Extension cord

[welder99]

Hello,
Well I need some good info, I’m looking for a good power extension cord. I would figure 12ga or 10ga. Maybe 25ft . One that’s nice and flexible when its 10 above 0. I know I’m going to pay a nice price but I’m tired of these cheap #6n***8 that they sell at tractor supply or lowes etc. Thanks in advance.

[ronsii]

I ran across these guys while looking for something similar to you a while back... https://www.polarwire.com/aufb-extcords.html but never ordered anything from them ... so not sure just how good they are.

[welder99]

Thank you Ronsii.

[ronsii]

No prob but like I said I haven't ordered anything from them yet... they certainly sound good and like yourself I am sick of the garbage you get at the box stores these days... bunch of chinese/green junk

[Broccoli1]

You can buy SJOO cord and put your own connectors on it.

The off the shelf cords all use that thermoplastic type of jacket that is stiff on a warm day.


HD and Lowes usually carries it and you buy it by the foot.

Might be able to get a better price at a electric supply house.

[walker]

Ditto the SO cord, though I am not sure what it would be like at 10 degrees, just not it my bag of experience.

[Broccoli1]

Despite being in sunny SoCal I have used it in 15 deg weather up in the high desert during winter.

RV camping/dirt bike riding on BLM land.

Run a little Honda 2000 to run the propane heater system.

[BD1]

The Yellow jacket ones are popular . Here's one on Amazon for example, lighted ends are nice. https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Jacket...W8H61NR4M9HSF4

Sams use to have some and Costco too.

[Broccoli1]

The Yellow jacket ones are popular . Here's one on Amazon for example, lighted ends are nice. https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Jacket...W8H61NR4M9HSF4

Sams use to have some and Costco too.

Those are terrible in cold weather and not that great in warm weather. They take forever to lose their shape from being packaged like that and lay flat.

The T in the SJTW designates a very stiff thermoplastic jacket.

[Oscar]

If you want flexibility, in a non code-compliant format, you could always make one yourself.

I made this pigtail with twin-8ga (but it was really more like twin-10ga) car audio amplifier power cable, and it is extremely super flexible. Granted I do not see 10° above zero here, but I have no doubt it would still remain super flexible.









I have plenty of this stuff laying around to make one, let me know if I can help.

[BD1]

Those are terrible in cold weather and not that great in warm weather. They take forever to lose their shape from being packaged like that and lay flat.

The T in the SJTW designates a very stiff thermoplastic jacket.

Mine are at least five years old, not bad at all in cold weather. Mine might be cold weather ones , not sure. I'm sure they are specific cold weather cords.


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[Broccoli1]

Just a sample of our 12/3 SJOOW cords.

10- 25' in a milk crate and I can get 5 50' in one too.

[CGT80]

The Yellow jacket ones are popular . Here's one on Amazon for example, lighted ends are nice. https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Jacket...W8H61NR4M9HSF4

Sams use to have some and Costco too.

Those are terrible in cold weather and not that great in warm weather. They take forever to lose their shape from being packaged like that and lay flat.

The T in the SJTW designates a very stiff thermoplastic jacket.

Mine are at least five years old, not bad at all in cold weather. Mine might be cold weather ones , not sure. I'm sure they are specific cold weather cords.


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You are both wrong!

No, I take that back...............You are both right!


OK, you are both right and wrong.


The problem is that the Yellow Jacket sold now is not the same Yellow Jacket that was sold years ago.

Well over 6 years ago, I bought a yellow jacket 10/3 and used it for my 120v miller 135. Later, when the ends became damaged, I switched it to 250v 6-50 end.
It is very flexible, hot or cold. I like it so much that I wanted to make another 50' 10/3 for my Miller 211 inverter and miller 375 extreme plasma.

When my brother and I were doing a welding job a few months ago, he bought the same yellow jacket in a store and changed out the ends. There was a night and day difference between rolling up his cord and mine. At the time I thought the new one may need to be used a little and broken in.

For Christmas, my parents bought me the same Yellow Jacket cord. The new one was made in Taiwan and stunk like plastic. It was very stiff. After doing a google search, I found others who said the jacket is no long flexible like it used to be. I returned the cord to Amazon.

My 25' 12 ga cord is a Rigid brand that I bought at home depot a number of years ago. It is flexible enough and very nice. I looked at the 10ga version. There was a mix of China made and USA made cords on the shelf. There is a small difference between them and the USA felt more flexible. I decided to buy a 10/3 100' USA instead of just a 50 foot cord. It felt great when I pulled some of it out to put ends on for 250v use.

