Electronics help needed

useful info
1

I’ve got this idea in my head for a product. It’s something that I think might appeal to some people, and I think I could build it. There are a couple of tricky little things about it that I don’t know about, though. I thought I’d check here because some of you are handy with electronics.

Without getting into the specifics of the project (which are unnecessary), I’m basically creating a fancy extension cord. Imagine a big box with a bunch of outlets (3 or 4 gang). Now, I want to be able to add a custom power cord to this with a connector something like on the back of your computer (C13-C14). This is for the 15A 125V power required.

I was thinking of trying to add a switch and an indicator light on top of all this to show that power is connected, but that is probably overkill.

Can I do this? I mean, with the C13-C14 connectors. I know that these are used to deliver power to devices, I just don’t know if I need anything else in the way, like resistors or some other kind of magic. Should I use a different power configuration? I mean, I can wire the cord directly into the box if I can’t figure anything else out, but I want the cord to be detachable.

I will also want to create custom colour wrapped power cables as an accessory for customization. I can find the connectors and cable in bulk (maybe even pre-made) on Alibaba.

Similar to this one.

I just want to make sure that I don’t set anything on fire.

2

No resistors or such necessary, but an on/off switch and a breaker would be recommended.

3

I’m seeing a lot of plugs with switches built in and a fuse. That should likely work.
Thanks.

Now to source the parts and get it all UL certified …

4

If you only need ~8A and don’t require earthing, you could use a figure-8 lead instead of a kettle lead. They tend to be much harder wearing, and you can get neon isolator switches that contain the fuse for the load - I always assume these are for US fittings because you guys don’t use normal safe plugs with fuses in like the rest of the normal world (okay, the UK, Ireland and sometimes Spain) but I might be wrong. The whole socket and switch would fit into more or less the same space as the kettle lead socket alone…

5

I DO want it to be able to handle grounded outlets. In fact, the first outlet would always be a GFCI outlet, which would ground out the rest of the plugs in line. I guess that way I don’t really need a fuse either.

6

GFCI is for ground fault, to protect against electrocution, not for overcurrent protection, so including a fuse or breaker would still be a good idea.

Edited to fix mega-stupid typo

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