QuickWinder

Posted by Ryan Posted onFeb 2, 2022 at 4:08 PM and filed under Reviews & Features
Updated onUpdated on Feb 2, 2022 at 4:08 PM

I have no idea how you guys live up North and deal with real winters. It’s madness. The weatherman here in Texas is predicting five straight days of below freezing temps and I’ve been spending most of my day preparing for it and dreading what is to come…

Anyway, as I was getting my backup generator setup I went to grab an extension cord and remembered something that was sent in for review years ago – A QuickWinder by TSO Products. I never reviewed it as I never really understood the convenience. I work mostly from a shop environment and rarely (if ever) need a mobile extension cord setup.

That all being said, I’ve had an extension cord in this thing for a couple of years now and while I’ve used it sparingly, it’s still looks new. It wasn’t until this morning that I truly understood how handy this thing actually is. My use case is something like this:

  1. Setup generator, grab and run extension cord.
  2. Realize I’m at the wrong panel – pack up and move everything to another location 100′ away.

Typically, wrapping up and moving a 12/3 100′ extension cord is sort of a pain in the ass, right? With the QuickWinder, you just crank the thing into the bucket, move it, and redeploy.

At the end of the day, it’s just a super simple device that manages long cords… but it’s made well and does what it is supposed to do. Like I said, this thing is a few years old now and there might be better alternatives out there now, but if you have the need – I recommend this contraption.

Details here.

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gahrajmahal

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Looks great! I had a “wonder winder” that was the same concept except you mount it on the wall. It worked great for many years.
 
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mobiledynamics

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A blast from the past when I just saw that on the homepage. I think I had 2 of those like a decade or 15 ago. Most of my cords these days of various gauges are now home-DIY SJEOW or SEOOW cable with Hubbel Ends. I just roll them up in fairly large loops and just hang them.

It's been a long time, but it get's tired real quick with that crank in a buck. Especially with larger gauge or longer wire.

It is well built though, but a large Cox reel or the like is much easier to unwind
 
R

rharman

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gahrajmahal said:
Looks great! I had a “wonder winder” that was the same concept except you mount it on the wall. It worked great for many years.
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I've had a WonderWinder in the box for I don't know how many (at least 15) years. Seems like a good idea but I've never found a decent place to mount it in the garage.
 
D

doug.j

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Spencer Was Here said:
So, do you have any retractable cord reels? If so do you always pull them out to full length before using?
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I've had a few reels. They are fine for most stuff. You need to be careful what you plug in to them. They have slip ring contacts and you don't want to over heat those. The coiled cord comment is for heavy loads (max rating) over a long time. I've see them get hot from being coiled. Being in bucket might add to the problem.
 
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mobiledynamics

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I just remembered what I did not like with this cord in a bucket. The weight....the unit is well built. When empty, + cord, and then carrying it, with it swaying back and forth as you leg as you walk with all the weight .........it was annoying.


It's alot easier just taking a long looped cord, even heavy SO cable and just running the hand through it and carrying it over the shoulder.
 
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PelicanPines

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Bert_ said:
I like to buy 50' cords, easier to deal with and you can always use two. I just like to make big loops.
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I purchased 3 x 50' 12/3 cords. Bought those Orange Crank rollers. 50' is not heavy... and with multiple cords... I can power multiple things or extend to 100'... I won't ever need more than 75. 50 will get me just about anywhere outside to an expected "internal Load Center"
 

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andyvh1959

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I'm skeptical, not worth it. I have a few 100' power cords and 50' power cords that still lay out straight and untwisted because when I manually coil them up I make sure not to allow twist into the cord/reinforcing. I create about a five foot long section into a loop I hold in my left hand, then with my right hand I coil on another five foot section that I make sure is not twisted as I collect it next to the previous loop in my left hand.

People that just wrap the cord up looped over their hand and elbow end up with a figure 8 twisted mess. Any reel, vertical like above or horizontal like the bucket style still need the cord relaxed and untwisted as the cord is reeled in. I'll just do it manually.
 
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KnurledNut

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Neat contraption.
Ive been doing a method similar to this video for too long and it would be hard to change to anything else even if it was easier.:lol:
P.S. Shirt/beer is optional.
 
R

RSjG

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Feb 3, 2022
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I was shown at an early age by my grandfather to loop an extension cord drawn from around a post or tree trunk at a 30 degree angle as you hand wind it to its "trained" form. Hasn't failed me in 40 + years.. Ever. Takes all the twists and kinks out.
 
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CraigStu

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I have a couple of the orange plastic reels that I like. But I may need to check out that winder. Big advantage I see is the thing sits wherever w/ no tendency for the cord to start unwinding.
 
