Extension cords

[turd]

Might be kind of a silly question, but maybe not. I was given a plug-in lawn edger. I will need at least 100' of extension cords to get to all of my driveway and sidewalk with this thing. Is there a safe limit to how many cords you can hook together? I have two fifty foot cords, is this OK to do? The guy that gave it to me had one long cord wound up on a spool that he used.

 

[hittman]

My UNeducated guess is that 2 should be fine. Assuming of course they are good quality items, not what some pick up at the dollar stores of the world.

 

[s4s4u]

The longer the cord, the heavier the wire should be, depending on the load. I have several 16 gauge 100' cords and have plugged more than two together to reach for lighting purposes. The 100' cord I run for work is 12 gauge, because I am running saws and power tools off of it.

There is no danger in multiple cords plugged together, other than a potential for moisture to blow a breaker.

 

[turd]

Thank you.

 

[eveled]

Put the heaviest cord first ( at the outlet)

It will be obvious if you are over extending yourself (pun intended)

The machine will run differently or the cords will get hot.

 

[Mobuck]

A single long cord is a bit better than two corded pugged together but not enough make the use unsafe (you don't plan to do this in the rain?). As eveled says, use the heavier rated cord first. anytime moisture might be present, use a 3 wire cord.

 

[v35]

It's not a question of how many cords, the limiting factor is the overall length of the power cord and its gauge. If you have or can get the instruction manual for the lawn edger, it should indicate what you can safely use.

If the length is too long or the gauge is too small then the resulting voltage drop will exceed a limit. Lower voltage at the motor will case it to draw more current thereby increasing its temperature. The motor will either burn up quickly or it will degrade over time, weakening it and reducing its life.

Not knowing anything about the edger makes it difficult to estimate but for electric power tools it almost never makes sense to use a 100' cord in anything less than 12 AWG. Smaller gauges in similar lengths are ok for Christmas lights.

 

[GypsmJim]

I have power at my camp for my cabin. I also have a small electric chain saw. Several times I have had to cut trees far away from my electric pole. I have successfully used three 100' cords to get the job done. This is specifically a 20 amp line.

I guess the key is to check the wire as you do the job. Hot wires or hot plugs will tell you to stop.

As an aside, I have converted ALL my weedwackers, chain saws and leaf blowers to 40V battery power. What an improvement! They are all the same brand so they all use the same battery. There is no job I can't finish because of those multiple batteries. Now my extension cords are obsolete.

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I don't use any cords smaller than 12 gauge up to 100 feet.
Anything past that has a 100 foot , 10 gauge lead cord.

 

[Fox Mike]

My 100 feet cords are all 12 ga. I lot depends on what you are using it for. A string of Christmas lights are much different than a power saw.

 

[protoolman]

I've been told a circular saw on a 100 ft cord is rough on the saw, but I done it many times. The voltage drop makes the saw run slower I think.

 

[krw]

I had much rather hav 2-50', 12-3 cords than 1-100' cord

 

[Jeepnik]

I've got scads of extension cables from 25' to 200' left over from before I retired. There are charts you can download or at least look at online that tell you what gauge wire, for how many feet, at what amp draw. As mentioned a single cord is always better. No chance or water at junctions and no increased resistance either. I know it might be tempting to go with a larger wire size, but remember, you will be dragging that thing all over creation.
Of course, you can spend a couple or hundred and get a really nice 100' auto retracting reel. It all depends on how fancy you want to get.

 

[SamV]

What is the amperage or wattage listed on the label of the device? That is the most important information that you need to know before determining what gauge wire to use. Once you have determined that info, then you can look up what gauge wire that you need at what length you need. If you are lucky, the edger will not draw high amps, and you will be able to use lighter and much less expensive cords. Sometimes, you may find that the electric tool is not such a good deal if you need to purchase a $120 cord.

 

[Justice B. Swift]

After reviewing the specifications of several edgers I'm speculating that the motor draws approximately 12 amps. At 120 volts this equates to 1440 watts needed to run it (volts x Amps). Given that 12 ga wire will yield a voltage drop of 1/10 of 1 percent per foot you can assume a 10 percent drop in voltage for 100 ft of cord. That said your yield at 100 ft. will be 108 volts. 1440 watts divided by 108 volts will require 13.3 amps to properly supply the motor. Also, a conventional electric motor can pull double its rated running amps during start up. Even more if starting under load such as refrigeration compressors. This is why they use a capacitor to assist in start-up and reduce current spikes. As stated elsewhere, a 12ga. wire is required and it should be a single cord rather than multiple cords linked, because there is substantial resistance (current loss) at each juncture. I would actually recommend a second cord of 50ft. be used when you are within 50ft. of the power source to further improve the available current and reduce the burden on the motor to extend its life. just my $0.02

 

[blume357]

Justice above is way above the learning curve than me but I'm surprised that a edger would draw that many amps... if it is then he (or she) is right... I was thinking that an edger like this would be more like 6 amps max.

when I first started int he chimney business and for the first 30 years the vacuum I used pulled around 16-18 amps at start up.... It was not back in the early days to actually go to a house that still had fuses and so I had to carry spares with me to replace 15 amp ones... twice this vac actually burned house wiring in two because they were connected bad.

