220 Extension Cord Question..

I participate in a Pop-up camper discussion group (Popup Portal) and the following was posted reguarding the use of 30 amp extension cords:





"I just returned from Mobile Mart, my go to store for anything for my TT.  Was looking for a 25ft extension for my 30 amp power cord. The salesman  filled me in on some tips about buying extension cords for service.



1.  Never buy a black cord unless you have to have it now or it's the only  thing they have. The black cord absorbs and holds heat. We all know what  to much heat or amperage draw will do to an extension cord. Cords come  in a variety of colors.....orange, blue, yellow, etc. I picked up a  yellow one for visibility.



2. When your plugged in and have left  over cord DO NOT coil it up on the ground. Spread it out so any and all  heat can disipate easier. I usually pull just enough out to reach the  box and leave the rest inside the camper. I don't believe he was talking  about what is in the camper that but whatever is outside the camper  needs to be spread out.



3. If you have to have a lot of line  spread out to be able to plug in he suggested some type of covering to  shade the cord. I'm pretty sure this would pertain to monthly campers  and others that stay in one spot for awhile. Even still a good idea for  those of us that are down south here with temps in the triple digits."



I suggested that most (or all) of this is BS.



What say you?
      

Hi,



Upgraded my cordless Dustbusters at home with the new CHV1410 model, it works great except what was my surprise when I found out Black & Decker is no longer making Dustbusters that charge automatically on the wall mount.



Instead (and I was told this by their customer support when I called them) ALL the new models have a DC plug. I hate these, not only do you have to take the extra step of plugging in the vaccum each time when you hang it on the wall... mine being mounted down inside a bathroom cabinet, this makes it a pain hunting for the wire... but these DC plugs are weak, I've seen them give out with daily repeated plug-in-unplug use.



I decided to wire up the old style wall charger on the new vaccuum, using a few of the parts from the old dustbuster. I figured out how to do it (its not as hard as it sounds) but I was wondering about the polarity of the charger. If you hook the DC charger up to the wall mount backwards, will it destroy the battery? How do you verify which wire goes on which side.



Thanks for any advice - jeffpas
      

I have a 30amp wall socket in my garage, connected to two 20amp fuses in my garage sub box. I bought a 60 gallon air compressor rated 230v 15amp (non-reversible???). I am under the impression that I can use this compressor with the socket I have. The compressor did not come with a plug but did have the wires. One red, one green, one white. The plug I bought to the match the socket has instructions for one black wire (hot) one green (ground) and one white (neutral) I guess my question is, would the red wire be my hot wire? Does everything else sound ok?
      

Hi.  This is not exactly home-improvement-related, but I'm hoping some of the electrical gurus out there can answer my question.  I am building an underwater fishing light.  It will basically be a sealed green acrylic tube with LED bulbs in it, powered by a 12V DC battery.  It will be submerged between 2-5 feet.  I imagine it will be used approximately between 2-6 hours at a time, so the cable will not be submerged in water or a wet area permanently. 



Obviously I am doing this to save $$ (they are expensive otherwise), and I find myself wondering why I can't buy an inexpensive extension cord (lamp-cord-style) and use it for the power from battery to light.  I started looking at garden lighting wire, but that stuff is very expensive.



Would auto electrical wire (with shrink tubing) be sufficient (though I'm not sure I can find shrink tubing with enough length)?  Speaker wire?  LOL. 



Any suggestions would be appreciated!



Edit: One thing I forgot to mention is that I don't want the power cord to be heavy at all.  Nice and light is the key!
      

I bought a Lincoln ac-225-S arc welder from someone and he gave me a 30' 10/3 extension cord with it.  The specs on the welder panel call for 50 amps max input on 20% duty cycle.  Is the 10 ga. wire really sufficient for this welder?  I will also be installing a receptacle for the welder, will a 30 amp breaker on 10/3 do the job or do I need to move up to 8 ga. on 40amp or 6 ga. on 50 amp?  If I go up to a 40 or 50 amp breaker can I even use that extension cord?  I doubt I would ever weld anything thicker than 3/16" to 1/4" max.
      

I spend alot of time outdoors and use my power tools or air compressor alot and use a 12 gauge contractors cord.  One problem I always have is that with my outdoor receptacle being above my deck sometimes the cord slips between the boards and hangs up and really causes a problem if the storm door is opened as it also catches the cord sometimes, and already damaged my other cord.



I am wondering if there are any issues with running the cord through pvc along the edge of the house and to the receptacle to protect it.



I am also wondering, since my old cord is damaged at one end, if rather than trying to repair it, if there is any code violation of running it into a weatherproof box and wiring it to a GFCI receptacle, reason I wonder this is that I have one on hand and have had no other use for it as I rent the house and cannot do any wiring to it, but it has no GFCI outlet which concerns me at times.
      

Hey guys,



I am trying to convert several 2 prong to 3 prong outlets throughout my house that was built in 1959. I have attached 2 photographs of the outlet, one from the right, and one from the left.



You will see the right side of the outlet has a RED and a BLACK wire attached to it. The left side has a WHITE wire.



I took the Menards employees advice that the black wire was most likely the ground, hooked it up, and blew a fuse (time delay fuses....). When I tried screwing in another fuse, it blew right away. This happened about 4 times and I got frustrated and decided to try this forum.



Any ideas as to which cable would be the ground, if any?? I'm pretty new to all of this. Any advice?



Thanks!
      

I was given a table saw from about 1960 - actually a very good machine - it would cost a fortune nowadays, but a friend who felt he owed me one gave it to me before he moved to Florida. It has a 1 HP motor that has always worked fine and has worked fine for me in tests, but the cord is an old 2-wire version, and I want to replace it with a new cord.



The manual says to use a 10 gauge wire (the cord is about 6' long). I want to replace it with a 3-wire, grounded cord. Do I simply run the neutral wire on the new cord where the old white wire was, the black wire to where the old black wire was, and connect the ground to the chassis?



The switch is a single throw, double pole switch, by the way.



Here's a link to the manual, if that helps anyone: http://vintagemachinery.org/pubs/detail.aspx?id=2007
      

The guy who wired my shop didn't leave me any slack to be able to move the outlet around on the stud. I need to move it out and down some to add the drywall.



I added a little extension and pigtailed it in with the original wire. Is this acceptable?  Is it within code?  I'll post a pic. Do I just need to rewire with a longer wire instead of the extension?  I don't know much about wiring so I appreciate any ideas.
      

Hello!  I am trying to hook up this antique pendant lamp and the cord it comes with has only 2 wires inside.  They are both smooth and white, no stripes or ridges to tell which one is hot or neutral.  And what should I do with the third one coming out from the ceiling?  Thanks in advance for your advice.