How do you store your electric extension cords?

[andyvh1959]

Its more how you coil them than how you hang them. A peg, a hook, a drawer, a shelf, a bucket, as long as you don't twist the reinforcing in the extension cord. I have multiple 100' and 50' cords with no twist or kink in them. Learned it from my dad.

 

[four.cycle]

as long as you don't twist

exactly.
the problem is when you're at a gig, or job site, or you have another person around who starts wrapping your extension cords up.
GAH!

 

[UserNameAttempt3]

I bought a few of these. Easy to grab and go.

I've got a few of these and each one is labeled with the length, a home Depot tote they all live in that is labeled so the wife knows where they are and how long each one is.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Its more how you coil them than how you hang them. A peg, a hook, a drawer, a shelf, a bucket, as long as you don't twist the reinforcing in the extension cord. I have multiple 100' and 50' cords with no twist or kink in them. Learned it from my dad.

I'd agree with that. None of my cords gave twists in them, except one.. the little 10' cord that sits on the 2 gal shop vac. That comes from the wife, doing what she does.

 

[bluedog225]

This one just fell off the roll. It was done perfectly. I wanted to repeat the process.

 

[GaryM909]

I coil mine and hang them on nails. They have to be perfect or I will re do them.
My wife isn't allowed to coil them up because she could care less about any twists or kinks in them.

 

[kumquat]

I throw mine, in a tangled mess, under the bench.

 

[Norcal]

I roll them up & use repurposed Velcro straps from a wheel chair piss bag holder, since I had a source for them since they are disposable. They are long so can accommodate longer or shorter cords, just have to make sure roll it the right direction. The strap not the cord.

 

[Codyboy]

This one just fell off the roll. It was done perfectly. I wanted to repeat the process.

This is the 2nd time I've read "fell off the roll"
WTH does that even mean?

And no. That figure 8 looking mess is not correct.

 

[bluedog225]

This is the 2nd time I've read "fell off the roll"
WTH does that even mean?

And no. That figure 8 looking mess is not correct.

It came off the roll easily. No knots or tangles. But you knew that.

 

[SouthernIllinois]

Brake caliper hooks on electrical conduit.
I hang them near a box which is screwed to 2X6 blocking behind the metal interior.

 

[logical]

Gathered up in big loops and draped on some ATV wheels bolted to the wall.

 

[PhantomEB]

Wrap when not cold. Whip them to loosen up kinks. I wrap 100’ one up big enough to not touch the floor in the shed when hung up.

rest goes in back corner of the shop stacked on the hook shortest to longest in order.

shes got a 40’ 12/3 reel off the front porch for her spot in the driveway, I need to do the same for my car.

 

[GTO]

Plastic Milk Crates

 

[BurtEggley]

the long one is on a spool. The shorter ones get palm to elbow then the end wrapped around and thru. There are other ways but I do not have room for those methods. The spool sits on a L-hook and the others on top of that. Never have an issue using them in a few seconds. If someone does uses them a lot then treat them like a waterski rope and recoil into a 5 gallon bucket. If one has the height then use the loop thru method. Some cords don't seem to like the over under loop twisted-loop method but it works too.

 

[CraigStu]

The technique in post #27 is a game changer. To keep coils round and smooth the wire needs to be twisted as you form the next loop. That means that the entire rest of the cord needs a twist. Not easy when over 25ft or so. His technique has one loop twisted to the right and the next twisted to the left. So the entire free end of the cord doesn't need to be twisted for each coil. BRILLIANT! Thanks for posting. See, a 77 yr old dog can still learn new tricks/techniques.

 

[pembol]

This is the best way. I am a mountain and ice climber (though not so active at it anymore). A "mountaineers' coil" as sketched above is an excellent way to coil a cord (or rope) without kinking. It is very easy to do and fast once you get the pattern down.

But cgrutt left off a very important "step 0" before making the coil. You must first "stack" the cord and start from the midpoint. You do this as follows. You first grab one end of the cord. Work out all kinks. Then starting from one end with the end outside (or in your hand) *stack* the unkinked cord till you reach the other end. Then with both ends in your hand (cord doubled up) stack again till you reach the midpoint of the coil. Then make the Mountaineer's coil making loops back and forth with your hand from the midpoint . You can find rock climbing tutorial videos of this online or look at books on mountaineering and rock climbing (Freedom of the Hills is excellent). It is exactly the same procedure for electrical cords as with ropes. But it is critically important to start out with an unkinked cord and cords kink easier than rope. If you do and keep doing this every time, the cord will remain kink free. Also, if correctly worked and stacked, you will find with each successive coiling that it gets less kinked with each successive use as you get it properly worked.

