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.

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.

"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%

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...



--

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/

have you tried to put it on a circular reel rather than wind it up around your arm, the copper core is metal and by flattening it around your arm, i think you are bending the copper core, thus making it hard to wind and unwind.(mis shaping the core) if you know what i mean? good luck,, spinksy

"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

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

"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

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.

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

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

"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

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

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