THIS is simply the very BEST presentation on storing electrical cords! Over-Under, got it and so easy. Thank you This Old House, for being my favorite teacher through the years! I should have come here first!
Kenny’s way to wind the cable is great (it has been uses for over 500 years, when sailing boats were the only ships available)Another way to do it, when the material you want to wind is heavy or hard to twist, is to wind it on the ground in an 8 shape. Each opposite loop will act as a torsion, anti-torsion action. When finished take each end of the 8 and bring them together and tie them.
Up until now, I always thought you left them at the job site when you were done and just purchased new cords for every job. Learn something new everyday.
That's what I do with Xmas lights. After taking them down on 1 January, I put them in a bag and "donate" them. I'll buy new ones in November. I'll spend $20 bucks for new lights. Pretty good deal for keeping me sane
Once you get used to the over-under cord wrap, you can actually do it as fast or faster than the over the hand and elbow method that just makes a coiled mess. I use the over-under for garden hoses, pressure hoses, and large vacuum hoses as well.
@whooozen. I'm fairly sure you can really wrap a cord using the over-under method, faster than when using the over-the-hand-and-elbow method. So far I've watched 5 people, in 5 videos, trying to explain how to use the over-under method - but not one of them has, to me, either explained or demonstrated how, to do it. Every one of them said look, _over,_ now, see, _under._ but not one of them has said over or under _what!_ Over and over _what?_ What am I, a mind reader? Plus they all try to show me how to coil the cord by standing facing me, which obviously seems like the wrong way to show me. The only time I see me facing me is when I look at me in a mirror. The correct way to show me would be by facing the same direction I am facing, having the same handedness (the same dominant hand) as I have, and by having a transparent body so that I can see what you are doing. with your arms and hands.
@@wchops7578 Yes I watched it and I was unable to understand how to perform the procedure from watching the person in the video do it and explain what he was doing. I have a nice 50-foot extention cord and I tried copying the procedure shown in the video, and I was unable to do it. I wound up with a tangled mess so I spent some time untangling it and resorted to the hand-to-elbow technique.
When you straight wrap a cable you keep adding twist after twist with each loop. When you over-under wrap the cable you alternate half twists in each direction so they cancel out. You can coil a garden hose by coiling it on the ground in a figure 8 pattern and it also allows the hose to feed out smoothly without twisting.
I find the biggest tree I can find (diameter wise), duck tape one end of the cord to the trunk, stretch the cord out as far as it will go, then run around the tree, keeping the cord taut until it is wrapped all the way around. It's great exercise! Then I gas up the chainsaw, cut down the tree a few inches above the cord, and go home with a perfectly coiled extension cord. This is how the professionals do it. You're welcome!
I cut my extension cables into 10" long pieces and bunch the pieces together with a cable tie for easy storage. Then when I need to use them I simply go out and buy some new ones.
I worked in a union for 17 years. They took $4 an hour from us and put it into the pension. That’s $117,000 in total. If I died today nobody would get that money because I’m not married. And if I were married she’d only get to collect a percentage of it for 5 years. Had I invested that money in a good ROTH IRA I’d be a multi millionaire by now!! I’ll never work union again!
Wholly Shmokes! Been using Gaffer Kenny's method for years and didn't realize it. My "over/under" technique was the same idea, only his method is more efficient. Time to upgrade. Thanks for the vid!
Yes! Finally someone who knows how to properly coil a cable "over and under" such that the jacket on the cable does not twist and turn into a tangled mess. The other means of doing the same thing is by coiling the cable in a "figure 8" fashion which will also insure your jacket does not twist. This is a television and film industries' cable puller's method used to coil cables that are many times more expensive than electrical cords and hoses - some are more than $10 - $20 per linear foot.
THANK YOU!!!! Does my heart good to see This Old House showing this technique. I've used it for years on construction sites but until now I am the only one Ive seen do it. I just did a video myself showing this because I went to get my extension cord and someone fouled it up horribly. Learned it while helping friends out in a band setting up for their concerts and the sound man showed me how to roll their cords. Figured if it worked for them it would work for my extension cords. For all those people below saying that it is ok just to wrap it around their arm. You touch my extension cords and I'll beat you with them.
Whipping or strangling may be more effective than beating... just a thought... trying to save you the embarrassment as they laugh hysterically at you while you try to "beat" them.
I came up with this bucket trick 25 years ago. Shared it with Family Handyman (Tips & Tricks section) hoping to get an honorable mention or a minor prize. Nope. Six months later, another individual was "awarded" for his "Tips & Tricks" suggestion, identical to mine. Some of the sentences in his description were identical to mine. "Hmm..." I thought. "I wonder where this member lives. Maybe he has seen me & my buckets." Checking in the membership listing revealed that he did not exist. Thus ending my membership in the Club. I don't use that method anymore, Now I prefer bigger loose loops or the Over/Under method for short cords (25' or less.)
