Extension Cord Organization.....

[mobiledynamics]

What do you use to Tie up your cords with ?
I've got 2 Cox Reels. One wall hung and a HUGE reel I use for a large portable cord setup.

I've also got a 100 footer 12AWG and another 100 footer 10 AWG in cord buckets (basically a reel within a 3 or 5 gal bucket) that pays out.

I've got various loosies I usually use in 2 milk crates. The reality of the matter, I generally just grab the 14AWG 25 footer or the 12AWG footer depending on the task at hand. Everything else is just extra, spares, holiday lights, extra lighting when I have a ton of people over and deck out extra lights around the back, etc.

Just added 2 more to the stash and this is what prompted it. I'm not a fan of the velco on the cords. Have not come up with something that I could standardize on the cords - just wrapping then in 2 /3 spots once coiled up.

Anybody got a *system* you guys use. Love to hear it. Looked alone.

 

[wrench409]

I just do the 'carpenters loop' and toss them aside or hang them up.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/853073/tangle_resistant_extension_cord/

 

[PECVD2]

YEAH, Great timing.
Just rolled up ~10 cords of vaious lengths and maybe 35 strings of lights today.
Luckily it was decent outside today.

Let us see them ideas/tips GJ.

 

[Gary S]

I don't own many extension cords. Rather than use extension cords, I opted to put receptacles wherever I thought I might need them. My garage has 30 receptacles, and I have 8 outdoor receptacles scattered around my yard so I have easy access to power wherever I need it.

 

[RVDan]

I only have one extension cord, it stays plugged into the side of the house. I drag the other end wherever I need it.

 

[mobiledynamics]

The post was about extension cord organization. The subject header was not asking how many extension cords you have or have not....

Back onto topic..

 

[rjwilliams]

Reels **** but work. I have seen some people coil 100 footers into a 5 gallon bucket and that seems to help with storage.

 

[rburke65]

I've got 5 ext. cords!....ha! Ok....now back to the topic.

 

[ariscus]

I daisy chain all of mine and they hang on the side of my workbench, have about 6 different length ones from 15' to 50' there, and I just bought a 100' a couple days ago, turns out to be a little to long to daisy chain effectively so it just gets rolled up, with the last few feet wrapping around the top to keep it bundled and hung along side the rest.

 

[evintho]

I keep the 100' on a reel. Smaller ones get hung on used gun racks I picked up at a garage sale.

 

[SpeedCoach]

I just coil mine into a couple plastic milk crates. I've tried other methods and fancy loops and just keep coming back to this way

 

[Bojans]

Carpenters loop them and hang them on a large hook under the stairs. I try to make the length of the loop represent the length of the cord but that rarely works...

 

[Hammer1963]

I use plastic soft drink crates. They are approximately 6" deep and work very well. One cord per crate and they stack easily. The shorter cords are in 18" - 20" diameter loops and hung on a wall or work bench with basic hose/cord hooks

 

[pete379]

hang most of mine on plastic garden hose hangers (coiled)

pete

 

[kbkna]

I use garden hose reels mounted near the receptacle. I only pull what I need then if I'm not lazy wind it back up. You can get them at garage sales for about a buck. Use the wheeled ones for pressure washing hoses.

 

[lilscorpion]

I hang all of mine on RubberMaid organizers I got at Home Depot. Keep them above another cabinet so they're out of the way until I need 'em.

 

[Playwme]

I've got one that's on a wind up reel with a double outlet and a switch. The others lie in a big tangled mess in the last place I used them until such time that I need to use that floor space.

 

[scab]

I bought some of those ratcheting clips that have handles that lock around a looped cord. They work really well and they come in different sizes for different lengths. I can toss them around and they don't come loose. Most of them hang on the wall.

Oh, and, since you asked, I have seven of them......

 

[5lima30]

I just do the 'carpenters loop' and toss them aside or hang them up.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/853073/tangle_resistant_extension_cord/

^^^^THIS! Keep it simple and don't over think it.

 

[mobiledynamics]

Any of you seen this.
Too much bulk but I would sell my Cox Reels in a heartbeat if there was less plastic, more metal ......and all I want is the mechanics. Don't want their cords. Too bad the *remote* is built into the cordhead

I'm a HUGE proponent of SOOW cord or GOOD SJTW Flexiable Cords....

http://roboreel.com/

 

[Gary S]

The post was about extension cord organization. The subject header was not asking how many extension cords you have or have not....

Back onto topic..

