Electrical question regarding Lee 20lb pot with extension cord

[Namerifrats]

I have a Lee 110 volt 20lb pot. The area I have set up in my garage for casting doesn't have any power on that wall. I would have to run an extension cord maybe 15ft across the garage to my table. Would a 16 guage outdoor extension cord be sufficient without getting hot and posing a fire hazard as well as provide necessary power to the pot? I have one outlet that is closer but it's on the ceiling where the garage door motor for that side if plugged in. A cord from there would only need to be 6ft long. I would also run a fan over there as well to blow heat and any smoke/fumes out the door, but it would be on a separate cord from another outlet.

[454PB]

You should have no problems, the Lee pot only uses 6 amps.

[Namerifrats]

You should have no problems, the Lee pot only uses 6 amps.

Very good! Thanks!

[NyFirefighter357]

700 watts at 120 volts to amps=6amps
0-50' 16ga extension cord good for 10amps.
Yes it will hold the amperage but if it's on a 15 amp breaker the cord will melt before the breaker trips if there is a short. I always match the cord/wire to the breaker amperage. You'd be better off with a 14ga cord.

[Namerifrats]

700 watts at 120 volts to amps=6amps
0-50' 16ga extension cord good for 10amps.
Yes it will hold the amperage but if it's on a 15 amp breaker the cord will melt before the breaker trips if there is a short. I always match the cord/wire to the breaker amperage. You'd be better off with a 14ga cord.

Good info. It would only be plugged up and used when I was in there with it, concrete floor also...but might grab one just to be safe.

[tazman]

I am using mine on a 20 foot extension cord. Not certain of the rating of the cord, but it is a heavy cord. The cord doesn't get warm at all and the 10 amp breaker has never tripped.

At one point, when I was in a hurry, I used one of those cheap, short extension cords you can buy for about $1. It worked, but when I unplugged it, the cord was very hot. Never used it again.

[sharps4590]

A dead short will trip a breaker long before the cord has time to melt. At least that's been my experience after 42 years of being an electrician and 37 of those as a Master. An overload is a different story. Taz, if it's a breaker in your panel you're talking about at 10 amps, I think you're mis-interpreting the interrupting current.

[Loudy13]

I ran a extension cord from my house to the garage for a winter 75' and made tons of bullets it was a good quality heavy duty cord but it worked. Now I have 90 amp service in the garage...much better.

[Petrol & Powder]

I didn't need 15' but I did need about 8' to reach the outlet that was close by. I just cut the cord on the pot and permanently spliced in a section of zip cord (same gauge as existing cord on the pot). Now I don't need to hunt down an extension cord when I want to use the pot.
Some solder, shrink tubing, zip cord and 10 minutes - done !

[rancher1913]

I never buy any extensions cord under 12 gauge, I figure it will get used for stuff besides what I bought it for and want it to be big enough to handle most anything down the road.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Just a heads up ...Be careful... if you decide to add a hotplate to your casting setup.
Because a 16 gauge extension cord is a bit light to run both (Lee pot and a 1000+ watt hot plate), actually a 14 gauge is probably a bit light as well. My hot plate is an older 1500W unit and it needs it's own circuit.

[tazman]

A dead short will trip a breaker long before the cord has time to melt. At least that's been my experience after 42 years of being an electrician and 37 of those as a Master. An overload is a different story. Taz, if it's a breaker in your panel you're talking about at 10 amps, I think you're mis-interpreting the interrupting current.

Please explain. I am not understanding what you are saying. Possibly a vocabulary issue on my part.

[rancher1913]

a dead short will spike the amps way high and trip the breaker long before the extension cord gets hot enough to melt. a 14 guage cord that is pulling to many amps but not enough to trip the breaker will overheat and melt.

a 10 amp breaker is very rare, most are 15 or 20.

[Grmps]

[tazman]

a dead short will spike the amps way high and trip the breaker long before the extension cord gets hot enough to melt. a 14 guage cord that is pulling to many amps but not enough to trip the breaker will overheat and melt.

a 10 amp breaker is very rare, most are 15 or 20.

Apparently the person who installed the breakers in this house was paranoid about electrical problems. All the breakers are lighter than I would expect to find. I have changed a number of them where loads are a bit higher as in the kitchen and workroom.

[RED BEAR]

i would think any extension cord would be ok . if you have a cord that would not handle 700 watts i would like to know where it came from i use a light weight one from the dollar store when i want to cast outside for the same pot.

[lightman]

I agree that a 16 gauge cord would carry the load that your Lee pot pulls. But like JohnB says, it may not carry your pot and anything else. I would go buy a short 12 gauge cord dedicated to your casting operation. They are pretty inexpensive and then you won't have to worry.

[Hannibal]

Apparently the person who installed the breakers in this house was paranoid about electrical problems. All the breakers are lighter than I would expect to find. I have changed a number of them where loads are a bit higher as in the kitchen and workroom.

That's perfectly fine *IF* the wiring is heavy enough to handle the circuit breaker change.

If you aren't sure, I'd highly recommend you find out or have someone who knows what they are looking at to inspect your service panel.

Small wire and a large capacity breaker is just about as dangerous as the old copper penny in the fuse box trick.

[tazman]

That's perfectly fine *IF* the wiring is heavy enough to handle the circuit breaker change.

If you aren't sure, I'd highly recommend you find out or have someone who knows what they are looking at to inspect your service panel.

Small wire and a large capacity breaker is just about as dangerous as the old copper penny in the fuse box trick.

My house was built about 20 years ago in a county that has zoning and they have always taken their building codes seriously. I took the cover off the breaker box just 2 weeks ago to inspect some things. The wires in the box are all up to code and could easily handle more current than the breakers will allow.
For the most part, this hasn't been an issue. I have one breaker that trips for the kitchen if too many small appliances are used at once.

[sharps4590]

Ok, first off 10 amp breakers either are, or, have been available but they are special order and it would be HIGHLY unusual for any electrician to install them unless specifically required for a particular piece of equipment and usually something like that is taken care of at the equipment by a fused disconnect where the fuses are the protection for the equipment and the breaker is the protection for the wiring. As has been pointed out 15 and 20 amp are the most common, 120 volt breaker sizes IN RESIDENTIAL application. The "interrupting current" of residential breakers is 10,000 AIC, "Amps Interrupting Current". I have seen that abbreviated on some residential breakers as "10K AIC" and have a had a lot of customers over the years tell me they have "10 amp breakers" in their panels when they don't. There should be a number 15 or 20 on the either the breaker body or the breaker handle specifying what the amperage is of the breaker. After, as I said, 42 years of doing this for a living I really doubt you have 10 amp breakers. If you do, yours is the first I have ever heard of and I have never seen it.

I have known of some old time electricians who would put 15 amp breakers on #12 wire and there's nothing wrong with that except that the safe capacity of the wire is not available. As per NEC, in residential applications, #14 wire is good for 15 amps, #12 is good for 20 amps and #10 good for 30 amps, #8 for 40 and #6 for 50 or 60, depending. If those are exceeded one is in violation. After that Section 310-16 is the "go to" article in the NEC for wire ampacities as the type of insulation has a bearing on the capacity of the wire as well as wire size.

In nearly all commercial applications I've worked on the AIC is specified to be 20K, AIC. I don't remember what it is as voltages got higher as in 277/480 and the old 230/460.