Extension Cords.. where to keep, and how many to keep??

[geneg]

Not true. For a couple reasons. A 16 ga extension cord in open air is entirely different than a piece of Romex buried in an insulated wall. The cooling effects from open air are far different than wire jammed inside a wall. Do understand that extension cords are expected to be uncoiled during operation for this very reason. Leave them tightly wound on a roll and they can melt.



If you apply a direct short to the extension cord, the breaker will trip before the cord melts.

As for power strips, there are some heavy duty ones with sizable internal conductors. Others have very little. But they do not adjust the breaker size to match.

My brother in law was a maintenance electrician at a large manfacturing complex. He brought me a high end metal cord reel that looked on the inside similar to your 1st photo. It didn't have any plastic, just melted cord. Someone had plugged in a high amp battery charger the night before with only about 5 feet of cord extended. It melted & tripped the breaker. Took us awhile to clean it out & respool it with I think 12 ga. SJ & a box with strain relief. His employer donated the replacement parts as well as the reel. I've been using it since the early 90's without an issue. Just not for chargers.

 

[driftpin]

Most of my cords are 12 ga., I have a couple 10 ga. 25 ft., & a couple 50 ft.

I coil extension cords, and use a 8-12" diameter loop of 3/16 nylon cord to hang each extension cord from a screw or hook.

Unless I need a 100' cord in a particular place, I prefer shorter cords. When the 100' cord ends become too worn to use, I cut them into 2 or 3 lengths and make a quad outlet metal box for each end. The male end gets a proper heavy duty plug.

With my M18 tools, I find my need for numerous extension cords has dropped somewhat - but I still have to plug in the stationary tools and the battery chargers.

I do that same type of repair when it's needed to make a damaged cord safe. The 4" twin-duplex outlet boxes are handy when working on something remote. One long heavy-duty cord having four 20 amp female receptacles, serves as 'power central' on a jobsite. These days, I'm rarely going to be doing anything like that, so those aren't used much. I estimate I have probably ten extension cords of different lengths.

The 'daisy-chain,' or whatever you call that looping extension cord storage, I've been using that for >50 years, and it is quick and easy to deploy. As mentioned, you can just use part of the loops.

To store, I have those oversize D-rings which can hold several coiled cords. As I age into my elder years, (I'm there already) I probably should start giving stuff that I have many-of, away.

 

[RegeSullivan]

I keep them all in the garage... then I find I need them in the basement shop so I move them all to the basement only to find I need them in the back yard so I move them to the storage cabinet on the back patio... then i need them in them in the garage again.... you get the idea!

Oh, then there is the 10ga 100 footer that hangs in the storage area behind the home theater wall... I don't use it, and that's a good thing cause it's to frick'n heavy to move around.

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I added a GFCI protected outlet inside the garage between the 2 roll up doors. I have a 15' - 12 gauge cord plugged in and hung on a hook below the outlet. The cord is clamped to the wall so it cannot be accidentally pulled from the outlet.

I have a few (3 or 4) 12 gauge x 50' cords hanging on a hook on the side wall of the garage. They get used when I need more than 1 thing plugged in in the garage at the same time. Battery tools have decreased their usage but not eliminated it.

Cheers

Jim