On 4 Mar 2015 at 17:59, Robert Bruninga via EV wrote: > my cheap orange cord melts a path through the snow when doing my 400W > engine block, 700W spaceheater and 50W butt warmer ...
I see in the marketplace significant amounts of Chinese-made wire whiich is not what it claims to be. Typically the conductors are at least one size smaller than marked on the insulation (#14 or even #16 instead of #12, for example), with extra-thick insulation to make it look like the "heavy duty" label is for real. It's not. Reminds me of those crummy jumper cables they used to (and probably still do) sell for a few bucks at the "closeout" places. They're as thick as your little finger, look like they ought to be at least #2 - but the conductors inside all that plastic insulation are maybe #10 or #12, and often aluminum at that. I used to drive a C-car years ago. The batteries were easy to get to behind the bumpers, so I jump-started a fair number of ICEVs on subzero days. The ICE-heads were amazed when their cars started almost like it was springtime, thanks to my golf car batteries (probably 3-4 times the size of the average starting battery) and real #0 welding cable. As for extension cords, it's been years since I've made the mistake of buying the dollar-store cheapies. However, it wouldn't surprise me much to find out that the conductors inside them aren't as marked on the cable, and/or that the UL mark is counterfeit. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
