Advice on plan (diagram included) to remotely turn on an amplifier using CAT5

[hatterman]

Hi all,

I am currently have an amplifier that is powered by an ac/dc adapter (as shown in diagram below). In my house I have CAT5 cable run from where the amplifier is to a position on the wall (it is currently not being used). I want to be able to push a button on the wall where the CAT5 cable goes to with the result that the amplifier is either powered on or off. Would the setup in the diagram work? The adapter has two wires coming out of it (positive and neutral?), so I planned to keep the positive wire uncut and the neutral wire would be joined to the CAT5 loop with the push switch in.

Many thanks for any advice.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Cat5 cable is designed for data, not power, so there's not enough copper cross-section to carry much current without losses. A few metres would be the maximum cable length before the amplifier starts to be affected by voltage drop. I would fit a relay beside the amplifier to control its power using a much smaller current through the switch cable. You will need three cores to the switch if it is illuminated, and if it is momentary rather than latching you will need a flip flop or bistable relay, or else the amp will only be on while you hold the button. If you are not familiar with relays etc, an electronics hobbyist friend might be able to rig it up for you.

 

[gnuuser]

your typical cat 5 cable conductors are 24 guage/ 0.55mm and the ampacity would be around 6 amps ac and around 4 amps dc, so cat 5 would not be heavy enough for this and you could risk fire.
your better off getting larger cores for this

 

[Lucien Nunes]

24AWG is approx 0.2mm² and rated at 0.58A. Two pairs in parallel would give 0.8mm² which is sufficient for the mains adaptor output rating, so there's theoretically enough capacity. However, because they might not be reliably paralleled and more because of voltage drop, I agree it is a bad idea.

 

[BlueToBits]

Have you considered using a wireless radio controlled socket adaptor and a remote control stuck to the switch position? Something like this perhaps, would allow the PSU to be plugged in close to the amplifier.