Missing the AC ADAPTER for my BC-U1 Charger

[HowdyDoo]

I rented out my EX1 and unfortunately the woman that returned the camera lost the ac adapter cable that goes to the charger. Why Sony doesn't permanently attach the plug to the charger is beyond me. I suppose its so they can sell a piece of copper wire for 5 trillion dollars.

Does anyone know where I can find another one of these? The manual to the BC-U1 charger (which is the standard EX1 ac/batery charger) does not have any specific part number for the cable. Unfortunately, the plug itself has a weird shape so I'm pretty positive I'll have to get it from Sony.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Currently I have a 7 thousand dollar camera that is unusable because I'm missing a stupid, black cord.

[Stevet]

Man, that sucks.
I would make her responsible for the replacement cost. You might have to buy the whole supply.

[Carl Marxx]

:violent5: The cord can be found easily at many stores, I have two, one is only a foot long which makes tripping on it less dangerous, the other I use for "skip-rope." There are two types, grounded and non-grounded. The grounded style is square on one end; they are designed for metal cased equipment for safety to ground one side. If you can't find an aftermarket power cord with both ends rounded, like the Sony uses; buy the "grounded" type cord and use a razor blade to cut-of the corners. It'
s perfectly safe, or my name isn't -- Carl Marxx. p.s. don't leave the cord pluged into the 117v outlet when you "razor-blade" it, I guarantee the sliceing of you wrist won't hurt as much as you body being thrown against the wall!

[HowdyDoo]

It does suck. And my renter said she'd take care of it. But finding it is proving to be difficult.

The cable is called a YC-13W and NOBODY carries the polarized version of this plug (half round/half square). NOBODY. After an hour of searching, the two websites I did find that claim they carry YC-13W cords, don't. Even my Sony rep is having trouble and is currently calling the folks over in Japan as I type this. I would not be surprised if they charge me 30 dollars for this cable without shipping costs. It's a 4 foot black plug.

Carl, you are right in that the unpolarized version of these plugs are everywhere (round on both ends), and I will more than likely have to go that route, although I would really prefer a polarized version with how much location shooting I do. Also, the polarized versions fit more snugly into the charging unit because the BC-U1 charger was made for that specific cable.

Here is what the YC-13W plug looks like:

http://www.yung-li.com.tw/EN/Products/iec_connectors.htm#yc-13w

[Carl Marxx]

:Drogar-KnockedOut(D I use the YC-13C type in my charger becouse it is a shorter cable. The Government requires that if there is any exposed metal part in the camera or device, a grounding cable must be used, or it can't be sold. Since none of these cables have three connectors, one of the two terminals is coded with with a notch (square end) so it only can be inserted one way. With both ends rounded, there is only a %50 chance of this being right. Pickup the YC-13C type and mark one rounded end after tracing the notched (wide tab) going into the wall socket, I believe that is the ground. Either way, grounding is only used in case of a short or powersupply failure in the camera which causes a fuse to blow. Without a ground, a "floating ground " condition can occure in which case, any one tuching the little metal light clip on the top of the camera and standing in water with a hole in thier shoe might get electrocuted! This happening is as rare as being struck by lightning --- five times in a row! - Carl

[adamr316]

The renter should legally have to pay for the replacement cost of any lost or damaged equipment. That's standard operating procedure for equipment rental. It's a shame it's hard to find that cable but to be honest with you it's good design that it's kept separate from the charger.

Why? Prongs bend easily. And they can break. I'd rather replace a $30 cable than replace a $150 charger because the power cable is broken.

[EC Junior]

Did you get the YC-13W plug yet? Besides being a Sony Professional & Broadcast Dealer, We're also a Sony Factory Service center. I'll ask our service department if we have any available. We've been using the Dolgin's TC400-EX 4X charger for our BPU-30/60s instead of the BC-U1 charger, it's so darn convenient when you have so many batteries!

[thxdave]

Man, I've felt your pain. When I first got my EX1 home, I was about 100 miles from the dealer I bought it from and there was NO A/C cable packed with the charger. You can imagine how much I had to plan out my first day's shooting with my beautiful new camera and that small battery. Luckily, the dealer FedEx'd me another cable which he had to steal out of another EX1. But, I'd still like to get a backup in case I misplace that cord. Also, I DID turn up several dealers on the web who had the equivalent cord but I've ditched the links.....sorry.