electrical ?, 130foot extension cord

[A&P mechanic]

Hi Guys

I have an electrical question. I have a 130 foot extension cord that is 12 gage, the cord has four outlets that are twenty amps GFIC and a 20 amp plug. My house has 15 amp outlets on the exterior where I would use this cord. I realize there are 20amp to 15 amp plug adapters at the local big box stores. Are these safe to use/do you recommend this? Also, if I were to cut the 20amp male plug off and replace it with a 15amp plug while leaving the 20amp receptacle intact. Would this be ok and safe? Hypothetically if I were to plug a 20 amp appliance in the 20 amp receptacle on the extension cord with a 15 amp plug, I imagine the circuit breaker should pop so this would be unsafe?

Another option and question I have is. If I were to install a 15 amp plug and a 15 amp GFIC receptacle instead of the 20 amp, would this be ok? The reason I am asking is because the 12 gage cord is 130feet and I know amps decrease with length? I believe this is the reason that the cord came with 20 amp ends instead of 15 amps because of amperage drop. I also realize that I can have an electrician install a 20amp outlet on the side of my house, I plan on moving in the next two years and would prefer not to have a separate 20 amp line installed.

I have a 130 foot retractable extension cord that I bought used recently. (It doesn’t retract; however, I feel I can fix it.) I am considering building a cart to wheel it around my yard to use lawn equipment. This is to give you more information on the extension cord.

I appreciate any recommendations or advice, I am novice with electricity. Thank you in advance.

 

[rockwithjason]

You can make an adapter easy enough. If it were me i would chop the 20 plug off and put a 15a on. Its not a huge deal.

 

[theoldwizard1]

A GFCI is not breaker and it will NOT trip on over current.

Cords are typically down rate, so 20A plug is really too high. Replace the plug with a 15A plug. At 130', you will have more than a 5% voltage drop at 15A.

 

[A&P mechanic]

Hi Jason and old wizzard, thank you for the response.

I will replace the 20amp plug with the 15 amp plug since your recommendations about down rate make sense. Also, since I am now replacing the 20a plug with a 15a plug, should I also replace the 20a outlets with 15a?

 

[JohnX14]

Hi Jason and old wizzard, thank you for the response.

I will replace the 20amp plug with the 15 amp plug since your recommendations about down rate make sense. Also, since I am now replacing the 20a plug with a 15a plug, should I also replace the 20a outlets with 15a?

For your own home use this isn't necessary. If this were a permanent installation you would have to, as the 20 amp receptacles indicate that there is 20 amps available. (There is a code article for this requirement but it doesn't seem necessary/ appropriate here)

 

[A&P mechanic]

Hi John,

Ok I will replace the 20a outlets with 15a as well to make the entire extension cord the same. (In case a 20a appliance ever gets plugged in on accident) Overall, I will replace the plug and outlet with 15a. These responses answer all of my electrical questions, Thank You all again and have a great week.

 

[theoldwizard1]

For your own home use this isn't necessary.

Concur. If you change the plug to a 15A plug and then connect it to a 15A receptacle with a 15A circuit breaker, all a 20A load would do is trip the breaker.

Also, those orange colored receptacles are to indicate an isolated ground. I don't know how any thing with a plug on one end can guarantee an "isolated" ground.

 

[A&P mechanic]

Wizard, I understand and you have persuaded me. I will leave the 20a receptacles instead of buying 15a receptacles.

The reason there is an orange outlet in the picture is because the reel originally came with a single 20a outlet and I bought a used portable outlet box off ebay. The outlet box came with two sets of orange/isolated ground outlets. I replaced one side with the GFCI and the other side is still orange. This is the reason the box had an orange outlet.

 

[theoldwizard1]

The outlet box came with two sets of orange/isolated ground outlets.

My point was, I don't know how any cord with a plug be truly isolated ground.

 

[DekeT]

It's not the amperage that you should be concerned about, it's the voltage drop.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I have never seen anything with a NEMA 5-20 plug on it. So put a NEMA 5-15 plug on the cord and don't bother changing the receptacles. The odds of something, anything, ever getting plugged into the receptacles that needs the 20 amp receptacle, is nil.

The other option, is, if your house receptacles are on 12 gauge wire, and 20 amp breakers, you could replace the house receptacles with NEMA 5-20 receptacles like are in the box on your cord, and then you would not need to do anything to the cord at all, but the cord would be less useful, as you would be limited as to where you could plug it in.

Charles

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have never seen anything with a NEMA 5-20 plug on it.

Concur ! Not straight from a store !!

So put a NEMA 5-15 plug on the cord and don't bother changing the receptacles.

Concur again.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

130' 12AWG cord with a NEMA 5-20? That can't be mass produced. A 100' 12 AWG cord only has a 15A rating.

Tommy

 

[sberry]

The big deal here is the multiple outlets. The worry about voltage drop could be there but the 12 is for this, cant overload the cord with a 20A breaker.
Typical power strip has a 15 plug on a 14 wire, multiple outlets and protects itself with a circuit breaker. If it came with a 12 wire the potential for overload woudnt be a problem even with 15A hwd.

Most of the load plugged in to general circuits is well below the 15A plug it uses but there may be a possibility of combined load on same wire from another recpt or the 20 handles motor loads. Chop saws and air comps as well as welding are about impossible on 15A. High start currents.

One doesn't notice performance drops in long circuits in buildings especially in home garages where recepts are separate from lts. Big difference in a drop calc for 20A load vs the 13 actual run of even a heavy tool designed for 120.

 

[kschauwe]

I have never seen anything with a NEMA 5-20 plug on it.
Charles

An APC 2200 smart UPS comes from the factory with an 5-20p on it.