extension cord 12 gauge 75 ft vs 100 ft for lawn mower

[robby]

I have just bought a 19 in electric lawn mower. Nameplate ampere rating on it is 12 Amps and I am trying to decide on the extension cord. 75 ft of cord length will be enough to take me to the farthest point in the lawn, and I understand I am better off buying 12 gauge cord for this purpose. You get either 25 ft or 50 ft or 100 ft cords in the market that are 12 guage.

The question is should I connect a 50 ft and 25 ft, or am I just better off using a single 100 ft cord for this purpose. How much am I reducing the voltage going to the lawn mower when I use a 100 ft instead of 75 ft. If it does not matter it might be better to have a 100 ft to give myself additional maneuvrability.

-------------------------------------

##-----------------------------------------------## Delivered via

Construction and Maintenance Forum Web and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup - alt.home.repair - 358913 messages and counting! ##-----------------------------------------------##

[Smarty]

The extra 25 foot length is of no consequence. 12 gauge wire has a resistance of about .00187 ohms per foot. Adding the extra 25 foot length adds 50 feet of wire to the circuit, resulting in an additional voltage drop of 1.12 volts for a 12 amp load. You will never notice any lawn mower performance difference arising from this ~1 volt change. This additional drop is, after all, less than 1% change.

Smarty

[Mark]

But I'd go with either 2 50' rather than the 100'. A 100' can be a pain to work with, whereas a two piece setup will make it a little more manageable. Plus in times when you need or want a shorter cord for another use they will be easier to use.

[Stormin Mormon]

358913 spam and counting! Please post to Usenet the regular way.

[robby]

-------------------------------------

##-----------------------------------------------## Delivered via

Construction and Maintenance Forum Web and RSS access to your favorite newsgroup - alt.home.repair - 358978 messages and counting! ##-----------------------------------------------##

[sligoNoSPAMjoe]

What does the manual say you should be using?

I used 100 of 12 gauge for many years on my old electric mower. I suspect you will not experience any problems with that setup. The idea of two 50 footers is not bad either.

I don't remember what the draw was on my old electric and your mower could be more sensitive to voltage drop than mine.

I finally gave that mower to the people who bought my last home and I bought a new battery mower. So far three or four years and I still like it.

[Ralph Mowery]

Onething I have not seen mentioned is that if possiable you should plug it into a socket as near the fuse/breaker box as you can.

[bob haller]

On Jun 14, 3:22=EF=BF=BDpm, "Ralph Mowery" wro= te:

Yeah install proper outlet in far away place powered with 10 gauge wire on a 20 amp breaker to overcome voltage drop

[Rudy]

Use the 100 footer'. After you run over the cord a few times, it'll end up as a 75' ;-)

[jeff_wisnia]

If you use two 50 footers, look into getting one of those gadgets which snap over the plug and socket joining the two cords together. They keep a tug on the cord from unpluging them and are neater than tying the cords in a knot to keep that from happening.

Poisanally I'd go with the 100 footer, it'll snag on things much less that if there's a "lump" at the 50 foot point.

And, I strongly suggest you make sure that the cord is plugged into a GFI protected outlet. The mower may be "double insulated" and grounded through the power cord's ground conductor, but all that might not be worth s**te after you chop into the cord.

Jeff

[Pelican2]

replying to robby, Pelican2 wrote: Is this also true if using 1000 watt portable generator

[Pelican2]

replying to robby, Pelican2 wrote: Is this also true if using 1000 watt portable generator

[Robb Dabbs]

replying to jeff_wisnia, Robb Dabbs wrote: When we bought an older home it had only 1 outlet. I back-wired 8 weatherproof outlet boxe around he perimeter of the house, each controlled by an GFCI indoor outlet. I also laid buried cable to a new outdoor shed so that we had protected wiring and lighting.. All these outlets were very convenient when needed for outdoor tools, as well as a source for low-voltage lighting transformers. You can use shorter extension cords if you have conveniently located outlets.

[trader_4]

Is what true? The question was about a mower that's rated at 12 amps. That would be ~1400 watts, so the cord isn't your big problem if you only have a 1000 watt generator.

[Robb Dabbs]

replying to jeff_wisnia, Robb Dabbs wrote: When we bought an older home it had only 1 outlet. I back-wired 8 weatherproof outlet boxe around he perimeter of the house, each controlled by an GFCI indoor outlet. I also laid buried cable to a new outdoor shed so that we had protected wiring and lighting.. All these outlets were very convenient when needed for outdoor tools, as well as a source for low-voltage lighting transformers. You can use shorter extension cords if you have conveniently located outlets.