Moulded IEC 60320 Connectors

AAll Morvan Trading EU main leads are tested and approved by the German test-house VDE, guaranteeing the highest quality.

With EU inter-recognition of approvals bodies, one European approval is recognised in all states, and VDE has become the de facto standard.

For extra safety, our European power cords have additional approvals from other national test houses.

A summary of our moulded IECS:

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By having universal IEC connectors on our detachable power cords, Morvan can supply the same IEC lead but with different country-type plug for the whole world.

Due to their shapes, the C7 and C8 are colloquially known as figure of eight or fig 8, and the C5 / C6 as cloverleaf or Mickey Mouse connectors. The 2.5A rated C7 is used on smaller unearthed equipment such as radios and older laptop computers; if earthing is required then a C5 is used. Larger equipment, most commonly desktop computers, printers etc, use the 10A rated C13 for power. Cold condition C14 and C13 IECs are sometimes called kettle plugs or kettle connectors; this can lead to confusion as the hot condition C15 and C16 would usually be specified for kettles and other heating appliances. High-current appliances including servers use the 16A rated C19 and C20.

Male to female IEC extension or IEC jumper leads can be used to make an existing lead longer, or to power auxiliary equipment from the main product, e.g. a computer monitor powered from the computer rather than directly from the mains.

Single-ended IEC cables can be hard-wired into the equipment or mains supply, or have rewireable plugs or connectors fitted.

IEC adaptor leads can be used to convert between current and temperature ratings, for example C14-C15 cold condition to hot condition or C20-C13 16A to 10A.

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The IEC 320 standard was originally issued in 1970 by the International Electrotechnical Commission as CEE22 / CEE 22, and was updated to IEC 320 in 1994 as ‘Appliance couplers for household and other similar general purposes’.

The UK standard is BS4491 / BS 4491, and other national standards end in 320.  It is a replacement for the older DIN 4990 and DIN 49491 standards, which added safety features, such as earthing, and made the design more compact by using flat, rather than round pins on the higher-rated connectors.

Odd numbers are the female connector, and the following even number is the corresponding plug, e.g. C13 connector and C14 plug.  Approval of most of our IECs is by VDE, and other national or international bodies depending on product; our North American products have UL and/or CSA approval on the IEC.

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Temperature and voltage.
Standard IECs are rated to 70°C at the pins, and are called cold or cold condition.  For higher temperature use, connectors that use a thermoset plastic and can be rated up to 120°C (hot condition) or 155C (very hot condition).  10 Amp connectors are cold condition C13/C14, hot condition C15/C16, and very hot C15A/C16A.

16A come as cold condition C19/C20 and very hot condition C22/C23.  As a safety measure, connectors are designed to prevent insertion into a lower temperature-rated outlet; unearthed connectors are similarly prevented from use in grounded outlets.  All IECs are rated up to 250V 50-60Hz, but in North America, where domestic voltage is a lower 110-125V, approvals bodies may up-rate the current to higher than the IEC standard.

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