Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Discussion Area => Topic started by: EMD on 17 February 2016, 12:24:34
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Ive had this 25mtr extention lead for a few years and its been fine being used unwound for various jobs and wound up in the shed for other jobs but yesterday while it was being used wound up the reset button kept popping out and would not reset :(
So after unwinding it the cable felt hot , once cooled down it reset and is fine but is it time to renew :-\ Like i said it been fine for quite a few years :-\
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Best to always unwind extension reels :y Is it showing signs of melting? It'll probably be ok ....... just unwind the bugger ;)
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Best to always unwind extension reels :y Is it showing signs of melting? It'll probably be ok ....... just unwind the bugger ;)
No melting andy , i checked every bit of the cable for cuts ect but nothing . Its only a few years old and not the old rubber style cable which i recall did heat up if wound up :-\ Just a pain having all the cable lying around , weird how its only just started playing up :(
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It is PROBABLY still ok. but might I suggest that you remove a couple of metres of cable from the reel and make a short extention lead (means buying another plug and rubber socket) to use for those occasions when you don't need the full Monty?
Ron.
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It is PROBABLY still ok. but might I suggest that you remove a couple of metres of cable from the reel and make a short extention lead (means buying another plug and rubber socket) to use for those occasions when you don't need the full Monty?
Ron.
Mite do that ron :y Least the trip switch did its job anyhow .
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When you use an extension lead wound up it effectively becomes a coil, I`ve always unwound mine no matter how small the job.
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Pop the plug and socket covers off and check the tightness of the neutrals.
That's the blue or black wire, depending on the age of the cable :)
If they have been getting warm, strip them back a few inches and remake the connections ;)
Tbh, the lead should be unwound when in use regardless :)
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Yep, many extension leads are not exactly conservative with their rating of the cable. When wound up, the cable can't dissipate anything like as much heat as when extended. If you're using at at any significant level of loading, it's best to pay out all the cable.
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The cut out ii's current dependent as well.
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Always unwind the cable. Best practice. Up there with always using axle stands. :)
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Always unwind the cable. Best practice. Up there with always using axle stands. :)
My axle stands won't fit in a plug socket :-\
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Always unwind the cable. Best practice. Up there with always using axle stands. :)
My axle stands won't fit in a plug socket :-\
They will if you try REALLY hard ...... :)
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in a coil it's an electromagnet albeit running ac. so a magnet changing polarity 50 times a second. it will use current and heat up.
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Later extension leads have a label telling the max amperage you can use with the lead wound up and unwound. Anything over a lead light and it should be unwound anyway or it can catch fire to itself or combustable material it is laying on
Keith ABS
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Later extension leads have a label telling the max amperage you can use with the lead wound up and unwound. Anything over a lead light and it should be unwound anyway or it can catch fire to itself or combustable material it is laying on
Keith ABS
Ive just spotted the stamp on the casing :-[ I'll only use it unwound now as the 2 electric fires plus a dremel were a bit too much load on it :-[ :-[
Thus why its just happened with this recent cold snap and didnt want to be cold in the man cave ::)
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2 electric fires will be too much regardless of wound or unwound. :o
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Always fully unwind, even if within specs quoted (because the cable used is usually borderline).
Those that remember "the incident" will have seen the pics, and won't be surprised to know that one set of forensics went straight for a coiled extention lead that they managed to prove was plugged in but nothing plugged in it, but unable to prove if switched on.
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and didnt want to be cold in the man cave ::)
Have you checked with your quack about that, as you're not that old, and its hardly been cold this year.
Obviously, if you're on morphrin or high aspirin doses, ignore me, and buy more jumpers ;D
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2 electric fires will be too much regardless of wound or unwound. :o
Well 1 fan heater to take the chill off with an electric light heater but then i turn the fan heater off once its warm :-[ But now i know not to do that or put on an extra coat and not go in there with me slippers on ;D
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and didnt want to be cold in the man cave ::)
Have you checked with your quack about that, as you're not that old, and its hardly been cold this year.
Obviously, if you're on morphrin or high aspirin doses, ignore me, and buy more jumpers ;D
Docs ! Yeah he does know , i always have the heat on highest setting in the car and thats too hot for most :)
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2 electric fires will be too much regardless of wound or unwound. :o
Well 1 fan heater to take the chill off with an electric light heater but then i turn the fan heater off once its warm :-[ But now i know not to do that or put on an extra coat and not go in there with me slippers on ;D
I suspect the fan heater is at least 2KW, and light heater at least 1KW.
If doing that, run them from separate extension leads, ideally from separate ring mains.
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2 electric fires will be too much regardless of wound or unwound. :o
Well 1 fan heater to take the chill off with an electric light heater but then i turn the fan heater off once its warm :-[ But now i know not to do that or put on an extra coat and not go in there with me slippers on ;D
I suspect the fan heater is at least 2KW, and light heater at least 1KW.
