Extension cord wire size?

[.22-10-45]

If I were to run my Lyman MagDipper pot on a 50' extension cord..what gage wire would be needed? Thanks!

[Catshooter]

You don't say the draw for the pot, so it's just a guess. Probably a fourteen gauge would work fine. A twelve gauge would work for sure.

The key to watch it the cord ends. After the pots been working for a few hours grab both ends. Are they hot? Too hot to be comfortable in your hand?

Hot is not a good thing. Any time electricity goes to work it produces heat and enough heat can produce a fire. Too hot for your hand will start melting the cord ends and you don't want that.


Cat

[Cmm_3940]

Bigger is better, regardless of max load rating of the wire. At 50', you will get a noticeable voltage drop, which will make resistive heating elements heat up slower. The price on 50' 12 ga cords is pretty high. Personally, I'd probably run 12 ga romex and install an outlet closer to the pot.

-Chris

[NavyVet1959]

A quick web search shows that it is an 800W heating element.

One thing to be aware of when using extension cords is to not wind them up on a spool when they are in use. I saw a guy using one of the plastic reels to hold the extra cord for a commercial popcorn machine at a community fair one day. These are around 900W. The wrapped wire spool overheated, the insulation melted and it had started smoking. He was unaware of it until I pointed it out that he was about to have a fire on his hands. He yanked the plug fairly quickly and the result was that he had a large spiral mass of melted plastic and copper wire. There was no way to unroll the cord from the reel after that.

http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/01...73_500X500.jpg

According to this Home Depot page, their 100 ft 16 gauge extension is good for 10A which is more than the Lyman uses.

I often use 16 gauge extension cords linked together when operating my string trimmer and it is 7.5A.

[Pipefitter]

16ga wire is good for 8 amps, 14 ga wire is good for 15 amps, and 12 ga wire is good for 20 amps. Figure for every 50 feet to go one wire size larger. I would go with at least 14ga wire @ 50 feet. And remember that the standard outlet is only rated for 15amps.

[jsizemore]

What Catshooter said. I try to keep it so the area around the connectors is only warm to the touch. Beyond that and your cord/appliance life is noticeably shortened. Repeated heating and cooling work work hardens the wire and connector. Higher the heat, the faster it happens.

[NavyVet1959]

Just curious... Why do you need to run your casting pot 50 ft away from the nearest electrical outlet?

[bangerjim]

14GA minimum. I only use 12GA extension cords for everything. Have over 400 feet of the stuff! No power losses here.

banger

[NavyVet1959]

16ga wire is good for 8 amps, 14 ga wire is good for 15 amps, and 12 ga wire is good for 20 amps. Figure for every 50 feet to go one wire size larger. I would go with at least 14ga wire @ 50 feet. And remember that the standard outlet is only rated for 15amps.

I've looked at a couple of different 50 ft 16-gauge extension cords and they say anywhere from 10-13 amps on them. Even the 100 ft cords say 13 amps. As such, I would not be concerned with running a casting pot that might take 8 amps as long as the extension cord was not coiled around one of the holders like I mentioned in a previous post.

Now, if this was for a permanent setup, I would run romex and use heavier gauge wire so that the outlet could handle 15A or better.

[.22-10-45]

Thanks ofr all the good tips. I have always cast in attatched garage working out of outlet set up for welder. Garage door faces East & I try to cast on days with westerly winds to blow fumes out..on those days when it's Easterly..and weather is dry..I could try casting outside around side of garage.

[bangerjim]

That welder outlet is 220v 50A service. Just buy a welder plug at a local Big Box, use one side (120v) and return/ground and you will have 120v with all the amperage you will ever need! No need to run extension cords from another building. You got it all right there! Black is hot. White and Green are the same thing.......return and ground.

banger

[NavyVet1959]

That welder outlet is 220v 50A service. Just buy a welder plug at a local Big Box, use one side (120v) and return/ground and you will have 120v with all the amperage you will ever need! No need to run extension cords from another building. You got it all right there! Black is hot. White and Green are the same thing.......return and ground.

