DC Power patching?

[MarkHudds]

Hi all!

I'm after some advice regarding the power lead on my LCD television.

It's currently made up of two pieces:-

Mains plug lead to 3 pin 'kettle' plug into a transformer with hard-wired dc lead out to dc plug for television.

The television is going to be wall mounted and the cables routed behind a plaster wall. The dc lead is too short for the run required behind the wall and therefore I'm looking at getting a length of dc cable to put in. This leads to a couple of questions ...

1. What cable do I need to buy - is it just 2 core power cable?
2. What is the best way of patching the original transformer and dc plug back in? I'm currently thinking of simply cutting the dc lead out of the transformer and also cutting just before the dc plug. I can then simply resolder these to the length of cable I've put behind the wall?

Any advice appreciated, thanks!

[chrisgeary]

yep, should just be 2 core cable. solder and heat shrink would be a reasonable way of extending it. i usually cut each core so they are uneven on the principle that once you make a cut into a cable, you introduce a weak point in the insulation. if those two weak points are not near each other, there is no danger of them touching (of course, positive can still short out to any earth it finds).

of course you could always extend the AC side if you can neatly hide the transformer somewhere near the screen itself. that would be a much neater solution, especially as its IEC to 13A, you could source the parts from maplin and put in a new 3 core mains lead of the correct length. if its possible to avoid cutting and joining cables, i would advise you go down that route where possible.

[MarkHudds]

Thanks Chris, I decided to go with extending the AC side as the transformer is slim enough to fit behind the wall bracket.

Routing cable up/down a drylined wall is a nightmare!