If doing that, run them from separate extension leads, ideally from separate ring mains.
I did look and noted that i was exceeding the coiled limit but should be ok uncoiled , ill leave it uncoiled anyway .. possibly a burnt down man cave avoided as it tripped while i nipped inside and left the heaters on :o , phew !
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You might burn it down anyway if you get remotely close to what they claim it can handle, esp if it was a consumer oriented product.
I would be cautious going much above 2Kw if it claime it can do 3120W
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You might burn it down anyway if you get remotely close to what they claim it can handle, esp if it was a consumer oriented product.
I would be cautious going much above 2Kw if it claime it can do 3120W
Thats what the uncoiled rate is :)
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Always fully unwind, even if within specs quoted (because the cable used is usually borderline).
Those that remember "the incident" will have seen the pics, and won't be surprised to know that one set of forensics went straight for a coiled extention lead that they managed to prove was plugged in but nothing plugged in it, but unable to prove if switched on.
plugged in, coiled, switched on but nothing plugged in to it is ok isn't it?
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migmog, without any current drawn it is perfectly safe. The heating comes from the current heating up the cable due to its resistance. The thinner the cable - as in some cheapo reels - the higher the resitance and hence the greater the heat and, as has been stated earlier, if the cable is coiled on the reel, the heat can hardly escape, so melt-down!
Similarly, the greater the current drawn (approx. 4 amps per kilowatt on mains voltage), the greater the heat generated.
Best practice is ALWAYS to unreel fully, but if I've only got my battery charger on my reel (probably drawing less than 1/2 Amp) I unreel only what I need to reach the car.
Ron.
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Always fully unwind, even if within specs quoted (because the cable used is usually borderline).
Those that remember "the incident" will have seen the pics, and won't be surprised to know that one set of forensics went straight for a coiled extention lead that they managed to prove was plugged in but nothing plugged in it, but unable to prove if switched on.
plugged in, coiled, switched on but nothing plugged in to it is ok isn't it?
That's what I always thought, but the fire brigade were adamant otherwise, if left on at the mains. Whether that's simply due to their experience and the crap nature of those cheapo Jo-Jo type reels.....
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You might burn it down anyway if you get remotely close to what they claim it can handle, esp if it was a consumer oriented product.
I would be cautious going much above 2Kw if it claime it can do 3120W
Thats what the uncoiled rate is :)
I guessed that, so as I said, I'd not be pulling more than a couple of killawatts (ie, one fan SMALL heater) with it fully unwound, given that its quite old, and I suspect cheap to begin with ;)
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Always fully unwind, even if within specs quoted (because the cable used is usually borderline).
Those that remember "the incident" will have seen the pics, and won't be surprised to know that one set of forensics went straight for a coiled extention lead that they managed to prove was plugged in but nothing plugged in it, but unable to prove if switched on.
plugged in, coiled, switched on but nothing plugged in to it is ok isn't it?
That's what I always thought, but the fire brigade were adamant otherwise, if left on at the mains. Whether that's simply due to their experience and the crap nature of those cheapo Jo-Jo type reels.....
..or the fact that they are experts in putting out fires and not electrical engineering. ;)
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Always fully unwind, even if within specs quoted (because the cable used is usually borderline).
Those that remember "the incident" will have seen the pics, and won't be surprised to know that one set of forensics went straight for a coiled extention lead that they managed to prove was plugged in but nothing plugged in it, but unable to prove if switched on.
plugged in, coiled, switched on but nothing plugged in to it is ok isn't it?
That's what I always thought, but the fire brigade were adamant otherwise, if left on at the mains. Whether that's simply due to their experience and the crap nature of those cheapo Jo-Jo type reels.....
..or the fact that they are experts in putting out fires and not electrical engineering. ;)
These weren't the mob with the hoses, though possibly at one time they were. I had immediate respect for the first one to arrive (as the brigade were just damping down the last of the flames) as he was a spitting image of MDTM, in looks, mannerism, speech and size/build. Clearly twins separated at birth... ...or Mr DTM's father has a few secrets ;D
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You might burn it down anyway if you get remotely close to what they claim it can handle, esp if it was a consumer oriented product.
I would be cautious going much above 2Kw if it claime it can do 3120W
Thats what the uncoiled rate is :)
I guessed that, so as I said, I'd not be pulling more than a couple of killawatts (ie, one fan SMALL heater) with it fully unwound, given that its quite old, and I suspect cheap to begin with ;)
Wasn't a cheap item at the time , the cheap ones didnt have the reset and were 2 plug socket items . This one is about 6yrs old with 4 sockets and reset with 25ft lead . Ive been checking it for overheating since and its been fine uncoiled but i do unplug all the sockets when not in use now ::)