 

[Yaworski]

Extension cord packaging is marked with the max amperage.

I learned about having too long of a cord through experience. I had an electric lawn mower that was fine for my townhouse yard. I tried using it at my current house, not a big yard but I needed a 100 ft cord and the mower ran like crap.

I knew that wires have internal resistance, after all that's how you can measure how much cable is left on a spool. However, it never occurred to me that a "heavy duty" extension cord would have significant enough resistance to impact power tools.

 

[Mobuck]

Since my Grandson seems to have no comprehension of amp rating or capabilities of extension cords, all mine are heavier than most would consider necessary. Couple that with the possibility of plugging a 1500 W engine heater into a 100' cord and you can see the potential problems.

 

[GasGuzzler]

I agree with the above that I want 12 gauge for 100'. The motor on the edger should have an amp rating, doubt it's more than 15.

 

[Richard76]

when I was in the Navy one of the CPO's on the base came in with a red ring around his neck. seems he was using a electric edger which had a short cord to plug into it and it separated a little from the extension cord when he was using it all sweaty and his gold neck chain dropped in the gap and dropped him like a rock. almost electrocuted him. I never liked him so I laughed for weeks, chuckling now remembering it
be careful

 

[Sam Summey]

Might be kind of a silly question, but maybe not. I was given a plug-in lawn edger. I will need at least 100' of extension cords to get to all of my driveway and sidewalk with this thing. Is there a safe limit to how many cords you can hook together? I have two fifty foot cords, is this OK to do? The guy that gave it to me had one long cord wound up on a spool that he used.

You didn't say the size of the wire in the cords. The farther you go the more the voltage drop due to resistance increasing due to the length.

 

[jules]

Check the amps on the tools tag. A 12amp edger would need at least a 14ga. cord to 100'.

 

[Yaworski]

 

[rcs9250]

Sort of a side hijack. Recently the National Electric Code (NEC) is now allowing 16/2 wire for LED wiring. LED’s draw so little power that it isn’t necessary to use #12 or #14 gauge wire. Now how to keep people from overloading 16/2 circuits with conventional bulbs that draw more than the intended LED’s is another matter.
I have not seen the specifics of the code in writing yet but they might only allow it for puck lights like you see in many kitchen ceiling lights or undercabinet strip lights. It might be prudent to not allow it in regular screw in fixtures where someone might screw in a 150 watt heat lamp.
Someone on the forum may know the specifics.
I know 16/2 w/gnd is available at Lowe’s and Home Depot.

 

[vito]

The bigger question is why anyone would want to use a lawn mower that requires a 100 feet of electrical wiring dragging behind the machine? I had a home with a very small front yard, about 25 by 25 feet, and even that was a PITA with an electric cord getting tangled behind me. A 100 feet of cord will be heavier than you might think and moving it around seems more hassle that could possibly be worth the effort. You really need a cordless machine, or a traditional ICE engine lawn mower.

 

[Yaworski]

I have not seen the specifics of the code in writing yet but they might only allow it for puck lights like you see in many kitchen ceiling lights or undercabinet strip lights.

I saw that new specification as well. As I recall, it was only for circuits with LED lights and no outlets (receptacles to the pros).

Some forty years ago, I had a coworker who said that some day homes would be wired for 12V DC. He may have been right.

 

[Jeepnik]

I doubt you'll ever see DC wired houses. Even with polarized plugs there's too big a chance of some idiot reversing polarity and then the fun starts.

I've seen folks reverse polarity on vehicles or things they were adding to vehicles. It's never pretty.

 

[Yaworski]

I doubt you'll ever see DC wired houses.

New York used to have DC. Then they went to Marvel.

A lot of stuff plugs into the AC mains but really runs off DC. Your computer, your TV.

If you have an LG fridge, the power for the compressor is rectified to DC then inverted back to AC.

 

[turd]

Well, it worked just fine. Thanks for all y'alls help. No over heating, no issues. I looked for the amp draw on the unit, and it was not specified. Must have been on the box when new, not on the body.

 

[Springer2]

We have had a yard sale acquired AC string trimmer for about 5 years. I have used a 100' 14-gauge extension cord during that time. Never a problem and we are still getting our $10 worth out of the trimmer. Up to 1500 watts the 14-gauge is fine. A heavier extension is good but they cost more.