If you are using 240 volts, the average appliance or home tool will use approximately ½ the amps than the same power that a tool/appliance using 120 volt equipment.
Resistance and current flow = heat. Not volts, I was taught.
Because of lawyers & stupid people I can see restriction crop up.
I don’t understand why the voltage makes any difference to anything besides the insulation.
When using tools in England, I did not notice any higher power than the same tool with the US tools.
I can see bad soldering might cause a joint to get hot but we are still talking amps & resistance.
I see more problems with bad terminal crimps or quick connect receptacles than with solder joints.
You might not be missing anything.
In Australia and New Zealand, solder is simply not used on mains electrical fittings.
I think if there is a rationale, it is not a case of more likely to get hot, but more serious consequences if it does get hot.
I think there is also a visibility issue here. If two wires are connected via a screwed connector, I can visually inspect it and see that they are properly connected. If two wires are connected with solder then I don’t know how much copper is in contact and how much reliance there is on the solder itself to conduct the load.
Here in the U.S., NEC 110.14 (b) allows for the soldering of splices in home wiring. In addition, the splices must be “mechanically secure without solder, and then soldered.”
Since NEC 110.14 (b) is for home wiring, I’m not sure if it’s applicable to an extension cord. Even if it is, the real bummer is that the splices must also be “mechanically secure” before soldering. In other words, to be NEC-compliant, you would have to twist the strands together (just as you do for home wiring) and then wrap the exposed conductors using tape or HST. I don’t care what the NEC says, I would never do this when splicing two extension cords together. As I stated in my first post, I would
Cut & strip wires. Stagger the joints.
Insert heat shrink tubing over each of the three wires.
Insert a long piece of heat shrink tubing over the whole cable.
For each of the three wires, simply shove the strands together so that they intertwine. (Think of your fingers when you hold your hands… the fingers on your left hand are intertwined with the fingers on your right hand when you shove your hands together.) Doing this will make the joints very strong.
Solder each of the three splices.
Using a Dremel tool and a fine, cylindrical grinding bit, grind each solder joint until it is smooth all around. Keep grinding until the diameter of the solder joint is the same (or slightly larger) as the diameter of the wire insulation.
Slip heat shrink tubing over each solder joint and shrink it using a heat gun.
Slip heat shrink tubing over all the solder joints and shrink it using a heat gun.
Here in Oz a big part of the 240 volt question is safety. 240v will kill you with high reliability. An outdoor cable insulated with only tape will cheerfully shock you if it gets wet.
Soldered joints have an unfortunate habit of stiffening a braided cable, and - especially at the points where the braided cable transits from soldered to unsoldered - becomes a point where stress fractures tend to happen. For a power cables this is particularly bad as such failures quickly become a fire hazard.
Whilst I have cheerfully made up temporary indoor use cables with solder and heat shrink, there is no way I would be prepared to risk an outdoor use power cable repaired this way.
When faced with exactly this issue some time ago my solution was to buy an inline pair of plug and socket rated for outdoor use, and use the two of them to effect the join. In effect creating a 98’ and 2’ extension cable. The Clipsal 437 series (page 14 here) are great. But not useful as a US solution. OTOH I can’t believe there isn’t an equivalent available.
While I agree with the above, the length of each solder joint would be pretty small compared to the typical diameter of the cable when coiled up. I doubt it would be a problem.
At any rate, if it were me, I would simply solder them and be done with it using my procedure above. If someone wanted to be “uber-correct” on performing the splice, thereareguidelines for doing so.
Ya’know, this is what I love about the SDMB. A dead simple question about how to fix a $30 cable results in nearly 50 responses (and counting) plus the specs NASA uses for splices.
this thread is getting longer than the broken extension cord. and that’s a good thing.
it depends on
the quality of the cord. if a molded end is needed to fit into a yard tool. the skills and tools of the cord owner (you can’t do that solder repair without a soldering gun or large iron).
what part of the cord hs been repaired? will the cord be handled with some care? how will the cord be stored?
some solutions are better than others depending on many things.
I was just going to post about my surprise about the length of this thread.
I am sure there are things like in that PDF but you could probably buy a really nice new cord for it would probably cost here.
I really like the short & long cable idea if I really need the original end for a tool I already have. Of course, being me I would want that joint not to come apart so I would waste a lot of good tape making it so. :smack:
If this is an outdoor extension cord there isn’t going to be much danger from poor splicing or soldering anyway. You shouldn’t leave it plugged in when you’re not using anyway, and it should be plugged into a GFCI outlet. And you shouldn’t be tugging on extension cords in the first place. OK, I do it too, but it wouldn’t be difficult to avoid that if I was using one that was repaired. I’m going to lengthen the cables on the stick welder I just got, they’re going to carry a lot of current, but I’m not very worried about using a rebraided splice, heat shrink and electrical tape on it.
And, of course, the whole problem can be solved by having a family member, neighbor or hired man hold the cut wires together any time you want to use the cord.
There are a couple of good solutions. Patching patched patch solutions gets absurd…
It’s the socket (female) end, not the plug. And that molded end has to fit into a very tight connection on the tool – one where most replacement sockets wouldn’t fit.
I think we were all using “plug” generically, or at least genderlessly. There isn’t a really good name for the module on the end of a cord that contains a female socket.
while that knot will inhibit unplugging it does put lots of strain on the ends when under tension, which is likely in yard work.
i have taken the cord about a yard (no not that yard) from the ends and tie both cords in a loose over hand knot. it is a big snag hazard but it won’t unplug or strain the cord.
Amateur : your method sounds decent and plenty strong.
However, with the original cord you could dump the cord itself into a puddle of saltwater and none of the water would reach the wire itself.
With a properly done, double applied heatshrink like you describe, is heatshrink actually a hermetic seal? I don’t think it is, I suspect water can seep between the shrunk plastic and the wire.
How would you repair a cable if you wanted it to be safe to immerse in water?
