OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

Maybe, you need the amp rating too

Re: Maybe, you need the amp rating too

William Duffield

It's printed on the machine: 4.5 Amps. Joe is correct in his assessment.

I have several extension cords. I am concerned that someone might pick up an undersized cord for an appliance that draws a lot of current. After all, the cords are all orange. So my cords are all 10 or 12 gauge, even though that makes them more expensive and a bit heavier and more difficult to deploy and coil back up again. I figure it's better than failing the smoke test.

good thinking

Re: OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

Larry Clinton At Frankfort, (Central) Indiana

You are correct in selecting the Minimum cord size, however I am sure you know you can always exceed the minimum wire size without any worry. I never purchase any cord for the shop smaller than 12 gage. (Wire size is smaller as the gage number increases IE: a 10 gage is much larger than an 16 gage).

The recommended minimum gage is determined by the amps the tool draws and the wire length to prevent excess wire heating and voltage drop in the wire.

As others have stated and I agree, it is better to stick to a larger wire even though they are more expensive and heavier. The larger size extension cord can then be used with a variety of other tools that draw more amps.

I have all my tools on mobile bases so have several 220V extension cords I made up with number 10 gage wire. This is sufficient to operate my 3HP Unisaw and my 5HP planer as well as my joiner etc. Almost all my other cords are 12 gage.

Re: OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

Don Stephan

Moving electrons create friction which creates heat and robs some of the electrical energy. There is less friction and thus less electrical energy loss in larger wire. Hence the recommendation to use a larger diameter wire as the length increases.

I've never heard a larger diameter wire causes problems, just costs and weighs more.

Re: OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

BrianMonumentCO

This is one of those questions where the answer is you could but why would you want to.

There is a reason why most extension cords are made of heavier wire. So they can carry close to the max normal load for they are rated. Your motor is not at the max range of most breakers.

110 volt most common breaker is 15 amp with occasional 20 amps on dedicated circuits.

As some have already said I have never heard of someone having problems with a heavier wire extension cord. They are heavier, more costly and they don't get warm (normally).

Re: OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

John K Jordan

I don't think you can properly size a cable without considering the voltage drop. How much voltage drop is acceptable? Depends on who you ask. Some recommend to not exceed 5%. Others recommend 3% maximum. I don't like to see significant voltage drop since that's hard on motors so I tend to oversize the wire.

Most of the wire size tables I've seen don't tell you the maximum voltage drop they used in the calculations. The calculation gets complicated but there are on-line calculators that will give you the minimum wire size based on what voltage drop you think you can live with.

I agree with some others - I buy 12 gauge extension cords and occasionally 10 gauge. Most of my cords are 100', often needed for the farm. I do have some short 16 gauge cords but only for short runs for small loads.

I made up an 8-gauge extension cord with 50 amp connectors for welders. It's a massive.

JKJ

JKJ

Re: OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

Joe in a Cleveland suburb

Thanks for the education guys!

I'm with you William,

Keith Newton

I don't even want anything less than a 12 around at any length. Last weekend, we were doing some finishing touches on the floating dock that crippled me over Memorial weekend. I had two 100' cords end to end to run a circular saw and a little compressor.

I wasn't doing much work, and probably shouldn't have been doing anything. My arthritis has been so inflamed and hands so swollen that I only have about 30% of flexibility with extreme pain at the end of any flex or rotation range. If I can't get this under control, I'm out of business.

Re: OT - Electrical Question. Extension cord size.

Johanna Johanson

I'm glad you noted that you had to make up the 10 gauge extension cords. I looked for short ones in vain, so made all mine. I use them on the tablesaw and the big dust collector. When I first built my shop I had 110 and 220 outlets distributed all around and made sure there were a number of circuits. I wrote the circuit letter on each outlet. This really helps on the occasions when I am running more than one tool - usually because someone else is working with me in the shop.

Connections

Bill Howatt

You have to exercise some care in making connections with larger diameter cords. If the wire is too big it may not physically hold on the screw terminals - such as larger than #12 wire. Although not likely a problem with stranded cord wire, stiff oversize wire can damage receptacles when stuffing the receptacle back into the box.

