1970s mains connector

It looks like a very small variant of a Swiss mains connector but I would guess that it almost certainly an obsolete proprietary design.

You haven't included a ruler in your picture, so it is not possible to judge precise dimensions but the spacing between the pins looks very small indeed and would probably fail most standards on the grounds of not meeting the minimum creepage distance in air.

It looks to be about the size of the two-pin IEC C8 connector for which the matching C7 cord set is widely available.

Is polarity important? Is earthing (grounding) important?

If the answer to either question is 'Yes', why not replace the connector by a blanking plate with a grommeted hole and hard wire a three-core mains cord instead?

Otherwise, examine the dimensions in detail to see if an IEC C8 connector could be fitted in place of the one you've got.

The fixing centres of the mounting holes are 1.5 inches apart.

It's proprietary. Break the pins off, and solder a line cord directly to the board. And take it to sci.electronics.repair unless you're planing on making a new product.

Looks to be the same as Daytronic 9000 series mainframes. I think their later products still use it.

Sphere Research have molded line cords to fit:

A bit expensive at 19 bucks each

Mouser have them cheaper. and will ship to the UK, where I think you are. Priced at UKP 6.71

Volex Part No.17952 8 B1

Mouser Part No. 686-17952

If you plan to substitute a UK plug for the NEMA one, be aware that North American color coding is:

Black: Live White: Neutral Green: Ground

I've known Brits get confused with this.

Yes, you need the old style power cord.. I have a few around the shop for the old crap I still have. :)

Google "Old style power cords"

That is the obsolete 'Business Machine Cord' that was replaced by the now common IEC connector used on computer & test equipment. There were two versions, with the neutral and ground wres swapped.

They are vey rare these days. The OEMs I had bookmarked no longer make them. Belden + Electricord. I had some information on another computer that died, and Ii haven't sorted out all the data on the hard drive yet.

No, it's not proprietary. It was a standard chassis mount line connector in the '60s and '70s, before what is now known as the IEC connector. I have no idea what it was called though.

It's the same type of power connector that's on my HP 3443A. I got a line cord for it about a year ago, but it was hard to find. It cost me about $20 (USA). I can't recall where I got it from.

The receptacle on the cord I have says VOLEX on it.

Bob

If I had to deal with that:

fk looking for the cord.. Hack up an extension cord from the hardware store. Solder onto the those 'old time' terminals and then fill up the socket with hot melt glue from a glue gun or fill with epoxy.

Also used to be common on telecommunications test gear from 70's.

Great, thanks. I've ordered one.

What is the pin diameter? Compatible with a banana jack (4mm)?

I've made chassis plugs out of two (three would work as well) banana jacks threaded into a suitably shaped block of plastic. They look like they'd fit this quite well.

mating=20

Back in the day i called that a "Bell & Howell" cord. I have no idea if = this will help.