# Why am I melting extension cords?



## jimn (Nov 13, 2010)

Sounds like an excellent for starter. Coals should be ready for the burgers any minute now. Personally I wouldn't run any heater on an extension cord for any length of time. Cords have voltage drops . You are suffering voltage drop and too small wire. If you insist on using the cords gets a single continuos 12 gauge cord. Make sure your homeowner insurance is paid up.


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## dmxtothemax (Oct 26, 2010)

You need heavier duty extension cords !
I. E. thicker wires !
I would use the thickest lead that you can find/fit.

Also -
are you sure that the recepticule is in good condition ?

it could have dirty contacts.


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## wrangler (Oct 9, 2008)

Do you understand that the 16 gauge is a MUCH smaller wire than the 12? This is why you are melting it, pulling more amps than the wire is rated for. It is never good practice to run multiple extension cords, though in a pinch I have done it, but only for short periods and when I am physically there. When your electrician is there tomorrow, have him show you how much voltage drop you have over that long run. If you were running a motor powered item, you would have put quite a strain on it. Most power tools (like compressors, table saws, etc.) tell you to plug only into an outlet, not an extension cord for this very reason. Well, that and the fire hazard, of coarse.


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## ritelec (Aug 30, 2009)

I looked recently as I was hooking up some 16 gauge fixture cord. 

My numbers may be off as I'm not in front of the book. But something to the effect of 16awg being good for 10 amps. Not more than 8 continuous. 

Your heater is 9. 

The made extension cords usually melt at that point on the female side and on the male side they melt and the forks kinda twist and bend to whete they are attached. 

Good quality larger gauge extension cords is what you need or better yet make rid of the cords and wire it with no extension cords if you can


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## cad99 (Jun 29, 2014)

Hahaha your funny Cleatis 


Living the dream one nightmare at a time.


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## InPhase277 (Feb 9, 2008)

The biggest problem is that you need an 1100 watt heater in Tulsa in June.

But if this isn't Cletis, the problem isn't so much the cable size as it is the quality of the connection at the receptacle ends of the cords. There is less than 1 ohm of resistance across the lengths of the two cords, so it isn't the size of the cord that's melting the plug.


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## halliwellc (Sep 13, 2012)

InPhase277 said:


> The biggest problem is that you need an 1100 watt heater in Tulsa in June.
> 
> But if this isn't Cletis, the problem isn't so much the cable size as it is the quality of the connection at the receptacle ends of the cords. There is less than 1 ohm of resistance across the lengths of the two cords, so it isn't the size of the cord that's melting the plug.


I called it a "heater" for simplification. It's a tool called a Speedheater that is essentially two quartz IR bulbs in a housing, used to raise the temperature of painted wood and strip paint.

The receptacle-end issue make sense; of course, higher gauge cord can be presumed to come with better quality receptacle. Yes, I will buy a better cord; I'm thinking 50 foot 14/3 cords. And I will protect the cord receptacles from dirt.

Outside the workshop, I often use the tool on 100-year-old houses with sometimes-iffy wiring. I'm going to start using two of them at once, so that's 2200 watts total. Other than testing a customer's receptacles for a real ground wire, and using different receptacles, how can I do this safely? 

Another concern: I don't want to use the world's greatest 12/3 extension cord if it will work great and show no signs of overloading, while my tools melt the old wiring in their house. If there's a weakest link, I want the weak link visible. I'd rather my cord fails before their house wiring fails.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

With 2 of them, different receptacles isn't enough to prevent overloading. You need to make sure the 2 receptacles are on different circuits. (Assumes 15 amp circuits)


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

The problem is definitely at the melted plug and receptacle. There is a high resistance point somewhere within, most likely the plug prongs don'e make that good a contact with the receptacle contacts. Any loose connection tends to develop heat. 

Another common location for a high resistance point is some of the wire strands breaking, which often happens at the plug or receptacle also. The remaining strands overheat when a high amperage load is put on the cord.

Even high quality cord ends can be compromised by rough treatment.


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## AllanJ (Nov 24, 2007)

The problem is definitely at the melted plug and receptacle. There is a high resistance point somewhere within, most likely the plug prongs don'e make that good a contact with the receptacle contacts. Any loose connection tends to develop heat. 

Another common location for a high resistance point is some of the wire strands breaking, which often happens at the plug or receptacle also. The remaining strands overheat when a high amperage load is put on the cord.

Even high quality cord ends can be compromised by rough treatment.

You don't know where the weak spots are behind the walls so it is impossible to set up cords that overheat before the house wiring overheats. Nobody plans for the former. You have to have correctly sized circuit breakers and you have to assume that the wiring will carry the amount of current that the breakers are rated for. 

If you wish to you can construct a power strip consisting of a box that holds a cord leading to a plug, a receptacle, and a fuse holder in which you place a fuse of lesser amperage than a circuit is rated for, say, 10 amps.

Lost track of the edits when the 30 minute posting limit expired so the entire corrected post is reproduced here.


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## sgip2000 (Sep 24, 2012)

cad99 said:


> Hahaha your funny Cleatis
> 
> 
> Living the dream one nightmare at a time.


Before I saw your comment I was thinking, "Is this Cleatis?"


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