Ask This Old House... Extension Cord Tip

Every now and then you have to lay out those

Forrest Addy

>Every now and then you have to lay out those POS plastic coated contractor's cords and air hoses flat and straight an let all the kinks and loops relax for a day. Then they coil up nice - provided you give them just right twist as you coil them.

My neighbor is a nice fellow but he can't coil a hose or a cord to save his soul. When ever he comes up to help and the work stops for the day we divide the clean-up: he does the sweeping and I do the cords and hoses.

Any sailor here?

Hoa Dinh

>My boss, a sailor, showed me how to coil extension cords the same way sailor did ropes.

I don't know how to describe it here without confusing myself.

Maybe a sailor can help?

-- Hoa

Re: I didn't see the episode in question, but...

Al Crandall (N.E. of Indy)

>I didn't see the episode in question, but the best extension cord tip I know about is to plug the two ends together prior to coiling the cord. Then uncoil it before you disconnect the two ends. It is nearly impossible for the cord to tangle if you do this. The only cords I own are the 12 and 14 gage plastic coated ones from the big box. This tip works great on them.

Re: It also helps to

Dale Stansbery

>stretch them out in the yard, then pull them to you as you wind them. It helps them to unwind the twist in the sheath.

I never "coil" an extension cord

Randy Johnson Connersville, IN

>I didn't see the episode either but here is the way I do it.

I start by tying a loop at one end. Then you pull a loop through the loop, a loop through that loop, and so on until you reach the other end at which point you tie it off. You are left with what looks like a tangled mess that everyone else on a job site will avoid because it looks like a tangled mess. It isn't. When you are ready to use it, untie the end you tied off, drop the loop you started with over something, and start walking. Each loop pulls out and you have a nice, straight, untwisted extension cord. It's just like pulling the string on a feed sack. The only disadvantage is that the cords don't store as neatly but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Cord reel

Ed Mulligan, Cape Cod

>I have a couple of plastic cord reels for storing extension cords. Look for them at a hardware store or home center. They function like a garden hose reel except they're hand-held. Work great.

Ed

Rubber cord

virgil johnson

>>Wish I could find a rubber extension cord like he had, but all the ones I see at the home centers are like the ones I already have.

Build your own custom length extension cord. Lowes and home depot both sell 12/3 SO cable and all the trimmings to make any length cord.

Re: Ask This Old House... Extension Cord Tip

John Veerkamp

>In the Borg extension cords there are three coatings. The least flexible are the orange ones. The yellow are more flexible, especially in colder temps. The blue ones are the most flexible. Of course the costs escalate with flexibility.

John

Re: Any sailor here?

Charles McCoy

>I was a sailor but on the aviation side so not much help there. :) Here's a link I use for the boy scouts.

http://www.tollesburysc.co.uk/Knots/Knots_gallery.htm

Murphy Irby's Law of Extension Cords.

Barry Irby

>If you own a 100' cord, its 1' too short. If you have 200' of cord, it 2' too short. If you own 300', don't bother, you'll never get it untangled.

My other favorite is, If you are working with two tools, the one you need is out of reach and the other one is in your way.

I did have and excellent and very expensive rubber 100' rubber cord with 10/3 stranded conductors. A delivery truck got stuck on top of it and the tires went zzzzzz. Now I have a 35', a 60' and a five foot scrap. I sure did like those factory ends better.

Re: Any sailor here?

paul in AZ

>The technique for ropes is to put a counterclock twist of about 1/4 turn on each loop. Do this by turning your wrist towards you as you make the loop. [I'm right handed] This keeps rope from twisting and snarling. This helps with extension cords but because they are stiffer it does not work as well as it does with rope.

A few tricks

Jeff Spirer

>Rob

Check with electric supply, the good ones have rubber extension cords.

Or make your own. Most Gaffers make theirs.

As for the plastic ones, I stretch them out in the driveway on a warm, sunny day.

Then I work them at the bent spots to straighten them.

Coiling them is an art (that never is perfect.)

The Yellow (Iron Duct I think) are good and flexable.

Jeff

Re: chaining

Jeff Spirer

>Randy

The technique is chaining.

Works great for rope.

I think it stresses the wire too much myself.

Jeff

Never cared for this method...

John in New Mexico

>Can't really say why. Too hard to carry and store, never seemed to work well on plastic cords on a cold day, the new helper always gets it wrong for the first dozen times and when you pull expecting the chain to come untied it makes a knot.

Everyone has their preferences, but I'm always amused by some yutz on TV saying "this is the right way".

