Quality cord reel at a reasonable price?

[icnsltmfg]

Or supply your own cord for this one
# Holds 150ft. of 8/3 cord; 225ft. of 10/3 cord
# Steel construction with oversized bearings for durability
# Protects cord plug inside drum
$154.00

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000T7MP8E/?tag=atomicindus08-20

 

[jimmycrackcorn]

Coxreels very nice, reelcraft makes good ones too, not cheap tho http://www.reelcraft.com/products/power_cord.htm

 

[Vicegrip]

Coxreels is the only stuff we use in the shops at work. Well made and you can get parts for most of them.

Don't look at AWG alone on cord reels. The commutator ring and slider contacts are most often the weak point is a cord reel. I never use a cord reel for stuff above a hand drill, angle grinder or light and 100% never on high start amp draw tools like chop or miter saws. The high inrush amps will toast the spring loaded contact fingers and can make arc pits on the contact rings. A partially wound cord in the reel can overheat as the heat is concentrated. Some reels will note that full rating is only with cord fully extended.

 

[ColdDuckTime]

This looks like the balls...but just a tad expensive....

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000N4NNUW/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Huh....(clutching chest at $659 price tag)....so where's the water line on that setup?

 

[cweagle]

So I am an electrical engineer, and can offer an at least semi-informed opinion. The reason you want a lower-gauge cord (== thicker conductors) is lower resistance. When you run a load (say, a 15 amp chopsaw) on an extension cord, whatever resistance is present in the cable will create a voltage drop at the load. This will cause the saw to spin slower, with less power, and less self-cooling (most of these motors have built-in fans). If most of the cord is 12GA, but a little bit is 14GA, that's basically OK. Resistance is proportional to length (ohms/ft), so most of the cord being lower restance is good enough, assuming that the thinner piece isn't _really_ thin.