Bad power cables?

[GotNoRice]

Anyone else here ever have issues with bad power cables?

I got an oldschool workhorse HP Laserjet 5N recently. It didn’t come with a power cable but uses the standard type of computer power cable. I grabbed the first one I could grab from my junk bin and set everything up.

Just today after going to print something, by chance my hand brushed up against the power cable. Wow… it wasn’t just warm, it was hot. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a power cable get so hot before.

Looking at the cable, it was a bit thinner than most other power cables I have, but it still was labeled as 18 gauge, same as all my other power cables. I swapped it with another power cable that was thicker (but also labeled as 18 gauge) and the cable isn’t getting hot anymore.

It just kinda left me stunned as I really didn’t think there was much significant difference between power cables (especially when they are all labeled the same gauge), and certainly didn’t think using a “bad” one could cause such a problem. It was getting so hot I’d say it was a fire risk at that point.

 

[HardwareGuru]

18 guage refers to the guage of the wire(s) in the power cord. What makes some thicker than others is the insulation around it.

 

[GotNoRice]

18 guage refers to the guage of the wire(s) in the power cord. What makes some thicker than others is the insulation around it.

I understand that, however the only thing I know of that could cause the cable to heat up like that is if the cable was a higher gauge (smaller). The cable was getting pretty damn hot, if the thickness of the wires between the two cables was really the same, I can't see how just a little bit of extra insulation would make the difference.

 

[silent-circuit]

It was either poorly made (wires were too small / too much resistance / poorly insulated) or damaged and shorting out. Laser printers -- especially older ones like that -- are very high amperage draw devices, so using good quality cables with them is key. If it was a bubblejet or something I doubt you would've seen a problem (unless the cable had a short -- then it would've done it plugged in to anything).