Extension Cords

D

DDirector

Veteran
Was wondering, what extension cords are a good buy?

I bought some locally at a home depot for $40.
medium-duty
50'
14 gauge, 15amp, 125v
1875 max watts
1 male/female end
rated for -58'C
Red/black

Is this something that I should buy more of?
Or should i get something a bit better?

-The most powerful light I currently own is a 1K Openface.
 
14 gauge is fine for 1k fixtures, just make sure you don't double them up on one circuit. 12 gauge cable is the standard cable size used for temporary lighting applications (specifically film and theatre) not only for the fact that you can load 20 amps on one cable (most circuits outside of home circuits are 20 amp) but the cable itself is more durable. A good 12/3 (12 guage/3 wire) cable will last you a very long time and can take a real beating.

All that said, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with 14/3 cables from Depot. I have a few of those red/black ones myself. They pack up a little smaller than 12/3 which is always a good thing. And the molded connectors on them are usually of a pretty decent quality.
 
If you need a bunch you might make your own.

Consider a colored cable instead of all black so the Electricians don't confuse them with any rentals. I've lost a lot that way.
 
Bern Caughey said:
If you need a bunch you might make your own.
Consider a colored cable instead of all black so the Electricians don't confuse them with any rentals. I've lost a lot that way.
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I always spray paint the connectors on mine blue. Actually I paint pretty much every piece of equipment I own that color in some form (yokes on lights, castings on stands, grip hardware in some way that looks ok and doesn't hinder the operation). This way the connectors are the exact same color as the rest of my gear and there's no confusion, colored cable would be harder to find and would only be an approximation of the paint on my other stuff.

And as stated above, 12/3 is standard. Whether it's type S, SJ, SJO, SOOW, SJOOW, etc. doesn't really make much of a difference. Don't get the stuff that has a ridiculously thick outer insulation jacket, it makes the cable heavier (hard on your arm when coiling and hard to tape up to walls and ceilings) and more difficult to store since it takes up more space. I've noticed that SJTW is slightly stiffer and more difficult to coil, that's what you'll typically find in Home Depot. Also, I've noticed one I have that's SJEOOW has a "sticky" quality to it, like the header cables for Kino flo's. This makes them difficult to coil and even more difficult to untangle when someone doesn't coil it properly.
 
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Moseph said:
I always spray paint the connectors on mine blue. Actually I paint pretty much every piece of equipment I own that color
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Back when I did Art Dept work I painted all my tools with a green stripe. Worked great it identify my gear, until I worked on a set where the Key Grip also used green on his tools. The guy nearly decked me when he thought I was stealing his dewalt battery. The lesson is "Always beware of the surly Grip."
 
Bern Caughey said:
If you need a bunch you might make your own.

Consider a colored cable instead of all black so the Electricians don't confuse them with any rentals. I've lost a lot that way.
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I bought clear heat shrink tubing and printed out little tags with our rental companies name and phone number, then heat shrinked that onto all the cable along with some red and blue heat shrink, which we use as colors to identify all our gear. Works pretty well and looks clean as well....just another way to do it.
 
RyanT said:
I bought clear heat shrink tubing and printed out little tags with our rental companies name and phone number, then heat shrinked that onto all the cable along with some red and blue heat shrink, which we use as colors to identify all our gear. Works pretty well and looks clean as well....just another way to do it.
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^ This ^

I use a yellow stripe on my stuff.
 
I also suggest using 12/3 or better to help prevent current drop over longer runs.

And keep stock of the sizes you need, and label the length on each cord.

100'
50'
25'
10'
Power strips

No sense using a 50' stinger when you only need a 10' drop.
 
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You might also do a search on ebay for 12/3 soow, sjoow, Hubbell, or what ever standard you are after per local or stage regulations. Sometimes you can get good quality used stingers for a good price, but you have to keep an eye open. The majority of my extension cords were all purchased used, but in very good/new condition off ebay from contractors or filmmakers selling because of the economy.
 
Is there some sort of standard for color coding the lengths? I have one 25' stinger that has a couple little red pieces of e-tape for color coding from the previous owner but I don't think I've ever been on a job where all the stingers are color coded. I can identify the length just by looking at how thick it is all coiled up, but color coding would be good if you're calling for a certain length from a less seasoned crew person.
 
Moseph said:
Is there some sort of standard for color coding the lengths? I have one 25' stinger that has a couple little red pieces of e-tape for color coding from the previous owner but I don't think I've ever been on a job where all the stingers are color coded. I can identify the length just by looking at how thick it is all coiled up, but color coding would be good if you're calling for a certain length from a less seasoned crew person.
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Not exactly. Every shop has their own color code. Christie Lites use the resistor color code on their cables. They also build things in 8' increments. PRG, 4 wall, ELS, etc, they all use something different. My shop uses something that was based on the old BSL and McMantus code. I developed my own color code that is based off of a standard code used for rigging steel.

On another note, some cities and venues require all portable cable stingers are made from SO cable, yes the heavy jacketed stuff. That usually applies to live event use though so I think the film and video end may be fine.

With that being said, all of my cable is SJOOW. I HATE, with a passion, the SJEOOW jacket. I got rid of the few cables that I had of that because they do not take normal wear and tear very well. In fact I had one melt because it was too close to a recessed light fixture while the SJOOW that was next to it was fine. I also find that the "E" jacket is thinner.
 
Does it make sense to get extension cords that have power indicator light, and also are lockable?
 
Not really. The typical way to prevent them from pulling apart is to just knot the cable at the connections so that they can't be pulled apart by any amount of tension in the cable. I usually don't do this unless it's necessary since it can put an abnormal amount of wear on the cable, but it works with anything.

As far as the power indicator goes, it's just another expense that isn't really necessary if you have the right tools. I've only seen one of those on a shoot one time.
 
That is a nice source. Oddly enough I have had a heck of a time trying to find 14ga IEC cables. They actually have them, and in different lengths too!
 
RyanT said:
I bought clear heat shrink tubing and printed out little tags with our rental companies name and phone number, then heat shrinked that onto all the cable along with some red and blue heat shrink, which we use as colors to identify all our gear. Works pretty well and looks clean as well....just another way to do it.
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Got a link to the tubing you used?

Was it split so you could put it on existing cables?

Definitely interested in doing this.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Got a link to the tubing you used?

Was it split so you could put it on existing cables?

Definitely interested in doing this.
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Just look for heat shrink tubing at grainger. You do have to unwire the Hubble, put that tubing on and then wire it back unfortunately.
 
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