Best Power Extension Cord Disregarding Price

R

Robertofish

Active member
I am looking into getting new power cables but I need really good quality and am willing to invest in some really good quality ones that way there is a much smaller chance of surges, I will be likely running the cords with a 12 outlet surge protector and up to 8 lights(to be safe under 1500 watts combined) any ideas on what cords to get, I don't mind spending a little or a lot extra to get quality after all they need to be able to last a while and go almost anywhere, I will likely be running cords for long distances, at my last shoot I ran 200ft of 25ft and extension cords to get to an outlet and used a surge protector from there, I could be doing this a lot on set potentially so I want something that will be good quality and most importantly safe! Any suggestions, also suggestions on a really good surge protector as well since mine is only a $30 one.
Thanks
 
i dont think surges are going to be anything to worry about. i would think shielding would be what id look for.

i have hundreds of feet of middle to heavy weight lowes depot type cords that i use with any variety of standard hot lights, flos and LEDs and have never had any trouble with anything.
 
Really you're just after the right gauge extension cord, along with heavy duty Edison connections. This is pretty much the industry standard here...

http://www.filmtools.com/25st12sjoeco.html

As far as surge protectors...I wouldn't worry too much about it as well. Maybe if you have a lot of kino ballasts to power in one place they're a handy thing, but otherwise they are rarely used.
 
Specifying wire duty needs to include distance as well as amps.

I don't have my wire amperage tables handy, but 1000 watts at 200 feet will certainly take larger wire than #12awg if you want to preserve your voltage. You won't have surge, you will have brown-out!

Grant
 
Where would I get a wire amperage table? Also another question, I have heard a lot of different things said about how much one standard household edison 3 pin socket can take as far as standard wattages, I have heard anywhere from 1000-1500 with surge around 2000, whats the safest you can get with a standard edison socket, I mean apart from 0, 1500? And what is brown out I havent heard that term before,
Thanks!
 
you're way, WAY over thinking this.

any medium to heavy gauge 100' cable from lowesdepot will do fine.
ive been shooting for well over a decade and i've NEVER had a cable related electrical problem.

in most cases, you'll overload and trip a breaker before you'll have any cable issues
 
You know their about one of the easiest things to make, you can buy the ends, and wire (Just get a good versatile gauge) You can probably make two or three for the price of one premade. And it takes all of about five minutes or less to put it together. And you can do in-between lengths.
 
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