NEVER EVER NEVER roll a cord winding loops from elbow to hand. When you do this, it puts an overall rotation each turn and generates kinks that have to be worked out.

Rock climbers and mountaineers are often super good and fast at this procedure since it can be life and death on a multi-pitch route to avoid rope snarls. Kinks can also catch on features generating all sorts of problems. Climbing partners will also murder anyone who *$%# -up the rope -- so it gets very ingrained.

Also, I strongly recommend avoiding plastic sheath cords. Those kink too easily. Rubber sheaths are much better. Also, working in low temps can exacerbate kink problems (especially with plastic sheath cords). Below freezing can be nightmarish and it can be better to take the cord inside and let it warm up first before coiling.

Be kind to your cords and your cords will be kind to you Maybe your life does not depend on it in DIY and even job site applications for cords as it does for mountain climbers. But the methods mountaineers use really help. I gather some contractors are very phobic about cord handling also since poor techniques can create problems and inefficiencies on jobs.

I have coiled my rope in a butterfly many hundreds of times, and have never ever found the middle of the rope to do so, although I also mark the middle of all my ropes. I start with both ends, measure out two arm lengths and set them aside for the tie off/backpack straps then follow the proceedure. I have never seen anyone flake the rope first and start in the middle.

This works well for really long extension cords, but is not the neatest way to store 25 - 50' cords.

 

[C-S-H]

This one just fell off the roll. It was done perfectly. I wanted to repeat the process.

I coil into figure eights, but not like that. I firmly grab cord 5' from end with right hand, palm up. Then firmly grab cord with left hand 5' out, palm down. Then bring fists together thumbs up without letting cord slip, and transfer new figure 8 loop to right hand. Thumbs always point toward bitter end you started with.
coiling and throwing a steel tape

 

[humber2]

Coiling cables up got me lots of tangles, so after considering I’m south of the equator, I wind cables down.

YMMV

 

[Nobody-named-Olli]

Because I’m in the system, my main 10m extension + additional 4.5m safety/PRCD-S extension is Systainer bound.

Festool SYS-PowerHub SYS3-PH M 187 online

www.festool.com

Then there are:

*25m on a reel in basement project workshop.

*25m coiled on one of these on the wall of the small shed as backup.


*10m coiled, on top of electric mower, always connected to mower/ strain relief.

*15m coiled, hanging on a hook in small shed to connect the 10m from the mower to outlet = 25m of movement.

*20m coiled, hanging on a hook in small shed for general use.


*7.5m with triple socket coiled, hold by a “wraptor”, hanging on a hook in small shed for general use/ running multiple battery chargers.


Kind regards,
Olli

 

[Dagny]

I use to roll them up and carefully lay them in the back door of grumman where on the way home they thread themselves through the handles of every freon can pipe vise and step ladder.

Now I gab them up and fling them in the truck with same results but don't lose the winding time.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

There's various ways to coil them so they don't get twists or tangles but I usually just roll mine up and deal with it. I only have one that's really long and I don't use it often, the shorter ones are easy enough to untangle.

I've been using the over/under rolling method for the past several years and it really makes things easier. It's just as fast to roll them back up but makes them much easier to throw/pull from when unrolling.

Overworked, underpaid.

 

[LOW1]

Cheap, easy and good enough for who it is for.

https://www.menards.com/main/electrical/electrical-cords-surge-protectors/extension-cords/performax-trade-cord-storage-wrap-3-pack/bv3pcsw/p-1642874335900209-c-6410.htm

Instead of one long cord I prefer three or four shorter ones that can be connected together if needed.

 

[Joe Reed]

I save my plastic 3D printer filament reels to use for my shorter cords (~12' or less) and store them in a plastic bin on a shelf. My long cords (up to 200') are very seldom used so they're just sort of rolled up and hung out in the garden shed...

 

[Sbusmech]

Roll it up and hang it on a nail on the wall

Yes, keep it simple, off the ground and out of the way so they don't get damaged and are easy to find.