A PC using an HX850 power supply (850W) had an original power cable rated 13A/125V but that cable is lost. (I know the original cable rating because I have other computers the exact same spec that aren't missing any original parts.) The power cable from this one PC has been lost and the only spare ones I can find are rated 10A/125V which appears to be much more common.
Is it safe to use a power cable with a lower amperage rating than the original? If not, what risks are there?
I imagine using a cable with lower amperage risks not providing the PC power supply sufficient wattage when it's needed. Not sure what symptoms that could translate into and how severe, but I figure much worse would be to use a higher amperage replacement cable, which could potentially send too much wattage to the power supply causing catastrophic symptoms like overheating and burning out parts.
1 Answer
The Corsair HX850 power supply has an input rating of 12A at 100V (1200W) and 6A at 240V (1440W). Note that this is different than the output wattage. A cable rated for 10A at 125V (1250W) is about the same.
The rating is used for safety, not a physical maximum. The cable will work fine even if you were using the maximum capacity of your power supply (which is unlikely). If you had a very diligent electrical inspector, they could argue that it's not correct.
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