extension cord winding

[pvtpublic]

I have a pretty solid technique:

 

[bracconiere]

well i just unwound my 100' cord, and thanks to this thread, instead of trying to fish each end to 'unravel' the big knot in the middle i realized all i had to do is just unroll it letting the free end spin as i did it! much easier! honestly, i think i get the principal here, but to tell you truth i don't think i have the strength to do the twist on a 100' cord. so i just got it started and tossed it on the ground and feed it, feeling the cord roll loosly in my hand while i was doing it....might be able to save this cord after all! Thanks Again Guys!

 

[pvtpublic]

I deal with cords all the time at work. Let it sit in the sun before rolling up. Once it has a "memory", loosely let it out so it looks like a stretched out slinky, and pull it in by each loop when you roll it back in.

 

[day_trippr]

This works for garden hoses and air compressor hoses fantastically

Truth.

 

[Bassman2003]

There are a few ways to do the coiling. I think this method is a little less tedious than the turn the hand over method.

 

[day_trippr]

Do that with 100' of garden hose...or a fat cable...

 

[Brewskey]

No-no-no!!!
Never operate an extension cord coiled up on a spool, it will generate heat and may even melt. Unless you only use it at a small fraction of its rated capacity.

BS

 

[DBhomebrew]

Do that with 100' of garden hose...or a fat cable...

That's the method I use to coil 100', 150', 200' of 12/19 socapex. 4/0 feeder, too.

As mentioned higher up in the thread, the floor is your friend.

 

[sibelman]

Dealing with fiber optic cable, I learned the virtue of figure-8s on the floor. fwiw, I've abused my cheap 100-foot extension cord for years, with little or no attention to the twisting problem, and it still conducts electricity.

 

[bracconiere]

I've abused my cheap 100-foot extension cord for years, with little or no attention to the twisting problem, and it still conducts electricity.

i'm hoping mine learns to love me again, now that i know how to treat it with respect....

 

[sibelman]

i'm hoping mine learns to love me again, now that i know how to treat it with respect....

Sometimes the damage is to great for the relationship to recover, but I wish you both every happiness.

 

[bracconiere]

well, i'm hoping with some...




she'll be just like new!

 

[sibelman]

Okay, but no twisting. <insert link to Twist and Shout here>

 

[bracconiere]

Okay, but no twisting. <insert link to Twist and Shout here>

of course not, the thing still needs to be conductive! but i am hoping with some TLC it gets limber again....

 

[govner1]

I have a couple of these and they’re great-

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...SJTW-Cable-Outdoor-Power-Cord-Reel/5012503247

 

[bracconiere]

I have a couple of these and they’re great-

https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-...SJTW-Cable-Outdoor-Power-Cord-Reel/5012503247

more the sorta thing i was thinking i'd get as feedback.....not learning cursive writing, as it turned out....

 

[Kharnynb]

as an electrician, proper reels are almost always better than loose cable, unless you want semi permanent or something to connect a corded powertool(though even there, reel with a shorter cord works best). don't buy anything under 5$/€ per meter, can't be worth the money.

 

[Bassman2003]

Open pondering here - if over/under is best for cable life, where does a reel fit in? It seems a reel gives the cord training just as old school coiling does. Or am I missing some physics?

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

I had an old mechanic tell me how to do this:
Get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Cut a 2" hole in the lid, and a 2" hole in the side of the bucket near the bottom. Thread the male end of the cord through the hole in the lid, into the bucket and out the hole in the side, about 3-4' outside the bucket. Snap the lid on and feed the rest of the cord through the hole in the lid.
I have had as much as 150 feet of of extension cord in it and never had a tangle or other problem

 

[Zambezi Special]

I had an old mechanic tell me how to do this:
Get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Cut a 2" hole in the lid, and a 2" hole in the side of the bucket near the bottom. Thread the male end of the cord through the hole in the lid, into the bucket and out the hole in the side, about 3-4' outside the bucket. Snap the lid on and feed the rest of the cord through the hole in the lid.
I have had as much as 150 feet of of extension cord in it and never had a tangle or other problem

I do/did that for my longer cables, except I just kept the lid of when using.
Then someone sat on the bucket...
I keep forgetting to buy a new one

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Open pondering here - if over/under is best for cable life, where does a reel fit in? It seems a reel gives the cord training just as old school coiling does. Or am I missing some physics?

You are missing a bit of physics, its all about conservation of angular momentum in the end. Most manual coiling is done with the coil close to 90° to the line of the cable on the floor, while rolling is done in line with the cable.

With a coil action, the longitudinal rotation that results from the coiling process either gets bigger and causes the twisting of the cable, or it has to be countered by rotating in the opposite direction every alternate coil (the over/under process). If the cable is short enough, or you are sufficiently patient, you can counter the rotation by letting the as-yet uncoiled length twist in the opposite direction too. On long cables, this is f***ing annoying to do manually.

With a reel, any rotation is expended around the axle of the reel and therefore does not build up. You can actually coil a cable by hand without twisting if you roll it up into the coil along the line of the cable by rotating the coil in your hands around the invisible center.

There may be videos on Youtube about this.

 

[Kharnynb]

I had an old mechanic tell me how to do this:
Get a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Cut a 2" hole in the lid, and a 2" hole in the side of the bucket near the bottom. Thread the male end of the cord through the hole in the lid, into the bucket and out the hole in the side, about 3-4' outside the bucket. Snap the lid on and feed the rest of the cord through the hole in the lid.
I have had as much as 150 feet of of extension cord in it and never had a tangle or other problem

that works if it's reasonably loose and cool inside, if you leave too much inside and it starts to behave like a tightly packed coil it might melt/catch fire.

 

[Bassman2003]

You are missing a bit of physics, its all about conservation of angular momentum in the end. Most manual coiling is done with the coil close to 90° to the line of the cable on the floor, while rolling is done in line with the cable.

With a coil action, the longitudinal rotation that results from the coiling process either gets bigger and causes the twisting of the cable, or it has to be countered by rotating in the opposite direction every alternate coil (the over/under process). If the cable is short enough, or you are sufficiently patient, you can counter the rotation by letting the as-yet uncoiled length twist in the opposite direction too. On long cables, this is f***ing annoying to do manually.

With a reel, any rotation is expended around the axle of the reel and therefore does not build up. You can actually coil a cable by hand without twisting if you roll it up into the coil along the line of the cable by rotating the coil in your hands around the invisible center.

There may be videos on Youtube about this.

Thanks. I thought there was a good reason.

 

[DosGatosBrewing]

that works if it's reasonably loose and cool inside, if you leave too much inside and it starts to behave like a tightly packed coil it might melt/catch fire.

I should have mentioned that it is loosely packed inside, and I have never used it for anything that drew very much current--hedge trimmers and such. Someone else's experience could be different.

 

[marc1]

Twist the wire opposite directions each coil.. Always. I guess excepting the 3-9ft cords. The coils edit:winders are OK if you pull them all the way out every time.
I suppose I have never tried the chain sinnet of coiling rope though(kind of like the way grain bags are sealed.. pull one end and it coils out nicely, like it ever works..)

I use the double line version of this for extension cords. It keeps them tidy and you can sling them up on a hook, or even just toss them on a table or in a tote, and they uncoil great every time, no knots.

 

[bracconiere]

like it ever works..)

need the 'cheat sheet' for that to happen.....