Remember the heavy duty cord that didn't work?

[Buckrub]

Put two new ends on it, ten bucks............and it still doesn't work. No frays or bad spots anywhere on the length.

Beats me.

[Thumper]

That's kind'a weird, but a quick continuity test should point you in the right direction.

[Buckrub]

Electrician came and put me in a 30a breaker just so I can run a/c on the travel trailer. He tested the cord and got no readings whatsoever. It was as if it were made of string.

Beats me.

[quercus alba]

ebay, 20 bucks with 10 dollars shipping. Our local ebay magnate might jump on it if you list it as antique.

8^)

[Buckrub]

It is indeed antique. Probably 50 years old. Got it out of late FIL's shop (he died in '90) last year. I think it's about 50 feet long, too.

I'd sure rather keep it and figure it out. But I'm lost.

[BarryBobPosthole]

'Got no readings whatsoever'? You're either gonna get an open or a short on a continuity test. Both are readings. And it would be a real coinkydink if all three wires in an extension cord were open. If there's no gashes or anything then I'm wondering if you wired the new ends on it the wrong way.
Here's what I think......I think you could screw up a steelie ball.

BKB

[Big Muddy]

It oughta make a real good Arkie clothes dryer for your big ole drawers!!!.



clothes-line.jpg

[Buckrub]

And here's what I think: You are a steelie ball.

Y'all bite me. I'll figger it out on my own.

Sheesh.

P.S.
Is that my sister?

[Big Muddy]

Hint hint:

Bucky, at 50 feet long, even with a continuity tester, you'll never find out exactly where the wire(s) is broken, unless you skin back the covering, and expose the wires at various integrals, along the length of the cord, and check each length.

Then, after finding the area of the break(s), you'll have to make a repair splice, and it could be broken in several places, i.e., several repair splices.

All of that is gonna destroy the antiquity of your fil's ext. cord. IMHO, the wire inside an ext. cord that old is prolly brittle and corroded beyond repair from laying around a farm shop for 50 years.

Is it really worth all that trouble???

Heck, roll it up nicely, tag it with your fil's name/farm name, and hang it over your fireplace.

[Buckrub]

When I stripped that wire back at the ends, it looked in really good shape. I think there's something here that I'm overlooking. Easy enough for me, I know.

I did use an existing (but proven good) end on the male end. I may go get a new male end and try that before I give up. After that, I dunno.

P.S.
No fireplace. Hate 'em. The one at deer camp is bad enough. Hungry devil, it is. Only eats hard sweat, too.

[Niner]

There is a way to test it that will tell where any break might be. The tool is called a Time Domain Reflectometer.....but even renting one woud be cost prohibitive.

Bucky, do you own a mulimeter? If so most of them have an Ohms function. Take the connectors off of both ends. Put one lead from the meter on one end of the white wire, and the other lead on the other end of the white wire. You should get a reading that is fairly low....prolly less than ten ohms...hard to guess. Then do the same test with the black wire, and finally with the green wire (or wire braid). This is assuming the ext cord is a "grounded cord".

[Big Muddy]

Electricity is pretty simple, actually....there ain't no current going thru your cord...."somewhere", the wire is either broke or corroded beyond repair....simple as that.

Or, you ain't doing something right.

Pick one.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Niner, do you know the old capacitive kick trick to help determine where opens are using an older style VOM?

BKB

[Buckrub]

Yes, I have a multi meter.

But........."take off the new leads" is ..........giving me heart burn. Took an hour to get them on there. But yeah, I see.........

Just have lots more I need to be doing.

And BM, I'm hoping it's me, not doing something right. That's fixable.

[Niner]

So, Bucky.......did ya get a chance to re-examine that cord yet?

[Buckrub]

No. Headed to Lowe's to get a new end today sometime. Having a fish fry tonight for a few friends. Working on that.....

[Buckrub]

Brand new end on both ends. Wired correctly. Nothing. Multimeter shows nothing, plugged in or not.

[Thumper]

Are you SURE you have power to the outlet?

Sheeesh, this ain't rocket science!

[Buckrub]

Yes, Jim. Same outlet that a lamp was plugged in. Unplugged it, plugged in cord, put lamp into cord, nothing. Metered it, nothing. Plugged light back into same outlet, it works.

I ain't as dumb as y'all make me out. Close. But not that much.

[Thumper]

Ha! Just messin' with ya' Rub ... it's the "simple" crap like that that can bug ya' half to death. Got's ta' be a break someplace. It should be easy enough to eliminate wires until you find the culprit. You say there's no damage to the cord itself ... can you see a "swollen" area? That will usually indicate corrosion.

[Buckrub]

Well, the cord is rolled up on a cord reel. My next step (man, its' HOT outside, ok?) is to unroll it and inspect it inch by inch. I'd worry about taking the ends off and 'ohm-ing' the wires individually, but I am 100% convinced I put the new ends on per instructions, correctly.

Yeah, this is getting to be more trouble than it's worth............ really. I guess if I'd spend more time working on it than sitting here talking about it, I'd have already thrown it away!!!

[Thumper]

Maybe you should just burn the insulation off of it ... you could prolly get a small fortune for the copper!

[LJ3]

I refuse to read a 3 page long thread about a friggin extension cord. What is WRONG with you people?!?!?!

[BarryBobPosthole]

steely.JPG

[Buckrub]

Uh, LEN.......methinks from your description it is YOU. What's wrong with me is that I'm waiting on my daughter and grandkids to get here tonight and I'm piddling around.

And Posty, thanks.......I've NEVER seen your brain before! How cool!

[Big Muddy]

Okay, you've already established the fact that the cord is useless, in it's present condition...so, cut the damn thing in half, and meter each half....make a useable 25 foot cord outta the good half.

Cut the bad half into another half....again, meter each half, etc., etc., until you find the damn break.

Geez, I'm getting dizzy talking about a frigging broke extension cord.

[Buckrub]

That's what Len said.

I find it sort of enjoyable, compared to some stuff we go round about.

[Niner]

HERE! PROBLEM SOLVED....

http://www.lowes.com/pd_67439-16503-...toreBeanArray=[com.lowes.commerce.storelocator.beans.LocatorStore Bean%402a872a87]&pl=1&productId=3203689&ipTrail=98.66.150.215&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dextension%2Bcord

054732806812lg.jpg

[Big Muddy]

Well, to hi-jack your post, here's a new subject....I got a strange tom cat that's been coming into the yard....Sandy hasn't paid much attention to him....matter of fact, they've been sorta chasing each other around the yard.

They were getting along fine, until yesterday, when the ole tom, decided to start hunching on her.

I think I need to break up this weird romance.

Since Big Sky is our resident cat-lover (), I'll direct my questions to him:

What would be the most humane--firing squad, hanging, or electrocution (the cat would prolly like for me to use Bucky's electrical cord)???

What would be a suitable caliber for a huge tom cat???

How much damage will a cat do to you, while trying to tie a noose around it's neck???

I got some left-over fried catfish....should I feed a last meal to the ole tom???

Should I go to the cat pound, and get him some pussy-pussy before I do the deed???

[Buckrub]

Oh, Niner. Goodness. I have another cord. I have several. This one is the longest and the biggest. I hoped to salvage it. I ain't gived up total yet. I might soon though. It'll be weeks before I worry about it again.

BM, put Sandy up........put out a bowl of antifreeze.

You're welcome.