to say it made me loose my desire for a XPS.
Just to prove a point, yes, you can fit two 10mm cables into an MK socket, as required to run more than one socket. (Obviously the socket in the photo is just a test, which is why the + and - wires are shoved into the same terminal!!)
The real problem in my experience is assembling it in situ and pushing the cable into the back box. Itâs a very tight squeeze into even the largest sized back box, and I wouldnât blame an electrician who refused to do it.
I think the conclusion made earlier was that was the point you made more tea and smiled politely?
Even with an exotic faceplate and enormous back box it is a pig to do it regardless of what others may claim.
Iâm still not convinced it makes it all sound any better either.
Times like this we need @hifi_sparky to appear with their wealth of fact based knowledge and experience.
Till then, itâs back to the pinecones and seaweed.
FWIW 6mm is plenty. Thatâs a 10awg cable which can easily deliver 30 amps at 117 volts.
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The answer is to run separate radial cables to each socket. Thatâs what we did. Given all the disruption to feed one cable through all the ceiling joists, down the walls etc, you may as well go for three. Feeding one 10mm^2 cable into the back of an MK faceplate and then persuading it to go into the back box is plenty enough fun, but trying to do it with linking cables too would require Herculean effort and determination!
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