Replies

1. 
   WayneL5 | Aug 22, 2005 06:02am | #1

   Daniel Woodhead makes some top quality, rugged products.  They have some really good GFCI extension cords for construction work.

   I don't know a web source, but I'm sure there are a number of vendors who carry their products.  A good electrical supply house would be able to get them, too.

   
   

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   Edited 8/21/2005 11:03 pm ET by WayneL5

2. 
   Pierre1 | Aug 22, 2005 06:11am | #2

   Make your own: 12 gauge wire, rubberized sheath, flexible in the cold, very durable, no kinking. Install tough yellow plactic male and female ends, they clamp onto the sheath tightly. I have a 12', a 20' and a 50' in that gauge. Compressor stays happy. You can also make 10 gauge ones if voltage drop is a bigger issue.

3. 
   andybuildz | Aug 22, 2005 06:23am | #3

   I can tell you who makes the worlds worst!
   Funny enough...when you go to buy a quality male or female side, they cost more than the entire cord/ Just shows to go ya.

   The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!

   When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..

     I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides,

   I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.

   I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you

   and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.

    

    

   
    

    

4. 
   Dinosaur | Aug 22, 2005 08:04am | #4

   I concur with Pierre. Make your own. The wire you want is labeled SJOW ('Service-rated Junior Outdoor Waterproof' IIRC). This is a rubber sheathed wire that is flexible at -40. None of the commercial 'Winter' extension cords use real rubber sheaths, and none are really flexible at low temps. SJOW is.

   Buy a 75-metre reel and make up a few cords in the lengths that make sense for your work.

   The best plug-ends you can buy will probably be Hubbels. Likely you won't find those at a big box or corner hardware store. Check with an electrical supply house or local electrician.

   If you want a multiple-pocket end, use a 4x4 pvc box with an exterior-rated plug face plate.

   Dinosaur

   A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...

   

   But it is not this day.

1. 
   trimcarp | Aug 22, 2005 01:45pm | #5

   If I make my own would the cords meet OSHA requirements?American Tradition

   Trim Carpentry Co.

    

1. 
   Matt | Aug 22, 2005 02:11pm | #6

   No - I'd bet not on the OSHA thing.

   I like the yellowjack because of the light in the female end.  Saves some possible aggravation.  I don't know why they don't light both ends.  I have a few 50' with the 3 way female end too.   A little pricey though.

   I also have a 100' Yellow jacket that I duct taped a 3 way to the end.  Been intact for a year or so.  One good thing is that if one of the "outlets" gets ruined, I can just swap out the 3 way piece rather easily.

   I have a 100' 10 gauge cord but it is so unwieldy  it rarely got used so I took it out of the truck.

   One of my framers has a ~25' cord with an outlet about every 3'.  Great for when you have a crew with a bunch of guys. 

1. 
   bobl | Aug 23, 2005 02:08am | #8

   "because of the light in the female end."anyone make a replacement with the light? 

   bobl          Volo, non valeo

   Baloney detecter

2. 
   toolbear | Aug 23, 2005 08:31am | #14

   <I have a 100' 10 gauge cord but it is so unwieldy it rarely got used so I took it out of the truck.>Bought a 100' #10 as that is the best price per foot. Cut in half. Now I have a 50' threeway and a 50' with GFCI in a RT box. Depending on the job, the threeway provides two outlets for the saw station plus the other leg, which runs on into the job. With a 50' cord on my saw, I wanted some headstart on voltage drop. On a tract of duplexes over a few blocks, the framers have a real black rubber extension running from the job pole across the alley to the current house getting framed. It ends in a RT quad box. I'll have to read the cord. 10G or one of those 12s with fat insulation.The ToolBear

   "Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.

2. 
   Dinosaur | Aug 23, 2005 01:45am | #7

   I can't advise you on OSHA; we've got CSST here. (I don't know if my own cords would pass their rules, either...but I'm willing to fight them on it if necessary. They don't win every fight; they just want you to think they do....)

   It seems to me the heights of stupidity that a cheap-a$$, plastic-sheathed commercial cord made of 16-2 would pass muster because the plug ends are moulded on, while a site-assembled cord using the toughest and best quality materials you can buy would not pass because the plugs ends are not moulded on to the cord itself.

   Duhhhh...do those bean counters really think a moulded-on plug end is gonna make a safety difference when it's sitting in a puddle? The business end of that plug isn't watertight no matter how nicely its back end is mounded to the cord....

   Dinosaur

   A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...

   But it is not this day.

5. 
   IdahoDon | Aug 23, 2005 03:56am | #9

   Have you tried the 5-way block that yellow jacket sells (about 4" wide and 5" long)?  They are also available from Wal-mart for $1 less under a different name, but they are exactly the same down to the yellow jacket emblem.  Around here they are becoming popular with everyone from trim/finish subs to electricians.

   Cheers, Don

1. 
   4Lorn1 | Aug 23, 2005 05:41am | #10

   I have always liked the plug blocks that had no cord. And the cords without plug blocks. Because it makes the cords easier to wrap up and the blocks more compact and easier to store. Even if the blocks only have space for three plugs I can stuff four or five of these in the space a corded block would take up.Experience has also shown short cords to be handier and more useful. On commercial sites where only factory cord caps are allowed tossing a 25' cord, about the same cost as a set of good cord caps, is a lot less painful than having to trash a 100' one. Short cords also give you a lot of options. I can snake a series of three or four 25' cords around a house interior and have a three-way block at each connection. This gives you two open slots every 25'. Very handy for the various trades. Still need a 50' or 100' cord to the power pole, 50' if it is sited well, but this prevents a lot of the snakiness I see on sites.Just a few ideas.

1. 
   Dinosaur | Aug 23, 2005 08:03am | #13

   Man I finally realized why I like reading your posts so much: you not only know lotsa stuff I don't, but you think like I do!!

   The most-used extension cords in my truck are the two ten-footers and the twenty-five footer. The 50- and 100- footers are only there to make it back to the service box or in rare cases up and over the other side of a roof....

   Dinosaur

   A day may come when the courage of men fails,when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship...

   But it is not this day.

2. 
   trimcarp | Aug 23, 2005 06:18am | #12

   Yeah, we have them.  They either get lost or they bind up the cord with its locking tab/loop.  Just wish I could find a 25', 12ga, lighted end, 3-4 plug quality cord.

   Might get a couple 50' yellow jacket 3 plug blocks and cut them down to 30' / 20' and put those $10 replacement plugs on the ends.  Hate cutting them but I would have two cords.American Tradition

   Trim Carpentry Co.

    

6. 
   DDay | Aug 23, 2005 05:43am | #11

   As IdahoDon said, yellow jacket makes a little brick that has 5 or 6 outlets.  I've seen it at lowes and I think it was $6, cheaper than making your own and it has some built in hooks for the extension cords to they don't pull loose.