Home Audio and Video Basic concepts Circuits - analogue Electronic components Radio Ham radio Constructional techniques Testing and test equipment Links Bookshop

Related articles

Connector types

RF connectors

D-type connector

IEC power connector

Jack or phone connector

XLR connector

IEC power connector

- an overview, and information about the IEC power connectors with specifications and details of these IEC connectors.

IEC connector is the common name for the set of thirteen power line connectors. They are defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) specification IEC 60320, and these IEC connectors are widely used for the power connections on electrical and electronic equipment.

There is a total of thirteen different types of IEC power connector that are defined. The IEC power connectors include variants with two and three conductors as well as different current variants to enable power to be connected into different types of electrical and electronic equipment.

These power connectors are widely sued for domestic equipment ranging from products including small mains powered radios through computers to items such as electrical kettles and the like. The fact that there is a wide range of IEC connectors means that the same series can be sued for a very wide variety of applications while still having an overall specification to detail the connectors.

Basic IEC power connector types

The main types of IEC power connectors are outlined below:

Most common forms of IEC Power Connector

IEC power connector summary

IEC power connectors are now the standard form of power connector used on electronic and electrical equipment. Being a standard format, it is easy to buy ready constructed leads and this makes them very attractive for equipment manufacturers whoa re able to buy off the shelf items very cheaply because the quantities that are manufactured overall. In addition to this the connectors themselves are freely available and low cost. Additionally a wide variety of filtered connectors is available, again at low cost, enabling filtering and other functions to be incorporated using standard components. These and many other advantages mean that IEC power connectors are an ideal choice for many electronics equipment design applications.