I understand, but rather than spend your time trying to organize a pile of extension cords, that time can be far better spent improving your electrical wiring so you seldom again need an extension cord. Then, organizing them becomes very easy with 1 or 2 cords. Just wind them up and hang them on two hooks on the wall. You save garage space, and improve convenience when you work.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I just loop them up, connect the plugs and hang on a bicycle hook.

 

[mobiledynamics]

I have plenty of outlets where it's applicable. Under my kitchen cabinets, which you don't see at eyelevel, there is outlet every 4 inches in my track, for the entire span.

It's not about not having properly designed outlets that I don't have in areas where i need them

Extension cords for me serve the very purpose they are designed for - Portable Use...

The extensions cords are used for holiday lighting. I don't want or plan to have a tonnage of outlets on the outside walls of my house nor do I plan to trench and put them in shrubs and stuff.

2nd) Alot of my renovation projects are full scale guts, etc. I'll have a tilesaw running outside, a tablesaw in another room, etc, etc - at times with the room raw and gutted, there is not electrical run quite yet.

I've got both a gasoline pressure washer AND a 220 V electric pressure washer. Guess what. I like to wash my cars on Sunday morning at full blast and I won't wake up anybody using the electric pressure washer. That cordage is a 10/3 60 foot cord.

Like the OP said, I have a 14AWG 25 footer and a 12AWG footer. These are my usual suspects. BUT, I do have tons of various cords for various things......

 

[K2Orion]

Coiled and hung on a peg board.

 

[LeeG]

Cords that I normally use for Christmas lights, I put the shorter ones in ziplock bags, and coil the longer ones with the carpenter's loop, then store in a plastic tub with the rest of the Christmas stuff.

Utility cords are either coiled or carpenter looped and hung on a wall. If I don't need it on a regular basis, I stick it in a storage tub on a shelf. When I coil a cord, I put one of these on it to keep it coiled. They work great for power tools also.

 

[sberry]

There is a difference in types of organizing, some you use all the time, 2 or 3 or 20 to one of some you can put out of the way. The point about minimalist is a good one for a lot of people. A lot of dollars sitting around a guy doesnt use. Happens in hard wiring too, did a bunch in a building or 2 that could have been nearly as well served with a couple cords on occasion.

 

[boiler7904]

Tri-Taps, timers, and cords for Christmas lights cords are in Rubbermade tubs in the attic with the lights and decorations.

I have two 25' 14ga cords - one is always attached to the leaf blower and the other to the hedge trimmer. Both cords are coiled and hung on the hook before the tool goes up.

35' 12 ga cord is wrapped around the handle of my snowblower for the electric starter - never have to move a car to get to it or go hunting for it.

Mix of 25 and 50' 12 ga cords are just hand coiled and hung on a hook on the wall. Thinking about moving the hooks higher up and using a long handled hook like clothes stores use for items on hangers high up on display. Will probably do the same with air hoses and a loose garden hose.

 

[gahrajmahal]

Luv my Wonder Winder

It was a gift 10 or so years ago. Holds a 50 footer perfectly. Have a 12ga , 3 outlet extention hanging on a hook used for when I am running multiple tools.

 

[Broadie]

Just came across this nifty setup:http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/031408unplggdwires/images/unplggd0314cleat2_small.jpg

 

[Dan in Pasadena]

Just came across this nifty setup:http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/031408unplggdwires/images/unplggd0314cleat2_small.jpg

Now that's pretty cool. Bugs me that an idea so simple & straight forward was right there and of course, I never saw it. I wonder where you can buy those?

 

[Dberglind]

I just do the 'carpenters loop' and toss them aside or hang them up.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/853073/tangle_resistant_extension_cord/

Don't know how I have lived to be nearly 40, and never seen this method before.

 

[Broadie]

Now that's pretty cool. Bugs me that an idea so simple & straight forward was right there and of course, I never saw it. I wonder where you can buy those?

Some artsy fartsy website. Doesn't look like they're in production:

http://www.oboiler.com/plugs/cleat.html

 

[lilscorpion]

I just do the 'carpenters loop' and toss them aside or hang them up.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/853073/tangle_resistant_extension_cord/

When I worked for a construction company a contractor I often worked with had all of his cords in the back of his truck "chained" (as he called it) and hung on a hook. I was amazed at how quickly and easily he was able to get them off his truck, get connected, do his thing, and get them back on the truck...though I suppose practice helps a little. Anyway, when my cords aren't up in long term storage, they're chained just like this. There is no better way that I've ever seen and I do take this method for granted to this day - I didn't even think to recommend it because it's just how you do it.

 

[crazytrain]

I coil them and hang them like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=_Je9LmUTZMY