NEMA 14-30 Power Cable - How to DIY...?

[Rob2010SS]

Anyone in here able to tell me what is all needed to construct my own 14-30 power cable for my spike system? The system comes with a 6ft cable and I need a 10ft. Both Spike and and EBrewSupply have told me that they cannot help me, so I need to build one.

1. What is needed for the cable itself?
a. What gauge wire?
b. How many wires?
c. What is the cover/coating/outer material that keeps it all together and where do I get that?
2. Can I use the plug and receptacle from the cord that came with the system on the new cord or would I need all new parts for this?

Can't think of any other questions at the moment, but I'll post them as I think of them.

As always, thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Lager_Goggles]

I just bought a 12 foot one off Amazon. I think it was like $35. RV/Generator cord.

 

[augiedoggy]

home depot or lowes is where I buy my supplies for this. if I am not in a hurry I buy the nema male and female plugs on ebay and save some $$ just look for the "UL" symbol I bought super cheap plugs one time and they were just that. difficult to use.
When wiring remember green is the ground and white is neutral other two wires dont matter... you can google the 14-30 pinout if you want a diagram showing what wire goes to what terminal screw.
EDIT I googled it for you the black and red wires are both hot and interchangeable for this.(one will be line 1 and one line2)

 

[Lager_Goggles]

HomeDepot here didn't have any in store. The lady said they cleared all them out a while back for like $5-$10. Wish I would have been there. Plus I'm lazy and there is something to be said for Prime.

 

[tll77]

1 what you are looking for is called SJ cable
a at least 10guage, but it wont hurt if all you can find is 8(dont go the other way)
b technically, it is called 3wire+g(there will be four conductors) black, red, white + green for ground
c it comes as a cord, it wouldn't be safe to try to make this part yourself
2 yes.

make sure the plug you use matches the receptacle at the wall
14-30P and L14-30P are not the same shape and will not fit together

 

[augiedoggy]

HomeDepot here didn't have any in store. The lady said they cleared all them out a while back for like $5-$10. Wish I would have been there. Plus I'm lazy and there is something to be said for Prime.

I am very surprised, my home depot has them available from a couple different brands at a couple different pricepoints.. Prime is good though.. fast and just costs a bit more than ebay but usually still cheaper than local.
if they dont have SJ wire you can ask for SOOW wire which have a bit more heft to is since the jacket is rated for extra hard service with oil resistance and rated up to 600v vs 300 (nothing you need here but still an option)

 

[Dland]

I use SOOW 10G, 4 conductor for all my 30A 240V needs. But I brew outdoors and have some cables for generators also.

Easy to make the cable to the length you want if you buy quality plug ends. I would recommend Legrand or Hubble brands on the plugs. The cheaper ones are harder to attach to cord.

Hook up is illustrated in post #3, just be sure there are no stray strands of wire not in their proper connector terminals, you do not want any arching. Also, tighten down connections well.

SJ cable is similar to SOOW, and will work fine for your purposes if you are indoors.

Making a new cord using the plug ends from your current cord would be OK if they are the detachable type but would not recommend splicing the wire to to molded plugs.

10 gauge is all you need for that short run, the only thing wrong with 8g cable is it is harder to fit on the plug ends, since most 14-30 plugs are designed for 10G.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Awesome. Thank you guys very much for the information.