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Extension cable loosing flexibility
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. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
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. never twist them around your arm/elbow. treat them like a climber treats rope, held in one hand and bring about 4 or 5 feet back at a time with the length of it able to twist as it wants. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. PVC cable is a lot more well behaved in summer temperatures, God's way of reminding you that your lawn can look after itself this time of year. -- Graham. %Profound_observation% |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
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. .... It's why stuff like that shouldn't be tailed in the first place... :) -- |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 15:29:36 -0000, Graham. wrote:
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. PVC cable is a lot more well behaved in summer temperatures, God's way of reminding you that your lawn can look after itself this time of year. Yup, if you want flexible in all weathers then HO5 or HO7 rubber is the way to go. You can get "arctic grade" pvc, but it's not really well enough insulated or tough enough to use in a garage. -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/ |
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Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. Its probably just the cold weather stiffening it up but overloading flexible leads can also result in stiffening. Mike |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Feb 20, 3:15*pm, "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. It used to be common to find pvc flex stuffed with string, but its never seen now, don't know why. If you can find such flex off an old appliance (1960s, 70s) you should find it a fair improvement. NT |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in
: 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. The fact that you are crossposting makes it insincere Baz |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
In article , bluestar0955
@mail.invalid says... 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. Just explain to the wife that it's only practical to use them on really hot days. Seriously, it's the cold that does it. You can get "arctic" grade cable, which has a softer PVC jacket, but it's less resistant to damage etc. -- Skipweasel - never knowingly understood. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
john reeves brought next idea :
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. Which is the wrong way to treat it. NEVER wind in around your elbow, it is far too tight a coil and will damage the flex. What I do is hold the plug end in my right hand then gradually add loops to my right hand, the loops just about long enough to reach the floor. For every loop I add, I add a twist to it, so it settles in properly. Finally I just hang it up on a hook. Feeding it out, start where I need the socket and work back the plug finally plugging it in. -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Feb 20, 11:33*am, Harry Bloomfield
wrote: john *reeves brought next idea : 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. Which is the wrong way to treat it. NEVER wind in around your elbow, it is far too tight a coil and will damage the flex. What I do is hold the plug end in my right hand then gradually add loops to my right hand, the loops just about long enough to reach the floor. For every loop I add, I add a twist to it, so it settles in properly. Finally I just hang it up on a hook. Feeding it out, start where I need the socket and work back the plug finally plugging it in. -- Regards, * * * * Harry (M1BYT) (L)http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk Far too tight a coil ? ROFL... Have you ever seen how small a spool of wire that type of cable comes off of at a hardware store ? The whole trick to managing cables like this is to ALWAYS store it the same way... I have seen some people store heavy duty extension cords by keeping them in a 5 gallon bucket with a hole for one cord end drilled in the side of the bucket near the bottom... ~~ Evan |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. You need the double twisting method on any cable longer than a couple of metres or so. This is how the noise boys do it. They wrap a lot of cables, some of them 100's of metres of multicore which is a damn sight stiffer than B&W mains cable. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqbYy...eature=related |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On 20/02/2011 15:15, 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. No sailor would wind a rope or cable around his arm! Coil it loose & twist each time. -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On 20/02/2011 16:02, Skipweasel wrote:
In , bluestar0955 @mail.invalid says... 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. Just explain to the wife that it's only practical to use them on really hot days. Seriously, it's the cold that does it. You can get "arctic" grade cable, which has a softer PVC jacket, but it's less resistant to damage etc. Is that the blue stuff? I've got a couple of leads fitted with blue cable & it does seem more flexible. -- Dave - The Medway Handyman www.medwayhandyman.co.uk |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
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Extension cable loosing flexibility
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 use one of those cheap orange cord reels which has a handle that slides in a track in the center of the reel. Add a little silicone spray to lube the track, and they make winding and unwinding the cord fast and very easy. Never any tangles. Like this: http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...ductId=1291467 |