Bill

Arthritis

John K Jordan

>>>My arthritis has been so inflamed and hands so swollen that I only have about 30% of flexibility with extreme pain at the end of any flex or rotation range. If I can't get this under control, I'm out of business.

Ouch! That sounds terrible.

Have you tried honey bee stings? When I started keeping bees years ago my mentor said people sometimes ask beekeepers for bees to treat arthritis. Evidently people will ice the skin and press a honey bee into the area until it stings. I've even see little plastic plunger devices for this. Googling "bee stings for arthritis" it appears bee venom is sometimes used in a controlled manor by injection for to treat arthritis.

One guy told me bee stings worked wonders for his hands.

The mentor said it was not legal to sell bees for medical purposes but any beekeeper could easily give away some and not miss them. There are 50-60,000 in a healthy hive this time of year!

JKJ

Re: Connections

John K Jordan

>>>You have to exercise some care in making connections with larger diameter cords. If the wire is too big it may not physically hold on the screw terminals - such as larger than #12 wire.

Check when buying plugs and receptacles. They should specify the wire size they can handle. One 15 amp Leviton I checked is rated for cords from #18-3 to #12-3, not only for the connections, but important, to properly grip the outside of the whole cable when making an extension cord.

I especially like the right-angle plugs for larger wires - not only are the screw connections easier to access but when plugged in heavy wires can drop straight down along the wall instead of stick straight out from the wall. One like this: https://www.amazon.com/Leviton-5266-CA-Industrial-Grounding-Black-White/dp/B001V9LBSY This one will handle wire sizes from #18 up to #10.

The wire connections I dread making are those to a 50 amp receptacle. These are best put into a double box to have room for the wires. The fine stranded wires in the flexible cable I used to make an extension cord were a lot easier to work with than heavy gauge romex.

JKJ

Re: Emu Oil *LINK*

Stuart Johnson

I'm lucky my doctor wants to give other ideas a try prior to prescribing medication. On my last visit I talked to him about pain in my thumb and first finger. The finger will lock up from time to time and need to be manually bent. Ouch.

He said some patients have found relief using emu oil. I ordered some and have been using three or four times a day for about a week. The joints still ache but are much better and the finger has not locked up since I started. I don't know if it is the emu oil, the heat from rubbing it in or all in my head but the end result is my hands don't hurt as much.


Emu Oil

Re: Emu Oil

Barry Irby

The finger locking up might be a cramp. Friend of mine is a big time biker. Rides a bicycle a hundred miles as if its nothing. Goes on five hundred mile treks with her friends. Says they all carry mustard in case of cramps. They get the little packets from fast food places and carry them with them. I tried it and it worked for me.

Re: Emu Oil

John K Jordan

>>>...Says they all carry mustard in case of cramps. They get the little packets from fast food places and carry them with them. I tried it and it worked for me.

My wife asked this: do they apply the mustard to the skin or ingest it?

Or maybe inject it into the muscle with a syringe? Smoke it in a pipe? Yellow mustard or dijon? McDonalds or Bojangles? One packet or six? This is complicated!

JKJ

mustsard

Barry Irby

I have not done a study on it, so I don't know all the answers. Just eat the mustard. I get little packets from any place that will give them to me. Yellow. Carry it in the car. If a cramp, just rip the packet and eat the mustard. I'm not a big fan of mustard so I just gulp it. Seems to work in minutes. I fact it was so fast I suspect so of it is psychosomatic. I don't care. If it works it works. I asked my doctor and he thought it might be the salt and vinegar in the mustard. Said a packet of salt would help.

What the heck. Couldn't hurt. Try it and see if it works. Only takes a teaspoon or two.

It would help if I could spell mustard.

At a guess...

John in NM

Endorphins. Try it with a jalapeno next

Re: It would help if I could spell mustard.

Ron Pemberton

Pickles cartoon:

Mr and Mrs Pickles in bed

Mr Pickles- What's that smell?

Mrs Pickles - Yellow Mustard. It's supposed to be a better cure for leg cramps than pickle juice.

Mr Pickles - That explains it.

Mrs Pickles - Explains what?

Mr Pickles - Why I dreamed I was sleeping with hot dog.