Extension cords for wiring in my semi.

At .75c a foot 4 years ago im not sure its exactly cheap, but yes, its proper sjoo, same stuff we would buy for making extension cords in my dads steel shop, may actually be 12 awg, i know i had it sized so i could just toss ends on it and run 20 amp 120 to my barn when needed with minimal voltage drop.

 

Ok, that’s good, if it is the right stuff, 75¢ a foot is a good price.

the reason I ask is Ollie’s had for some reason cheap chinese extension cord in bulk spools, I bought a spool to make short power patch cords for some of my radio stuff, it was so cheap I could not use it even for a 12 inch on, it went into the scrap pile at the office.

 

I wire all of my receptacles hooked to my inverters in my trucks with heavy duty extension cord. It’s flexible which is a huge plus over Romex and the jacket is tougher as well.

 

I just want to draw attention back to those two posts, as power demand and supply need to match.

Obvious 12v is 12v and 110v is 110v, but the amperage required and sourced is quite often left out of the equation, albeit the most important factor, preceeded only by 12v or 110v.

 

The lowe

The lower the voltage the higher the amps
12 volt requires a lot larger wire than 120v

 

If y

If you’re running 20 amps for 250 feet you need much larger than 14 ga
You’re gonna need 10 gauge .
12 gauge might work but I wouldn’t trust it over more than about 75 feet for 20 amps

 

For A/C power? Extension cords are just fine. Use 12/3 though. You might have to hunt for it. Most drop cords you find at Home Depot are 14/3 or worse. If you're wiring an outlet I recommend using hospital grade outlets. They pinch the plug so it's hard to pull it out. GFCI testers won't work on a GFCI outlet wired to an inverter since all inverters use a floating ground. I think it's still worth using a GFCI though. They trip based on a difference between the hot and neutral, not because of current on the ground.