Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Debated whether to put this in Electrical or Tools. Electrical won out.
Sitting on the stool in the shop while it thundered and sprinkled outside. Got to wondering how many extension cords I have of various sizes.
Everyone wants 12 gauge cords. Most of mine are cheap China made plastic jacketed cords, but they work, what can I say? The 100 footer is in the upper left of the pic, it lay in the yard for over a year, running from the house to the shop when I didn't have power on the shop. Even ran my old 1 hp Craftsman compressor (18 amp); The orange 100 ft is new, never been used, bought on a sale at the big box stores (who can resist?); The hot pink 80 ft cord has only been used once or twice; The dirty yellow 50 ft is a good quality "Yellow Jacket" cord my SIL gave me early on after I built the shop, it has a neon power light in the female end of it; and the Green 40 ft has never been used, still tied with the twist ties from the store (another sale item). The yellow cord with the Hubbell 4 square box on the end is about 23 ft and came from work. I found a nearly new squirrel cage blower in the scrap bin, with a burned up motor. I quickly whipped out my Leatherman and lopped off the cord. Added the 4 square 20 amp end to it and have a nice cord now.
A lot of you guys throw 16 gauge cords away..... "not in my garage"..... "useless".... "burns up tools"..... I think I've seen it all on GJ. The two reels on the left have two 50 ft cords each on them, and the other reel has one of those dreaded 50 ft flat cords (I take it where I figure it will get stolen or destroyed..... good riddance!) and the faded orange cord wound up is a single 100 ft. The loose 50 ft hangs with my Weedeater® brand leaf blower I use to blow off the mower. These cords are great when you need to go the distance with a low draw, like a small battery charger or a single power tool like a corded drill, or a work light. Many of these 16 gauge cords came from my Father, he had them to run a leaf blower to clean out the gutters, I only bought one of them I think.
The 14 gauge cords are unique in that they are all homemade except one. At work they throw out a lot of cord. It gets damaged, they just dump it in the scrap bin. Needless to say, I've carried home quite a bit of cord over the years. The cords are extremely dirty, virtually black from use on a dirty floor when I get them. I put them in a bucket of water and liquid Tide for a day or two, securing the ends so water cannot get inside the jacket. Then I pull the cord thru a piece of scotchbrite and rinse it off. This is all good Carol brand 14/2 SJOOW either 90°C or 105°C cord. I picked up several Bell and Woodhead brand rubber jacket female cord ends at the Flea market and then bought a box of ten new Woodhead male ends off of Ebay. The longer cords are anywhere from 45 to 50 ft, except one is 33 ft. The 6 ft cord comes in real handy, and the metal box (I know, not code legal, made it years ago) has been relegated to disuse since I made the 4 square cord.
The Generator cords are made from 8/4 SOOW I got from a guy advertising "100 ft" on Craigslist for $100. the cord turned out to be two sections and one is 38 ft, the other 49 ft, used quality brand name L14-30 ends (P&S and Bryant) that I got real reasonable on Ebay. Have a L14-30 to Travel Trailer adapter, and also a NEMA 5-15 to L5-20 twistlock adapter that has come in handy. The corded tri-tap was a freebie with one of the cords.
I use ladder and bicycle hooks on the ends of a pallet rack and on the front of my workbenches to hang most of the cords.
Thats 393 ft of 12 gauge, 200+ ft of 14 gauge and 400 ft of 16 gauge......... WOW!
Charles
Sitting on the stool in the shop while it thundered and sprinkled outside. Got to wondering how many extension cords I have of various sizes.
Everyone wants 12 gauge cords. Most of mine are cheap China made plastic jacketed cords, but they work, what can I say? The 100 footer is in the upper left of the pic, it lay in the yard for over a year, running from the house to the shop when I didn't have power on the shop. Even ran my old 1 hp Craftsman compressor (18 amp); The orange 100 ft is new, never been used, bought on a sale at the big box stores (who can resist?); The hot pink 80 ft cord has only been used once or twice; The dirty yellow 50 ft is a good quality "Yellow Jacket" cord my SIL gave me early on after I built the shop, it has a neon power light in the female end of it; and the Green 40 ft has never been used, still tied with the twist ties from the store (another sale item). The yellow cord with the Hubbell 4 square box on the end is about 23 ft and came from work. I found a nearly new squirrel cage blower in the scrap bin, with a burned up motor. I quickly whipped out my Leatherman and lopped off the cord. Added the 4 square 20 amp end to it and have a nice cord now.
A lot of you guys throw 16 gauge cords away..... "not in my garage"..... "useless".... "burns up tools"..... I think I've seen it all on GJ. The two reels on the left have two 50 ft cords each on them, and the other reel has one of those dreaded 50 ft flat cords (I take it where I figure it will get stolen or destroyed..... good riddance!) and the faded orange cord wound up is a single 100 ft. The loose 50 ft hangs with my Weedeater® brand leaf blower I use to blow off the mower. These cords are great when you need to go the distance with a low draw, like a small battery charger or a single power tool like a corded drill, or a work light. Many of these 16 gauge cords came from my Father, he had them to run a leaf blower to clean out the gutters, I only bought one of them I think.
The 14 gauge cords are unique in that they are all homemade except one. At work they throw out a lot of cord. It gets damaged, they just dump it in the scrap bin. Needless to say, I've carried home quite a bit of cord over the years. The cords are extremely dirty, virtually black from use on a dirty floor when I get them. I put them in a bucket of water and liquid Tide for a day or two, securing the ends so water cannot get inside the jacket. Then I pull the cord thru a piece of scotchbrite and rinse it off. This is all good Carol brand 14/2 SJOOW either 90°C or 105°C cord. I picked up several Bell and Woodhead brand rubber jacket female cord ends at the Flea market and then bought a box of ten new Woodhead male ends off of Ebay. The longer cords are anywhere from 45 to 50 ft, except one is 33 ft. The 6 ft cord comes in real handy, and the metal box (I know, not code legal, made it years ago) has been relegated to disuse since I made the 4 square cord.
The Generator cords are made from 8/4 SOOW I got from a guy advertising "100 ft" on Craigslist for $100. the cord turned out to be two sections and one is 38 ft, the other 49 ft, used quality brand name L14-30 ends (P&S and Bryant) that I got real reasonable on Ebay. Have a L14-30 to Travel Trailer adapter, and also a NEMA 5-15 to L5-20 twistlock adapter that has come in handy. The corded tri-tap was a freebie with one of the cords.
I use ladder and bicycle hooks on the ends of a pallet rack and on the front of my workbenches to hang most of the cords.
Thats 393 ft of 12 gauge, 200+ ft of 14 gauge and 400 ft of 16 gauge......... WOW!
Charles
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It puts a nice 2900 watt load on the generator, not something I'd want to run on a 16 gauge extension cord.
