There are so many aspects of daily life on a homestead that involve using an Extension Cord. These uses range from running power tools, to putting heat lamps on chicks, to running a generator during a power outage. For some of these, a basic extension cord is sufficient. But, there are other times when you may require, or at least prefer, a heavy-duty extension cord. We have built most of our heavy-duty shop or generator cords ourselves using scrap wire from other projects or wire that we found at a yard sale. If you have scrap wire like that available to you, then the whole project could cost less than $25. And, even if you have to buy all the materials new, you will still come out ahead on quality. It only takes about 30 minutes to make a much better cord than what is offered at retail locations.
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Tools and Materials for Making a Heavy-Duty Extension Cord or Generator Cord
Tools:
- Philips Screwdriver
- Flathead Screwdriver
- Utility Knife
- Crimper/Stripper for Electrical Wire
Materials:
- Female Cord Connector, 15 amp, 125V, 5-15R
- Male Cord Connector, 15 Amp, 125 Volt
- 50′ 10/3 Heavy Duty Rubber Cable, 600V
How to Make a Heavy-Duty Extension Cord
- NOTE: Because we are using up-cycled wire, we are working with exposed copper wire on one end at this point. However, if you are working with new wire, then it will be a flush-cut end (like the photo below).
Preparing the Wire
- Each end of the wire will have a slightly different orientation of black, white, and green wire. Each of the Cord Connectors will also have a different orientation of matching colored screws. If you take the time to match your Connector to the matching cord end, you will not have to twist any of the wires to force them to match. The black wire matches the gold screw, the green goes with the green, and the white wire goes to the silver screw. See the photo below as an example.
- Using the utility knife, carefully split and remove the outer black rubber protective sheath. Hold it up to the connector to see how much you need to remove. You should leave enough rubber so that there are no individual wires outside the outer sheath of the connector.
- Once the individual wires are exposed. Then, strip away the rubber to expose about 1/2 inch of bare copper wire (enough to get reach under the hold-down screws of your connector).
- You will need to carefully twist the copper wires together so that they will fit into the holes underneath the colored screws.
Installing the Connector Ends
- Go ahead and test-fit the connector by sliding the housing portion of the connector end onto the wire. The black rubber-coated wire should fit down into the groove. The groove should be large enough to hold half the thickness of the wire. The photo below shows the ideal position.
- The groove on our connector house was not quite deep enough. So, I used my utility blade to shave some the plastic away until the fit was correct. The photo below shows the modified housing.
- With the housing slipped onto the wire, it is now time to wire the connector. Pair the wires with their matching screws, slide the wires behind the screws, and tighten the screws. The screws should be firmly tight.
- In the photo below, you can see there are screws in the far end of the connector. These screws thread down through the connector and attach the connector to the housing.
- The clamp is now the only part missing on this end.
- Add the clamp, and screw it in place.
- This end is now complete. Repeat the steps above to install the second connector on the other end of your wire.
- Congratulations. Your heavy-duty extension cord is now complete and ready to use.
Why We Prefer to Make Our Own Heavy-Duty Extension Cords
It is not always cheaper to make an extension cord instead of buying it, if you are looking just at the dollar amount. Because, you can find 50 foot, 10 gauge extension cords for less than $100 on Amazon. However, the quality is not even close to the same. The rubber coating on the pre-made extension cords is not very thick, durable, or flexible under certain circumstances.
Why the Heavy-Duty Electrical Wire is a Better Choice
Since we live on a homestead where we do the the building, repair, and animal projects ourselves, we can be rough on our tools. It is very important to us that everything is durable and reliable at a moment’s notice. There is nothing worse than needing a tool in an urgent situation, and it does not work the way it is supposed to.
- In cold weather, the rubber on the heavy-duty wire will remain flexible and easy to handle.
- It is thick enough, that we have never had an issue with it after accidentally driving a piece of machinery over it.
- Because it is so much more durable, the life expectancy of the cord is much greater. So, you will not have to replace your cords every few years when they are under heavy use.
- It can be wired as a Generator Cord.
We prefer to use the 10 gauge wire over 12 gauge because the amperage loss or drop is less with the 10 gauge. So, when working at greater distances, there is less wear and tear on the power tools connected to the extension cord. And, with our homestead projects, we are usually running extension cords long distances (between buildings or from a building out to the field).
The Latest Use We Found for Our New Heavy-Duty Extension Cord
A couple of weeks ago, we had the Farrier out to the homestead to trim our cow’s hooves. He set up for the project in our open bay barn at the back of the barnyard. But, he needed electricity for his grinder, so we needed to run extension cords from the main barn. We hooked every extension cord that we had together, and we were still about 30 feet short. Then, we remembered that we had just made this new heavy-duty Extension Cord a few days ago. So, Warren went back to the house to grab it, and it worked perfectly. Just goes to show that you cannot have too many reliable extension cords on a working homestead.
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Leviton 15 Amp, 125 Volt, Industrial Grade Male Plug