buffer and worklights. one extension cord???

joyriide1113

joyriide1113

There is no cure!
tomorrow i plan on removing some swirls formt he car... i plan on starting late in the after noon and probably finshing up at night. i plan on using some worklights 500-1000w and i also wanna use my polisher... how would i conenct the 2... should i get one of those inverters that connects and give u 2 free sockets or what.

the idea of using a 1000w light and trying to plug another machine to it scares me...
 
IMO, you will probably have more problem working with a setup where you have the PC and the light plugged in to the same extension cord.
As far as load is concerned, a good 14 ga. wire extension cord not over 50' in length should be able to handle 15 amps of current and you should only have about 12.8 amps total load.
1- 1000 watt light = 9.1 amps
1- PC = 3.7 amps
Total load = 12.8
If it were me, I would use two separate drop cords to make it more convenient to work around the vehicle. With my luck, I'm sure I would manage to knock the light over and break it or worse, have it fall into the vehicle.:)
If you use two extension cords, you could probably get by with 16 ga. wire for each.

Charles
 
I would get another extension cord to run the PC independently from. If you run them both off of the same cord you will have reach issues and you will probably blow a fuse. I tried using the same combination and it worked well until I turned the PC to 6, then it stopped.
 
u know i always wanted to try those extension cords with 4 plugins that are evenly dispursed through the whole chord...thos things would seem like they would have a million uses around the shop or garage......u could almost set them up along a wall with not many plug ins and just leave it there or tack it up on the wall.....hmm gives me some ideas....
 
Keep in mind that extension cords are just that. An extension of your existing receptacle to a location.
You still need to have an adequate circuit to supply any load you are using. Multiple plug-in receptacles don't give you any more power, just an easier way to overload the circuit feeding it. The size/gauge of the wire and the length of the extension cord all have a bearing on what you can safely use it for. If you are blowing fuses/circuit breakers, you are overloading the circuit. That is not a good thing. A common size of circuit in a home is 20 amps. For safe operation, a load of 80% or 16 amps would be a good place to start. For tools, you can find the amperage rating on the nameplate. For lighting, divide the total wattage by the voltage. This will give you the lighting amperage. Many electric motors will have a much greater amp draw for an instant when they first start. Possibly 3 times as much. It is a good idea to stagger the start up of different tools if at all possible. In other words, don't plug your lights, air compressor, vacuum, polisher all into one extension cord and then plug the extension cord in and start everything at once. Even a safe working load can trip a breaker of blow a fuse under those conditions.
If in doubt ask someone with some electrical knowledge to recommend a solution.

Charles
 
Actually, the most common receptacles found in houses are 15Amps not 20 Amps.Per the NEC code, you must have 2 20amp circuits in your kitchen ONLY. Everything else is a 15 amp plug, unless you specified differently when building your house. To make sure you have adequate power, first check your service panel. If you have extra space, then you are in good shape to add a few existing circuits. I would then call a qualified electrician, preferably a one man shop who comes recommended. They will have less overhead and should be able to give you a fair price to install a couple of dedicated 20 Amp receptacles to your garage. Electricity is not something to "play" around with. Most people die from trying to do it themselves. Less than one amp will kill you (hence, the addition of GFCI rcpts. to the 1999 code). I hope this helps.
 
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