One very practical reason that comes to mind is waterproofing. Kitchen counters get wet, and office desks do not. Anything with a plug is at greater risk of shorting.
As much as I truly love replaceable cords, I'd be more than happy enough if I could just unscrew the shell of the device, unscrew the power wires from where they attach, and put in any cord. Where I care about waterproofing, some silicone caulk is an extremely cheap (and removable) fix.
Unfortunately practically everything you can buy now is welded plastic halves, or easily-broken clips. So even when you might be able to do this internally, you have a high chance of breaking the shell even if you know what you're doing.
That's one of the reasons I love Festool's tools, nearly all of them have detachable power cords. It's a proprietary connector, but it makes it very convenient if you own a few of their tools. Both the power and dust hose have twist lock connectors that stay firmly attached in use.
I’m a big fan of this notion. My hot water dispenser has a magnetic power dongle kinda like macbooks MagSafe, but bulkier [0]. Ideally something like that would be more standardized across appliances the way some of the other three prong power cords are.
I loved having one of these until the non-stick coating inside started flaking off badly after a couple years.
Nowadays I'm only touching steel and/or glass on these things. An all-steel-interior Zwilling kettle has lasted me twice as long already, and looks brand new (on the inside) if I give it a brief acid cleanse to remove deposits. It's not quite as convenient or as stable temperature, but I'm more than happy to have something that lasts many times longer.
This is my pet peeve about USB-C laptop docks. The vast majority of them have a captive cable, usually about 10cm long. It's a failure point, often an inconvenient length, and makes them much harder to pack.
Because the cord is rated for the appliance. It is a fire thing. Let customers swap out cords and one of them will use an underrated cord and cause a fire. Or they will use a cord without a ground.
Ironically, Christmas lights make great (ie safe) extension cords because code mandates they have biult-in fuses, unlike any other cord which is just wires without any overcurrent protection.
Take one look at the mess of incompatible detachable cords that come with LED lighting fixtures from China to see what results.
They could have used bog standard IEC 320-C5 cables, but they didn't. Why? Because they wanted to cheap out on the conductor AWG and IEC 320-C5 is quite specific about the conductor gauges and current capacities.
So, the LED lighting manufacturers produced a bunch of cables that are in almost exactly the same shape and size factor as IEC 320-C5 while being just enough incompatible to not invoke the certifying authorities--all to save a couple pennies in copper.
One very practical reason that comes to mind is waterproofing. Kitchen counters get wet, and office desks do not. Anything with a plug is at greater risk of shorting.
https://www.sunbeam.ca/en_CA/kitchen-appliances/sunbeam-1.7l...
/thread
C13/C14 connectors are even known as "kettle leads" in some places.
As much as I truly love replaceable cords, I'd be more than happy enough if I could just unscrew the shell of the device, unscrew the power wires from where they attach, and put in any cord. Where I care about waterproofing, some silicone caulk is an extremely cheap (and removable) fix.
Unfortunately practically everything you can buy now is welded plastic halves, or easily-broken clips. So even when you might be able to do this internally, you have a high chance of breaking the shell even if you know what you're doing.
That's one of the reasons I love Festool's tools, nearly all of them have detachable power cords. It's a proprietary connector, but it makes it very convenient if you own a few of their tools. Both the power and dust hose have twist lock connectors that stay firmly attached in use.
I’m a big fan of this notion. My hot water dispenser has a magnetic power dongle kinda like macbooks MagSafe, but bulkier [0]. Ideally something like that would be more standardized across appliances the way some of the other three prong power cords are.
[0]: https://youtu.be/E2WrHHRYrV4?t=108
I loved having one of these until the non-stick coating inside started flaking off badly after a couple years.
Nowadays I'm only touching steel and/or glass on these things. An all-steel-interior Zwilling kettle has lasted me twice as long already, and looks brand new (on the inside) if I give it a brief acid cleanse to remove deposits. It's not quite as convenient or as stable temperature, but I'm more than happy to have something that lasts many times longer.
Elecom makes USB cables with "MagSafe" style connectors.
https://www.elecom.co.jp/products/MPA-CCMA10BK.html
Ah, Zojirushi, great rice cookers .
This is my pet peeve about USB-C laptop docks. The vast majority of them have a captive cable, usually about 10cm long. It's a failure point, often an inconvenient length, and makes them much harder to pack.
Because the cord is rated for the appliance. It is a fire thing. Let customers swap out cords and one of them will use an underrated cord and cause a fire. Or they will use a cord without a ground.
Ironically, Christmas lights make great (ie safe) extension cords because code mandates they have biult-in fuses, unlike any other cord which is just wires without any overcurrent protection.
Regulations make detachable cords of electric kitchen appliances hard.
Most need double isolation and water-proofing, hence not detachable.
It could probably be done, but it likely needs a different type of connector, akin to M12/M8
Also product liability. If you give a domestic hair dryer a 12 ft cord, someone will use it in the shower.
If you give an insta-pot a 6 ft cord, someone will drape it off the counter and a child will pull it.
UL standards actually limit cable length for many appliances.
https://www.intertek.com/standards-updates/ul-1026-electrica...
My Ankarsrum Assistent mixer has a detachable power cord with a standard C13 connector.
It seems to be possible, but it’s likely cheaper to have fixed connectors.
The plug between the cord and the device must be sturdy and meet regulatory standards
So it is expensive
It is cheaper to just attach the cord
That is the reason
plenty of devices have separatable cords. My rice cooker has a PC style plug. My water kettle has a magnetic plug.
Erm, let's not.
Take one look at the mess of incompatible detachable cords that come with LED lighting fixtures from China to see what results.
They could have used bog standard IEC 320-C5 cables, but they didn't. Why? Because they wanted to cheap out on the conductor AWG and IEC 320-C5 is quite specific about the conductor gauges and current capacities.
So, the LED lighting manufacturers produced a bunch of cables that are in almost exactly the same shape and size factor as IEC 320-C5 while being just enough incompatible to not invoke the certifying authorities--all to save a couple pennies in copper.