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Best to buy another cable, though if you think about it maybe it's best to buy a new machine. It is possible to get a really good cable but they ain't cheap like the bog standard ones.... |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
Evan submitted this idea :
Far too tight a coil ? ROFL... Have you ever seen how small a spool of wire that type of cable comes off of at a hardware store ? I'm well aware of that, but it not be constantly wound onto it and off it stressing the cable. -- Regards, Harry (M1BYT) (L) http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
In article 4be67c01-1e03-4d20-a9e2-1df7a06ad585
@k7g2000yqj.googlegroups.com, says... Just make sure any appliance plug/ socket remains correctly positioned, eg, 2-core shielded socket on the supply side. Not like the firm I once worked for who decided they needed a Portakabin. Instead of connecting it via the perfectly acceptable fuseboard, they made an extension lead with two plugs on it and "jump- started" the thing. Gave me the willies. -- Skipweasel - never knowingly understood. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
Skipweasel wrote:
In article 4be67c01-1e03-4d20-a9e2-1df7a06ad585 @k7g2000yqj.googlegroups.com, says... Just make sure any appliance plug/ socket remains correctly positioned, eg, 2-core shielded socket on the supply side. Not like the firm I once worked for who decided they needed a Portakabin. Instead of connecting it via the perfectly acceptable fuseboard, they made an extension lead with two plugs on it and "jump- started" the thing. Gave me the willies. that was common a good few years ago, the lead to my garage was like that when I moved in, I guessed it might have been suggested in a magazine or something. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. You mention unreeling the cable - this should be OK. If you just coil it up then the method you desdcribe in your last paragraph is the way to go. Oh I notice you say you reel it round your arm - NO not that way. Just form coils by letting the cable lie in yourn hand and give it at wist each time you form a new loop. The cable usually "tells" you which way to twist . Bill |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
The Medway Handyman wrote:
On 20/02/2011 15:15, john reeves wrote: 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. No sailor would wind a rope or cable around his arm! Agreed. Coil it loose & twist each time. No. Do not twist. Twisting is what leads to kinking and tangling. The correct way to coil a cable, rope, or hose, is to imagine that it were a flat ribbon with the two sides a different colour. Suppose the ribbon is lying flat on the ground with no twists in it so that the blue side is on top and the red side underneath. (For a right handed person:) hold the end of the cable in your left hand blue side up. Grasp the cable with your right hand, holding it blue side up, then bring your right hand towards your left hand and just place the cable onto what is already there, so that it stays blue side up during the whole move. The action of your right hand does not involve any twisting. You just lift a bit of cable straight up and plonk it down again, as if you were lifting a chess piece from one square and putting it down on another. If the cable is stiff, a side effect of this will be that each coil will end up with a self-cancelling double twist in it, and will most likely hang in a figure of eight pattern. But that's the idea. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
js.b1 ) wibbled on Sunday 20 February 2011 20:10:
On Feb 20, 3:15 pm, "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. Lawn mowers are usually Class-2, round 2-core. I have a feeling the insulated cores inside are not laid with a twist, or if they are the twist is not sufficient to give the cable a "self- coiling" nature. The sheath tends to be highly flexible which prevents a "memory" of it being on a reel so it tends to "spaghetti heap". A comment, if you can use 0.75mm 3-core, then Screwfix do H05RNF in 25m reels for about 50p/m which is very cheap if local to you. N = Neoprene or PolyChloroPrene (PCP) which is the "next one up" from PVC. R = rubber which will perish eventually. Homebase & B&Q offer a range of cables, but about three times the price of Screwfix (and more often H05RRF). Toolstation might do some (if not, someone email to suggest they carry 1.0mm H05RNF which would cleanup). I think Screwfix also do cheap 25m reels of orange 1.00mm, so do not suffer a "thorn shredded" cable. Just make sure any appliance plug/ socket remains correctly positioned, eg, 2-core shielded socket on the supply side. I got a load of blue "arctic" cable from TLC and made my own leads up. The blue is remarkebly well behaved - lies flat most of the time, almost as good as rubber flex - and (as implied by its name) also behaves fairly well at -3C. It's taken a lot of abuse too and come out quite well. -- Tim Watts |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. Get it warm, ie in the house and then http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j1Wdc-ymbI Mike -- .................................... Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out alive .................................... 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. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 17:10:19 +0000, The Medway Handyman wrote:
Is that the blue stuff? I've got a couple of leads fitted with blue cable & it does seem more flexible. Just bought a Masterplug "heavy duty" 10m single socket extension from B&Q. It is a nice soft flexable cable, though I haven't left it outside yet. Hum, it's just on freezing I'll leave it in one of the proches tonight... I don't think it is "arctic" cable all it has stamped on it is: "3C1.25mm^2 BS6500 MASTERPLUG" What does that BS number mean? -- Cheers Dave. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:57:18 -0000, Gareth Magennis wrote:
You need the double twisting method on any cable longer than a couple of metres or so. Agreed. This is how the noise boys do it. They wrap a lot of cables, some of them 100's of metres of multicore which is a damn sight stiffer than B&W mains cable. I doubt that you mean that literally for hand coiling, it would be too damn heavy! 50m of heavy star quad is too much and my hand isn't big enough even with each loop taking 5' of cable... Multicore over about 20m is figure of eighted on the ground or more likely wound onto a drum. But certainly coiling 30m + of mic cable is not a problem, nor is the uncoiling *provided* that the twist you put in for each turn of the coil in in opposite directions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqbYy...eature=related That is first of my saved selection of "how to coil a cable" YouTube vids: Though he says "no knots", if you take one of the free ends through the center you may well end up with a series of knots but don't panic! They are all tied in the same direction, just take an end thread it back through the all the knots and pull they will magically disappear. There are two ways of doing the "under" bit of the reverse twist loop, this is the second but looks really cack handed to me (I use the first method). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLwwB29uQRg This is novel, not tried it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaEv9wm6gy0 -- Cheers A noise boy. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
In article o.uk,
says... What does that BS number mean? http://www.bs6500.co.uk/ -- Skipweasel - never knowingly understood. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:51:52 -0000, Harry Bloomfield
wrote: Evan submitted this idea : Far too tight a coil ? ROFL... Have you ever seen how small a spool of wire that type of cable comes off of at a hardware store ? I'm well aware of that, but it not be constantly wound onto it and off it stressing the cable. & it's the only done once that's the issue, every time you wind akoop you put a 1/2 turn of twist into the cable, you could of course just wind it without twisting it as a figure of 8, -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/ |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"john reeves" wrote in message ... 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. We use a device similar to this: http://www.metals4u.co.uk/detail.asp...36&prd_id=4342 although ours has two swivel handles, one that is in the centre of one side and the other at the end of the other side. You simply push the plug into three holes on the flat section, hold the centre handle and start winding with the other. No twists, no tangles and the cable has lasted for years. -- Tinkerer |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:01:45 -0000, Skipweasel wrote:
What does that BS number mean? http://www.bs6500.co.uk/ No involved with Eland cables are we? B-) Doesn't say a lot in terms that can be reall pinned down. Anyway my B&Q "Masterplug" extension cable, after being out in the porch over night at 0C, is stiff but still coilable without it fighting back a great deal. -- Cheers Dave. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Feb 20, 10:15*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 try not to wind then at all. greg |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
In article ,
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. Even the most expensive and flexible of cables take a 'set' - due to being supplied on a drum of some sort or the other. So you still need to develop a technique for tidy wrapping up. The trick is to coil it in the direction it wants to go. And in a coil size it's happy with. -- *Sleep with a photographer and watch things develop Dave Plowman London SW To e-mail, change noise into sound. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
"Dave Liquorice" wrote in message ll.co.uk... On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:57:18 -0000, Gareth Magennis wrote: You need the double twisting method on any cable longer than a couple of metres or so. Agreed. This is how the noise boys do it. They wrap a lot of cables, some of them 100's of metres of multicore which is a damn sight stiffer than B&W mains cable. I doubt that you mean that literally for hand coiling, it would be too damn heavy! 50m of heavy star quad is too much and my hand isn't big enough even with each loop taking 5' of cable... Multicore over about 20m is figure of eighted on the ground or more likely wound onto a drum. Not coiling the multi by hand, but doing the same over/under twisty thing whilst coiling it into its flightcase. Once this is done you can grab the end and just run off with it down to FOH and the cable comes out perfectly straight with not a twist or snag in sight. Gareth. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On 20/02/2011 21:54, Ronald Raygun wrote:
No. Do not twist. Twisting is what leads to kinking and tangling. The correct way to coil a cable, rope, or hose, is to imagine that it were a flat ribbon with the two sides a different colour. Suppose the ribbon is lying flat on the ground with no twists in it so that the blue side is on top and the red side underneath. (For a right handed person:) hold the end of the cable in your left hand blue side up. Grasp the cable with your right hand, holding it blue side up, then bring your right hand towards your left hand and just place the cable onto what is already there, so that it stays blue side up during the whole move. The action of your right hand does not involve any twisting. You just lift a bit of cable straight up and plonk it down again, as if you were lifting a chess piece from one square and putting it down on another. If the cable is stiff, a side effect of this will be that each coil will end up with a self-cancelling double twist in it, and will most likely hang in a figure of eight pattern. But that's the idea. Ronald, as a sailor you should know the difference between a cable and a hawser. And of course the hand you use should be the opposite one depending which way the rope is laid. When you are coiling twisted rope it's imperative to coil it in such a way that the twist is not destroyed. This is of course not an issue with plaited ropes, mains leads or garden hoses. Andy |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
Andy Champ wrote:
On 20/02/2011 21:54, Ronald Raygun wrote: No. Do not twist. Twisting is what leads to kinking and tangling. The correct way to coil a cable, rope, or hose, is to imagine that it were a flat ribbon with the two sides a different colour. Suppose the ribbon is lying flat on the ground with no twists in it so that the blue side is on top and the red side underneath. (For a right handed person:) hold the end of the cable in your left hand blue side up. Grasp the cable with your right hand, holding it blue side up, then bring your right hand towards your left hand and just place the cable onto what is already there, so that it stays blue side up during the whole move. The action of your right hand does not involve any twisting. You just lift a bit of cable straight up and plonk it down again, as if you were lifting a chess piece from one square and putting it down on another. If the cable is stiff, a side effect of this will be that each coil will end up with a self-cancelling double twist in it, and will most likely hang in a figure of eight pattern. But that's the idea. Ronald, as a sailor you should know the difference between a cable and a hawser. Naturally. And of course the hand you use should be the opposite one depending which way the rope is laid. Not necessarily. If the method does not add or remove twist (and the one I described doesn't) then it doesn't matter which hand you use. When you are coiling twisted rope it's imperative to coil it in such a way that the twist is not destroyed. Fair enough, but the other important consideration is that you want the coiled rope to uncoil freely without snagging. For that, it's important that the coiling and uncoiling procedures should be mirror images of each other, in terms of any twists added or subtracted cancelling out. Imagine trying to coil a rope the other end of which is tied on to a fixed object (not that you'd normally do this - you'd start at the fixed end pulling the loose end towards you). If you added a twist with each loop, then by the time you got near the fixed end, it would all be a twisted mess, having suffered an accumulation of anti-twists (you can easily convince yourself of this by imagining a rope tied between two fixed points, then grabbing it in the middle to apply a twist - then on one half of the rope the lay will get tighter, on the other it will get looser). What would be OK, though, and is the recommended method for coiling stiff stuff like electric cable or water hose, is to give a positive twist to the first coil, then a negative twist to the second, and so on, alternating positive with negative so that the overall effect along the whole length of rope is neutral. One of the methods of tidying a rope is to roll it up on a drum (this is the preferred method for garden hose). Having done this, it is imperative that the rope, when next needed, should be taken off the drum the same way, i.e. tangentially, so the drum revolves in the opposite direction. What you should not do is remove the rope axially, such as by laying the drum flat on the ground (axis vertical) and unwrapping the loops up off it. Depending on which side of the drum is uppermost, the uncoiled rope will have its lay tightened or loosened. Likewise if you were to wrap rope onto a drum axially, you should not then unwind it tangentially. One traditional method of coiling rope is not into the hand but flat onto the deck (or ground). This is equivalent to wrapping it axially onto a drum, and leaves each loop neutral while adding and subtracting a half twist to alternate half-loops. Laid rope is usually flexible enough to absorb these half-twists without trying to lie in figures of eight as a stiff cable or hose would want to do. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
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 HB |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Fri, 25 Feb 2011 10:17:07 -0800 (PST), Higgs Boson wrote:
Is there a "right" was to store ordinary household extension cords? Yes the twist/counter twist method of coiling then flat not hung on a hook. Unless said hook is fairly broard, couple of inches wide and curved. A velcro based wrap is useful to keep the bundle tidy. *Do not* tie an end around the bundle it will damage the cable over repeated ties and time besides which a knot works loose. -- Cheers Dave. |
Extension cable loosing flexibility
On Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:05:11 -0000, Gareth Magennis wrote:
I doubt that you mean that literally for hand coiling, it would be too damn heavy! Not coiling the multi by hand, but doing the same over/under twisty thing whilst coiling it into its flightcase. Ah right the multies I use are kept on drums not in flightcases. Flightcases would take up more space in the cable tender. Even a small outside broadcast will have half a dozen or more 8 pair multies up to a few hundred metres long depending on the venue. -- Cheers Dave. |
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