So many of us find that as our audio electronics collection grows (disc players, turntables, preamps, power amplifiers, gadgets, etc.) that our power wiring resembles the “rats’ nest” as shown here

Little Things: HOSA PWD-401 and PWD-402 power adapters

Little Things: HOSA PWD-401 and PWD-402 power adapters

Although there is no good way to completely eliminate power cabling issues, the HOSA company produces some very helpful adapters. HOSA is a quality brand that caters primarily to industrial, professional, and rack-mount needs. The adapters featured here, the HOSA PWD-401 and 402 (one and two feet long, respectively) have a female IEC connector on one side (that fits almost every piece of electronics sold in the USA), and a three-prong, 110-volt, 15-ampere grounded female plug on the opposite side. The two are connected to a male plug on a one or two foot pigtail. Since a picture is worth a thousand words:

Little Things: HOSA PWD-401 and PWD-402 power adapters

Little Things: HOSA PWD-401 and PWD-402 power adapters

Use of these jumpers make it easy to string together the power connectors of equipment in a stand. For ventilated stand use, I recommend the two-foot models (PWD-402). The one-foot jumpers are a bit too short unless your equipment is in a 19″ rack mount chassis.

The jumpers are made of 12-ga. oxygen-free copper with heavy insulation. Despite their convenience and utility, there is one caveat – the amperage of the entire equipment rack must not exceed the 15-ampere rating of the jumpers. Since most household circuits are but 15 amperes anyway, this is not an issue for 99.99% of the buying public, but a few of us may have 20-ampere rated equipment which requires a special rectangular IEC plug. 20-ampere equipment will not work with these jumpers.

That said, you’ll likely trip your home’s electrical breakers before you’ll damage these jumpers. To show you how they work, here are two of my components with the HOSA PWD-402’s installed:

Little Things: HOSA PWD-401 and PWD-402 power adapters

Little Things: HOSA PWD-401 and PWD-402 power adapters

These may not be the cure-all for power wiring tangles, but they do clean up the rats’ nest significantly. Two thumbs up!