And just to be safe, have a multimeter handy so measure what you've hooked up before plugging something that might be expensive into it and doing a "smoke test".

[Beagle333]

I cast out in the yard, so I always use an extension cord on my pot. A 100' 12ga cord will run my Pro Melt just fine.

[NavyVet1959]

That welder outlet is 220v 50A service. Just buy a welder plug at a local Big Box, use one side (120v) and return/ground and you will have 120v with all the amperage you will ever need! No need to run extension cords from another building. You got it all right there! Black is hot. White and Green are the same thing.......return and ground.

Without actually seeing the outlet and circuit in question, we can't guarantee that. We don't have enough information to make that assumption. If he's already using that outlet, it means he already has it split into a 110V leg or he's using one of the smaller 110V welders which has a normal outlet associated with it.

NOTE: 110V = 115V = 120V and 220V = 230V = 240V with respect to what people call home electrical circuits. Voltage fluctuates and there is a drop in voltage over long distances in wiring.

[bangerjim]

The plug he buys will have a diagram paper in it showing exactly where the 110/110/neutral lugs are. All he needs is to use one of the 110 and the neutral to power his pot. Ground is the same as the neutral but he can find a ground (green) in the welder outlet metal box.....if wired to code.

[Mk42gunner]

.....if wired to code.

There lies the rub. It has been my experience that if electrical systems are installed by a pro, they are usually up to code. If they were installed by the home owner/ relative/ who knows, you really need to check everything before even touching a screwdriver.

Just be safe, electrical mishaps can be an enlightening experience.

Robert

[Catshooter]

That welder outlet is 220v 50A service. Just buy a welder plug at a local Big Box, use one side (120v) and return/ground and you will have 120v with all the amperage you will ever need! No need to run extension cords from another building. You got it all right there! Black is hot. White and Green are the same thing.......return and ground.

banger

There's just enough truth in your statement to be dangerous.

The neutral and the ground wire land in the same buss, but only in the service entrance panel, not in a sub-panel and only if wired to code all round.

We have, as has been pointed out, no concept of what this electrical system looks like or how it's wired. There's a lot of assumptions in your post that may or may not be true.

In addition, if you do use the neutral as a ground, then where's your grounding path? When you start asking that question you can start seeing that indeed the neutral and the ground are not the same thing. At the service panel end they usually connect to the same buss but at the user end they serve completely different functions.

In addition to that, now he has a 120 volt cord that is 'protected' by a 40 or 50 amp circuit. Not much safety there.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is a gun board not an electrical board. Electrical questions here will get you some dangerous answers from well meaning people who have no idea of what they are talking about.

Would you ask an electrician if 50 grains of Unique is safe in the 30-06?


Cat

[NavyVet1959]

One of the things that I seem to remember aboard ship was that both sides of a normal electrical outlet could get you zapped. I was an ET, not an EM, so the gear that I dealt with was hard wired into shutoff boxes and not plugged into an outlet, so my memory might be a bit fuzzy. I didn't know much about home electrical wiring at that time, plus I got shocked with some pretty good voltages while I was there, so my memory might be a bit fuzzy after all these years. Looking back, I have to wonder if maybe they didn't want for the actual ship to be part of the circuit. Maybe they were doing 120V like we do 240V -- 2 legs of 60V, maybe?

[lightman]

I'm an electrician, and I'll offer up an opinion. Your pot probably draws around 7 amps. My calculations show that 14ga wire will run that with a 1.6% voltage drop, which is acceptable. I probably would buy a 12ga cord, for me personally. Most cords are cheaply made (Say China), thus using the next size up. Occasionally feel of the cord and the ends to detect any heat build up.

If you plan to use your pot at that location very often, I encourage you to have a circuit run and forget about the cord.

There are a lot of ways to do this, including adapting that welding outlet, but you do need some basic skill in electricity. Its not rocket science, but some knowledge is needed.

[Geezer in NH]

You need the size rate for the circuit you are on. 15 amp = 14ga, 20 amp = 12ga, for long distance 100 feet or more go 10ga so voltage doesn't drop and start heat.