Electrical Extension Lead care

[Drover]

I have shown folk many times how to roll up their extension lead, including my kids, I just chopped one up that been always coiled up with the over the elbow style, had pointed out numerous times it will stuff it up, so a lead that should have lasted many more years is in the bin...........

Coiling up around the arm/elbow leads to internal kinks in the wire as it gets twisted out of shape, these can can cause breaks in a wire which can short

Kinky Bits....they appear as lumps in the cable

......This 15mt lead had about 10 of these kinks in it...............................

Even using a reel will do the same if you just blindly reel it in, taking your time so the cable runs onto the roll smoothly will stop kinks .....there are some examples of folk who do fancy rings to store their cables, looks pretty must take ages to sort them out.

Let them hang loose........

Never plug in a lead which is still coiled up especially one on a reel, always lay it out, even laying it in a series of large S's never in a bundle, it can cause fires.

https://thewirecutter.com/blog/how-to-store-extension-cords/ this link gives a good vid of coiling a lead up shows other ways which they state may damage cable, well Ive seen enough of them to say they Will damage the leads.

 

[rags]

Drover, probably one of the 1st chores I was taught as an apprentice all those years ago was how to roll a lead away,
like you it is done with big long loops created through having a swaying motion of throwing the lead out in front as you coil each loop.

Now for our next lesson on caring for a lead, make sure it is unplugged from the fridge in the back of the car before driving away or this will happen

 

[mikerezny]

Hi,
there are two ways I roll up a lead correctly.

For long heavy leads lay it out in a figure 8. When finished bring the two ends up together and it is then in a neat coil.
Unrolling is the reverse process. Lay it back out in a figure 8 and pay it out.
We did that in my television days for long multicore camera cables up to 100m long running all over the place in outside TV broadcasts.

For shorter lighter leads, there is an optimal way but it takes a bit of practice. You roll the lead between two fingers and roll one loop over and then then one loop behind. Much easier to demonstrate then write.
Once the lead has been done this way a few times, it will retain its memory.
This was the way we rolled all the microphone, speaker, and 240V cables when I had my own professional stage and lighting business.
You can usually unroll a 20m lead by just throwing it across the stage. It will unroll completely without a kink.

Got shown this way back when I was 17 by a roadie in one of the big touring bands.

cheers
Mike

 

[Drover]

Oh yes @rags , my hands up for " Been there Done that too", would never have thought a lead could stretch that far, luckily and strangely didn't bugga either power points but lead was stuffed as lead got caught at both ends took the brunt of it...........bloke at work drove off once with his fridge still plugged in, more things than leads broke as this was a semi ripped things off trailer as well as pulling the big power box from the building....... he got a DCM as he just hooked up and drove off, didn't check anything, cost a few grand to fix.

Had forgotton about really big leads @mikerezny , we used to do similar on the ships long and heavy they were, take a few blokes to lift them, the sockets on the end would have weighed in at 5kgs easy.......... the bigger cables a crane was used but they never kinked.................. chopping up the lead today I thought a good time for some show and tell................

 

[Boots in Action]

Hi,
there are two ways I roll up a lead correctly.

For long heavy leads lay it out in a figure 8. When finished bring the two ends up together and it is then in a neat coil.
Unrolling is the reverse process. Lay it back out in a figure 8 and pay it out.
We did that in my television days for long multicore camera cables up to 100m long running all over the place in outside TV broadcasts.

For shorter lighter leads, there is an optimal way but it takes a bit of practice. You roll the lead between two fingers and roll one loop over and then then one loop behind. Much easier to demonstrate then write.
Once the lead has been done this way a few times, it will retain its memory.
This was the way we rolled all the microphone, speaker, and 240V cables when I had my own professional stage and lighting business.
You can usually unroll a 20m lead by just throwing it across the stage. It will unroll completely without a kink.