Best method I saw was a guy who saved all his MIG welder spools (the big ones are sometimes made of heavy wire rather than plastic). He had a removable bar on his truck rack and could either spool the cord right off his truck or take the spool and unroll it where he needed it.

John

Extension Cord Coiling

Lee Schierer, McKean, PA

>I didn't see that episode either as our local PBS program selector apparently doesn't like woodworking shows and moves them around so you can't depend upon when they or on or else they drop them all together. I used to be an avid and significant dollar supporter of PBS, but as they quit showing the shows I liked, I have decreased my support.

I use the "sailor" method for coiling my long cords. You can do it with the coil on the ground or held in your hand as you coil it up you give each coil a half twist. This twist will make the coils lay or hang nice and flat. However, If you aren't careful how you uncoil the cord you can eventually end up with a twisted cord. Laying it out straight usually fixes the problem or you can hang it off the deck and let it unwind.

I've seen the chaining method used before and while it works great, you have to wonder how it affects the life of the cord.

Lee

Re: Extension Cord Coiling

Bruce, a MN Galoot

>Lee,

I think the method you've described is what was shown on the TOH episode.

The way I do it is to start in the middle of the cord and coil it the old-fashioned way. Thus half of the twist is in each dirction. Works pretty well.

Bruce

Sawstop Table Saw Demo Next Week

awh

>The clip they showed had Tom Silva running a board and hotdog through the blade, looked like it was the contractor saw version.

BTW extension cords can be a real pain in the rear! All the PVC jacketed kind will eventually get a set to them and the wires will twist under the sheath resulting in a cord that will never lay flat or recoil like it was previously. The solution I came up with was to go with 25' instead of the longer kind. 25' is easier to handle and several can be plugged together to make it longer if needed - still I find after a while they need to be replaced, but they do seem to remain in a more usable condition longer.

Tony Haukap

Home Page - http://www.cyberspace.org/~awh/

--

Re: Extension Cord Coiling - Life?

Terry Alexander

>Lee, you state: "....you have to wonder how it affects the life of the cord."

I would think that proper care of any extension cord, regardless of coiling method, is long going to outlive me.

Just my $.02 worth.

Terry Alexander

Thanks, Tony. You know what I mean._______

Rod Peterson -- Ormond Beach

>

All This Talk About Managing Cords

Robert Hutchins

>. . . led me to take a coupla pics of the way I've been doing it for 30 years or more. The bucket is a 5 gallon container but it's made of a rubberized plastic - not the brittle stuff you see laundry powder and drywall mud sold in. A friend who was working in an ice cream factory at the time gave it to me. They got fruits and syrups in them and just threw them away. Wish I'd gotten 50 of 'em while I could.

The cord is 12/3 from the borg. Started out as 100' but I don't know how long it is now. I think one of my helpers shortened it with a circular saw one day but it was long ago. The gang box is metal, 2" deep with a metal cover plate. The regular outlet is 'behind' the GFCI, so all are protected. I've had a portable compressor, a power drill and two circular saws plugged into it at the same time with concurrent use of as many of three of them (not running constantly but as you would on a job site), that I recall, without tripping anything or the cord getting hot.

I've thought about finding a piece of plastic water pipe to make a central column so tools wouldn't damage the cord, but that hasn't been a problem in 30 years or more since I put it together. In use, it's quite convenient. I put the tools I need in the bucket, walk to where I'm gonna use 'em, removed the tools, take the end of the cord and walk back to an outlet. Reverse the procedure when the task is done.

One man's solution.

Great idea! I like it!

David Hay @ Denver

>

How-To Video *LINK*

Robby Wright in San Marcos, CA

>Here is a link to a cable coiling video. It shows the method we use for audio cables. I use this for audio and any other cable I have. Once the cable gets used to this method, it will coil easily and toss out flat every time, provided you get the right end in the right place.

Enjoy!

Robby Wright


Cable Coiling Video

Re: All This Talk About Managing Cords

Larry in NW Ohio

>Robert That is a great idea, I may make a couple. If you want more buckets, I have quite a few that I get from kitty litter. If you know of someone that has a cat you might check with them . Larry in NWOhio

Re: How-To Video

Robert Hutchins

>Thanks for the link, Robby, but I had trouble with it.

The site loaded OK but the video didn't start. When I chose WMV as the player, my system locked up. I run XP Pro SP2 on a 3MhzP4 2GB RAM and RoadRunner. BTW: This is the first time I've had trouble running a video since I went to XP Pro about 6 months ago.