CordPro -- Extension cord storage & usage

Almost all stranded electrical wire and cables have a twist manufactured into them. This can be seen when the jacket is stripped from a cord (or insulation from a single stranded wire), and the twist is nearly always clockwise. When one tries to roll up cables (like air hose), the natural twist should be considered, and repeated. The longest life of a cable will result from the cable being coiled following it's natural twist.

When one uses any number of different methods that go against the natural twist of the cord, they stress the individual wire strands.

My usual method is to start with an end in my left hand, with the end toward my body.. then twist as needed to form coils in a clockwise direction.. same as a RH thread. This method doesn't work in a confined space, the cable needs to be layed out, with space to shake the abnormal twist out of a cable, and not a tangled up rat's nest. A right-handed version of this method would be to hold an end in the right hand, with the end pointing away, and twisting the cable as needed to form coils in a counter-clockwise direction.. same as a RH thread. This method works easily and perfectly for any length of power cord, extension cords or even multi-cabled video cables. The coils lay flat against each other and the coil doesn't try to unwind itself from the tension created by backward-wound twists. When commercial video cables cost more than $10-20 per foot, it is practical to treat them well.

When one uses the hand-and-back-of-upper-arm (palm to tricept area) to wind up a typical extension cord, the cord will generally form a figure-8 when it's removed from the arm.. this is because the natural (manufactured) twist was ignored.

The chain-of-loops that's popular with contractors is copied mainly because that's the way contractors do it (IMO).. they saw it on a TV show, so it must be for a good reason. Bullshit.. the method is neither time-saving or practical. The individual strands are stressed.. the huge "systematically tangled wad" of cable isn't compact, and will be a chain of snags for anything placed near it.. tools, ground stakes, limbs, etc.

I had a difficult time coiling garden hose when I was a kid.. I just couldn't get the hang of it (those old multi-layer real rubber and woven reinforcement cord types).. I suppose people that have trouble coiling extension cords probably couldn't coil a garden hose without a reel or a wall hanger to hang it on as they gather it up.

A few cables don't have a manufactured twist.. coaxial cable, for example. The stranded center conductor will be twisted, but the braided shield generally won't be.

When fishing reels are loaded with fresh line, an experienced angler will repeat the manufactured twist of the line as it was put on the spool at the factory, to eliminate line twist (tension) which will foul new line quickly.. as soon as the tension of the backward-wound line is relaxed, it starts deforming resulting in the formation of long helix tails in lengths of line.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Ah, but that's the "rub", as they used to say. Each loop of cable requires a 1/4 turn of twist in order to lay flat. In a 100' cable it adds up and you are constantly shaking it out to be able to twist more. Then, when it's uncoiled for use, all that twist likes to make kinks.

That's what the figure-8 or alternate left-right avoids.

Bob

(...)

LH thread, yes?

--Winston

Yes sir, you are correct. I was jumping around in that post editing various segments and lost my train of.. huh? What was the question, again?

I'm glad you caught that, and thanks for mentioning it.