Short story: Yellow Jacket is now crap, the ends on the old 10ga 125v 15a cords were crap, and the old yellow jacket was great (if you can find old USA stock).
Buy a USA made (not the China made one) rigid at home depot instead. The ends on the Rigid have held up very well and a 25' 12ga is very handy for any 120v power tool. If it is for a welder, then consider the 10 gauge. My home made cords are used with machines that (as far as I can tell) only draw 14 amps or so on each leg of the 240v power, or half what 10 gauge is typically rated for.

For an adapter from twist lock to 6-50r, I bought some 10/4 SO cord. The SO insulation is thicker and a bit stiffer than SJ, and the 300v rating of SJ is plenty, but they are still far better than the yellow jacket that is now made. Extension cords are generally SJ and will be more flexible than SO cord, so make sure you are comparing apples to apples between premade cords, heavy duty generator or welder cords, or bulk SJ and SO.

[farmersammm]

Bought a cord the other day. 100' 10/3. Looked at the crappy stiff one ($90), and wandered over to the counter to price the good stuff to make my own. $1.50/ft. Non online sourced ends...…..about $40 for the nice Levitons (about 1/3 that price online).

So I bought the crap cord.

This place has tiered pricing, so I mighta got the stuff cheaper if I was a "preferred' customer, but I don't buy a lot of electrical stuff, and I ain't.

[welder99]

A Big Thank You to all That replied,. A lot of great ideas ! I live here on Ohio and we can see 60 degree at noon and 5 below that night. Remember If you live in Ohio and dont like the weather just stick around a few hours its going to change. I need the cord to stand up to the changing temps so its not like fighting a Boa constrictor. I agree the good Yellow cords we use to buy are gone with a cheaper version. Thanks again for the good advise.

[SlowBlues]

I use Ridgid extension cords from home depot as well, mostly a big fan of them, Though I get them from craigslist or other online avenues (~$70 for 100 ft 10g usually). Price wise they can't be beat as buying soow or sjoow is always expensive. I've never used them below 30 though, but IIRC the jacket material is less than ideal for extreme cold temperature use. Whatever cord or cable to make a cord you buy should have it's jacket material listed, and it would be worth it for you to do a little research on how they do when cold, as they are what makes a cable stiff in the cold (copper of the same annealing/strand number and thickness will be about the same stiffness wise for any manufacturer). In short look you should whittle your options down by gauge, length, annealing/number and thickness of strands, and jacket material. Not much specific help but just a heads up. Good luck

[vwguy3]

Profax sells some really nice 25 and 50’ cords.
Can’t seem to find something to link but check your lws.

[BananasCentral]

I bought a Rigid orange w/ black stripe on ebay, 100ft 10/3 for $80.
At the time I cut the ends off, I was not aware of the Lifetime Warranty... DOH!
But it didn't come with NEMA 10-6p... whatever...

Shortly after, I came into the possession of a old American made air compressor.
Thinking 'Merica, I bought a $50 red/white/blue made in USA Southwire 100ft 12/3 (running 240v/NEMA 6-20)

The Rigid cord is, hands down, a better cord.
Soft enough for whoopin, and thick insulation. THICK AND SOFT (*) (*)

The Southwire is a POS, hard to believe you can screw up a cord... but they did... 1/4 thickness insulation in places....
Thermoplastic? NEVER AGAIN!

S=severe
J=junior or 300v
o=oil resistant outer
o= oil resistant inner
t= thermoplastic or STIFF
w= weather resistant

SJTW= POS
SJOOW= 20 year cord
SOOW= 600v almost lifetime version

Go to Home Depot and look for Rigid brand orange/black , I'm not easily impressed (bah humbug!)
Hopefully they haven't gone the way of YellowJacket.....

[Bonzoo]

Ditto the SO cord, though I am not sure what it would be like at 10 degrees, just not it my bag of experience.

Give it time. With those global warmingz you might have more info in a few years

[jpump5]

Thermoplastic cords are crap.As said,they are stiff, and never
lose the bends set into them from being coiled for shipping.
I prefer SOOW, but it doesn’t last forever. Rubber cracks and
can grow mold in damp environments.

[flipsk12]

Look into Carol Froghide cords. Super flexible cold weather resistant. They're quite spendy but super nice. I scored mine for $5 a pop at a local auction.

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[California]

If you want flexible look in an RV specialty store too. RV's often have a flexible 12/3 or 10/3 cord, S0 or better, for shore power at the campground. You will likely need to change the connectors.