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There's a Better Way - Fine Homebuilding Reader Quick Tips

How to coil extension cords easily

By DonGiff, member
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Coiling your cord easily

When you lay out your extension cord, lay it all the way out. When you get ready to recoil it always go back to the plug end and coil it from there. It will recoil easily.

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Coiling your cord easily

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  1. 137greenridge | Feb 11, 2015 04:33pm | #1

    The photo is confusing. Which end are you calling "the plug" ... the end with the male connecting prongs? And, why does this make it easy to coil?

  2. designworks | Feb 13, 2015 06:50pm | #2

    Yeah, and what country is that cord from? I do not agree with this at all. The reason a lot of extension cords wear out is because of "coiling" or "winding" them. The problem being that you are in fact winding and coiling the wires contained inside the cord as you spin it around your elbow and hand in the usual method. You cannot take a cord or line on a fixed point and rotate it without causing an axial twist with each rotation. After a while those twists will accumulate inside, and push and pull against the sheathing; then becoming those squiggly cords which we have all had the pleasure of moving around the jobsite. Alleviating these forces can be achieved by using a cord real, in which the axis is continually turning with the cord. Another sustainable method of consolidating a cord can be done in large loops with a single twist in the overall mass of cord. The way I have learned to achieve this is to hold one end of the cord horizontally rigid in one hand while running the other hand along the cord and spanning your arms out away from your sides while pulling the cord into a straight line from the outside of one hand to the outside of the other. The cord should be in front of you just a bit; thereby forming a set length of cord that will make a loop. While holding the length of cord securely in both hands, take the bit of cord that you have grasped in your opposite hand and carefully place it alongside the held cord end in in the other hand, maintaining a parallel relationship. Continue repeating this until it is completely massed together. If done correctly, and the cord is not shot already, you should end up with a large looped mass with a 180 degree turn in the middle as described earlier, which is where the axial forces are being relieved from the cord itself. After a couple of tries, it should wrap up just as quick as any other method, but you will extend the life of the cord a great deal and you should also quickly notice that it lengthens out a lot easier, because it has not been coiled up like a spring beforehand. You see good electricians with these large, single twist loops hanging from their truck racks, because those guys have usually handled more cords than anyone and they have figured this out already.

  3. Ray_SHARR | Feb 25, 2015 06:51pm | #3

    I agree with 'designworks'I've always used this method and I've never had an extension lead die on me.

  4. Ray_SHARR | Feb 25, 2015 06:53pm | #4

    I agree with 'designworks'I've always used this method and I've never had an extension lead die on me.

  5. johnludvig | Mar 18, 2015 07:09am | #5

    awesome

  6. sonofprim | May 05, 2015 09:17pm | #6

    I don't agree with any of you. I coil with the cord in front of me. I alternate overhand loops with underhand loops. As a result, there are no net twists in the cable. Coils like this uncoil easily. You can make the cable loops as small or as big as you prefer. Cable reels are OK, but they have shortcomings. They take up room, you have to find/go get the empty reel when it is time to coil up, and they don't play out as quickly as an alternate looped coil.

    I use the same method for coiling water and air hoses.

  7. user-4983228 | Jun 12, 2015 08:30am | #7

    Mark the center of the cord with a piece of tape. Then start coiling from there, you're done twice as fast! (A trick learned from my high school janitor)

  8. casey_farmdog | Jun 13, 2015 07:05pm | #8

    I roll the cord in my fingers as I coil it. An old habit from hanging around boats. BTW, is the plug end the end with the missing ground tip or the other end?

  9. Harrysafraz | Jun 17, 2015 12:12am | #9

    One conversation dominated the interval chit-chat at my most recent visit to the Globe Theatre. Everyone needs to stop

  10. rstric20 | Sep 02, 2015 03:42am | #10

    [url]http://essay-today.blogspot.com/[/url]

  11. 2morweeks | Dec 01, 2015 01:30am | #11

    Huh?

  12. 2morweeks | Dec 01, 2015 01:48am | #12

    In the first place a laborer has coiled more cords than an Electrician has seen, at least on any job I've worked on. In the second place, coil up an extension cord of 100' or more into about a 3'-4' coil and it will outlast getting chopped in two, or damaged in some other way that it gets thrown away.

  13. methali0001 | Feb 10, 2016 01:44am | #13

    very powerful cable nice product not use bad material

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