Got shown this way back when I was 17 by a roadie in one of the big touring bands.

cheers
Mike

Sounds good Mike @mikerezny, absolutely necessary in the jobs you were doing. Thanks for the info.

 

[Crusty181]

I was away down the east coast, arrived Fri night in the drizzle. Plugged everything in, hose, power, Engle and put my hand on the alloy drawbar box and got a siginificant zap through my ring.

Not too sure how these things play out, but we use the van extensively and never experienced that before. The van sits plugged into the mains at home 24/7.

Plugging into the next power tower at the c/park and all good.

 

[Bluey]

I was away down the east coast, arrived Fri night in the drizzle. Plugged everything in, hose, power, Engle and put my hand on the alloy drawbar box and got a siginificant zap through my ring.

Not too sure how these things play out, but we use the van extensively and never experienced that before. The van sits plugged into the mains at home 24/7.

Plugging into the next power tower at the c/park and all good.

So let me get this right was it the ring on your finger or did the power go through your hand and out your ring you will need very soft toilet paper i got 48 rolls for your singed ring the ring of fire lucky you didnt fart could have blown yourself up the original burning ring of fire sorry but you left it there to be said if i didnt @Drover would

 

[Crusty181]

So let me get this right was it the ring on your finger or did the power go through your hand and out your ring you will need very soft toilet paper i got 48 rolls for your singed ring the ring of fire lucky you didnt fart could have blown yourself up the original burning ring of fire sorry but you left it there to be said if i didnt @Drover would

I just re-read my post and it could easily be mistaken that it all had something to do with my bloody hand ... well done @Bluey, good pick up

 

[mikerezny]

I would ensure that the earth pin of your 240V power inlet is securely connected to your chassis.
A bad earth connection and a bit of moisture in the wrong place could result in the van being above earth potential.
Worse is that because of the rain and moisture you were securely connected to the ground.

The other possibility is that the earth connection on the first power pole was faulty. Again letting the van chassis be not at earth potential.
If it was me, I would put in a short written report to the caravan park, get them to sign it, and get a copy.
This will make sure they get it checked out properly before someone else potentially gets fried.

Either way, it is not something to take lightly.

cheers
Mike

 

[Boots in Action]

I would ensure that the earth pin of your 240V power inlet is securely connected to your chassis.
A bad earth connection and a bit of moisture in the wrong place could result in the van being above earth potential.
Worse is that because of the rain and moisture you were securely connected to the ground.

The other possibility is that the earth connection on the first power pole was faulty. Again letting the van chassis be not at earth potential.
If it was me, I would put in a short written report to the caravan park, get them to sign it, and get a copy.
This will make sure they get it checked out properly before someone else potentially gets fried.

Either way, it is not something to take lightly.

cheers
Mike

Hi @mikerezny and @Crusty181, I am pretty sure Mike is correct as per his second paragraph - defective earth on first power pole/broken connecting earth pin in socket? And with drizzling rain about, the "potential" for a hazardous connection is high. Probably not noticed previously as conditions were dry and both power pole, cable and drawbar were all in dry condition. The next person to connect to the same outlet may not be so lucky, so make sure the van park management are made aware. The penalty for park management not doing something about it after you have notified them (signed acknowledgement) passes ALL responsibility onto them if someone is hurt. Caravanners don't have to be electrocuted, only receive a jolt that makes them fall, and the law suits follow! Stay safe.

 

[Drover]

Yep had it happen myself a few times, faulty power post socket for 2 of them and it had/was raining but still did a continuity test on my lead, the second time was plugged in to a house point and it was a broken earth in lead, no wet weather but a continuity test showed a failed earth on lead, chopped and binned was the fix.

You can also get a tickle if the socket on van along with the end of the lead is damp, even found a wet cobweb once the culprit........

also never weld on damp ground even with a tarp laid out because if your knee touches the wet, whammo, makes an electric fence feel like a mossie bite....

 

[Crusty181]

There was no zapping after i connected to another tower, and they had a sparky onsite the following morning