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I've noticed that some Mains 120/240V Voltage plugs are a gold color and some are a silver cover. I'm talking about the kind of plug pins on something that plugs into a standard 15A/20A receptacle. Are plug pins made of brass or is it something else? If it is brass, can any brass work or are there certain properties to the material that make it electrical grade?

enter image description here

I don't want an entire plug, just the pins. I'm hoping for plug pins that could work for a variety of devices (computer charger, cell phone charger, night light, toaster, microwave, etc...). I want something standard, obviously electrical grade, that can handle that kind of pull. How do I know what material my plug pins need to be made of?

As I have tried to search, the only companies that show up are based in India and there seems to be no way to just order some plug pins without doing a huge bulk order. Where can they be purchased?

Passerby
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K. Cut
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  • What size of pins do you want? For example, DB connector pins are readily available. – Dwayne Reid Jul 23 '16 at 18:09
  • You can also remove pins from some connectors pretty easily. – user57037 Jul 23 '16 at 18:16
  • What kind of plug/connector are you talking about even? – ThreePhaseEel Jul 23 '16 at 18:51
  • You need to be a lot more clear about your application: current and voltage required, mating cycles, etc. Also, the second part of your question is a shopping question, which is off-topic here. However, I will suggest that you look at the Mill-Max website. – Dave Tweed Jul 23 '16 at 20:43
  • While we normally don't do recommendation/purchase questions, you have three options for low volume. Something like the picture I added and just use the pins, a replacement power cord, or make your own. – Passerby Jul 23 '16 at 22:43
  • Could be phosphor bronze. Remember if you get gold it will solve all of your audio noise problems – Voltage Spike Feb 26 '18 at 16:25

1 Answers1

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For mains power plugs, there is nothing magic about the materials. Many plugs use essentially raw brass (which has a gold-like tone). Or the ones that have a silver-looking tone likely have a nickel plating which prevents the brass from tarnishing and discoloring.

That said, You are quite unlikely to find the kind of pins used in mains plugs as commodity items. Unless you are manufacturing a product by the 10s of thousands. One major reason is that anything that connects to the mains must be meet strict requirements and have expensive testing before it can be approved for sale. If you want pins for a mains plug, then just rip the pins out of a mains plug. That is really the only practical option except perhaps making them yourself.

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Richard Crowley
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