DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Feb 25, 1:17 pm, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Feb 20, 7:15 am, "john reeves" wrote:





This is about those extension power leads ( usually orange coloured
from B & Q etc). Quite often sold for use with electric lawn mowers.

These cables seem to have 'a mind of their own' every time you reel
them up and unreel them.

It's like a 'memory effect' they have, ( as if they are not flexible
enough ) and want to keep moving in a direction that they must have
been stored in previously.

This probably sounds like a minor thing. But the total time wasted
and frustration trying to unravel the thing mounts up time after
time.

I've tried that trick sailors use in giving it a small twist every
time you reel it around your arm, but its just a bit too stiff to
do that successfully. Has anyone else found a good way to deal with
this? It has crossed my mind that this cable is just too old and
has lost what flexibility it did have once.

I read through this interesting thread dealing with heavy-duty cords/
cables/ropes.

Is there a "right" was to store ordinary household extension cords?

TIA

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I have two 25 foot outdoor extension cords that I keep on orange cord
reels.

I "installed" the cords as follows:

I put the plug end through one of the holes in the side of the reel,
and left about 6 feet hanging out. I then wrapped the rest of the cord
around the reel in the normal fashion. Once the cord is fully coiled
on the reel, I wrapped the 6 feet that was hanging loose around the
reel.

What this allows me to do is unwrap the 6 foot length that has the
plug, plug it it into an outlet and lay the reel on the ground. I can
now un-reel only as much of the receptacle end as I need.

The reason for the 6 feet is that all of my garage receptacles and and
the receptacle under my raised deck are 4 - 5 feet off of the ground.
If I started wrapping the plug end tight against the reel, I'd have to
unwrap the full cord in order to plug it in.

having the lead in a coil on the drum can be dangerous if you use anything
over a kilowatt for more than a few minutes.