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IndyGarage

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Well, it's not quite as high tech as the Roboreel. Which is a good thing.

I use extension cords constantly. I have a couple of the orange generic cords and a couple green christmas light cords I use around the shop, and one heavy 100 foot extension cord. But we all know the problem with putting out and picking up cords. 25 and even 50 footers aren't bad if they are lower gauge - but heavy gauge cords are tough. If it is cold out they are even tougher.

So I have a garage journal confession. I actually bought a Roboreel. And my review is two words: It *****.

It ***** because the stupid thing isn't heavy enough to hold itself in position when you pull the cord out. I put it on a table and promptly drug it onto the floor - several times. It ***** because mine doesn't retract all the time - seems the cord doesn't wind evenly on the spool and gets stuck. And it really ***** because you can't attach anything that pulls a lot of amps or that has spikes in power through it, because the protection circuit will shut it down.

Forget running my plasma cutter or even a high amp grinder - or pretty much anything I want to run in my shop through it - you will end up spending 5 minutes trying to figure out what just broke - then determining that the brain in the roboreel thinks you are doing something dangerous - so you go get a standard extension cord and string it out and then do the thing that the roboreel won't let you do.

I tried to like it, but now it sits in the corner, because if I pull it out I'm liable to have it fall on the floor and break, and if I use it, i'm afraid it will shut down.

So this low-tech version might be a better answer - although it still costs 215 bucks, which is what I paid for Mr. Roboreel.
 
T

tester19

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Used Wonder Winders for years. As posted above the issue is the reel needs to held down while you spool and un-spool the cable. Without that it takes too many hands and what not to hold everything.

Have several mounting bases around the shop so I can move the Wonder Winder where I need the cord.
It's simple but effective!

I had one of those orange plastic reels but found it terrible to use.
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J

jblnut

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That would be a nice thing to have around a house where you want to keep things clean. It's a bit pricy but looks like a nice unit !!

I instantly thought of the various length 4/3 SOOW cords we use to power augers in our grain drying system and found myself wondering if maybe a 55gal barrel version is available :lol_hitti
 
S

slimpickins

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I used to work on an audio crew and we wound 150-200 ft cords by hand into loops just coiling them by hand. We used a reverse looping method where 1-3 loops go on the inside and the same number on the outside. Uncoiling was just using a hand under hand from inside the coil - basically your hands being the spool. Not sure if that makes a clear picture but I've done it that way ever since. To this day I wind my cords that way and I can just stack them in a box or one of the big drawers in my shop and they never get tangled or twisted. No velcro ties, nothing. I even use it on my big 10/3 extensions which is a little harder but still works. The only time it doesn't work is when it's -40 and then even the -40 rated cords are a little too stiff. At those temperatures you can literally "push the wire" and it can stay straight. I wind them up as best I can and bring them in the garage to warm up and then re-wind them the usual way.
Ryan, your 5 days of below freezing temps makes me laugh. We have weeks of -25 to -40 weather and it's pretty much business as usual. Here's few things you are missing out on: (lol)
  • At -30 tires get flat spots when parked for a few hours and it takes a mile or so of driving before they flex and warm up enough to smooth out.
  • Below -20 to -25 salt doesn't melt ice and snow and they spread sand and gravel on the roads.
  • The sand/salt mix is varied depending on temperature for best effectiveness.
  • If it stays cold enough for long enough, the condensation from car exhaust from all the cars builds up on the roads as ice and it starts to get pretty slick. Salt doesn't help. It has to get up to about -20 before the salt can start to melt it.
  • The salt they use is mostly potassium chloride (i.e. potash) which is a fertilizer, so when it melts in the spring it helps the grass in the ditches grow. Sodium chloride (i.e. table salt) kills plants.
  • When we get extreme cold below -40, tire rims can shrink enough that the seal from tire to rim fails and to solve this they will smear a tar coating in the bead channel of the rim to help the tire seal to the rim. (I've only had to do that once).
Just curious about your generator? I assume that's for emergency power? I have a generator, but I've never had to start it in 40 years. I do start it once in a while to keep it ready, but those are the only hours it's got on it.

When you live in this climate I guess we are just ready for it as a matter of course.
Cheers
 
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MatBirch

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In my shop, I had the one that just pulls the cord in and drops in into the mesh bag hanging below it. I loved it. I had it mounted right next to my air hose reel. I kept a rag clipped to a length of paracord dangling beneath each one, so I could just grab the rag in one hand, and pull the hose/cord through it as I wound it back up. Everything stayed nice and clean.
 
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sepress1

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I cut a 8" wide x 3/4" x 30" board with "V's" in the ends. A hand hold slot. Wrap the 100' cord around this. It works ok.
 
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