Do you have specifics on that overheated coiled up cord that caused a house fire? What were they operating with the cord, and what gauge extension cord were they using? I'm guessing it had less to do with the fact that it was coiled up but more likely a severely insufficient current rating or defective to begin with.
the coil of extension cord (in the bucket) induces a very large inductance that will heat up the cable and melt it enough to short and catch fire! I've seen it happen! don't do it!
After seeing the thumbnail for this video I was presently surprised to see you had somebody show you how to properly coil a cable. I do live corporate events for a living and THE only way is over/under. It drives me crazy to see people do the "elbow" technique, and even crazier when I have to deal with the resulting mess afterwards. So thank you for getting it right in this video!
freeweed The elbow method slowly but surely introduces a twisted bias into the cord itself. I'm sure you've seen old extension cords where you can see the cables forming a spiral underneath the insulation. This puts a lot of strain on the copper and on the insulation. Sooner or later, one or the other will break. There's a reason why all lighting and audio professionals use the over/under method exclusively. (It's more critical the larger number of strands the cables have, so audio guys with XLR cables are fanatical about it.)
The cable never lays flat, the coil is twisted like helix makes storage harder... not sure why I even have to explain it, but elbow wrappers are the worst.
I'm a retired gaffer (over 30 years in movies and tv) and while 'over and under' is a great technique I didn't use it for "stingers" (extension cords) only audio and video cables. My crew would simply coil cables making sure they were always wrapped clockwise and not too tight or too loose, the cords needed to fit into milk crates for transport. And 'Over and Under' takes a lot of practice to get it right. Here on my ranch I use the bucket technique and that works great too, as long as I'm not drawing a lot of amperage which builds induction in the coil left in the bucket.
Ron Sill - Good news! There’s no induction in the bucket! The power feed (hot) and return (neutral) wires carry an equal and opposite current. The equal and opposite magnetic fields cancel each other out. It’s the same reason that it doesn’t make a functioning electromagnet.
I don't know if this was posted, but my boss showed me the real right way in the '80s. Start at the plug end. Wrap a loop about 8" diameter. Wrap the cord through once. Then, one after another, grab a couple of feet and loop it in the previous loop, alternating directions each loop.. when you want to use the cord, you just pull it and it unloops. You don't need to unloop it all, just what you need; and no twists, tangles, kinks etc. It's good.
Something I learned in Scouts, although they were talking about rope it works just as well for extension cords, was to put your foot up on something and wrap the line over your knee and under your foot. This gives you a coil the perfect size to put your head through and carry over your shoulder.
Always ask a stage lighting and sound tech how to coil any cable. It works with data and audio cable as well. Only with those cables the conductor integrity must be very carefully maintained as dielectric and twisted pairs are affected and signal loss can happen.
Audio cables: the over under, 100% Stingers: all overhand, but follow the camber of the wire and keep loops the same size. The camber is the natural bend from the original spool.
Yes sound guys know how its done! I work in the movies and we coil cords pretty much the same way these guys do it except with bigger coils! Plus I learned if you just stand and throw loops around a 30 gal. trash can, a 50 or 100’ cord will end up exactly looped to where you plug the ends together with zero slack! Lift the trash can off the coils and it looks like the factory coiled it! They come out perfect 100% of the time and never kink and they lay flat when uncoiled!
Huh... sounds just like the national (I bought $1.99 50 count set of Christmas lights string at Walmart-mart) council. After the season.... fk-it... toss and buy new next year.
You bet! Years ago, someone taught me how to do this with all the cords we used in our band (extension cords, speaker cords, etc.). They store well like this and when unpacking, they do not come out like they had mad, passionate love with the other cords in the bag!
I use one of the orange gadgets you said coil the cord to tight but instead of starting with the end I put the two ends side by side or parallel to each other. This gives you the middle or halfway point in the extension cord. My orange wheels have a bracket in the center to put the plug in but I use it to hold the center of the cord while I wind it up. When I finish I have both ends on my the outside of the coil. When I use the cord I set it halfway between what I need and only pull out what I need by pulling both plugs half way or all of it if necessary. When I’m finished I set the two sections parallel and rewind them.It works great for me since most of my projects don’t require the full 50 or 100 feet to do the job
A neighbor who saw me coiling up my cord, showed me this method. He also worked in the movie production industry. Said if anyone used my method, they would not last a day in the industry. The great thing about this method that was not mentioned by anyone in the video, is that you can throw a coiled up cord and it will shoot out without a single tangle and lay flat on the ground. Couldn’t believe how well it worked, but only method I would dream of using now.
M Detlef Good to know, but will likely forget in time. Where was spell check when I needed it. Don’t know if you tried this method of coiling a cord, but it does work well, especially when uncoiling. Take care.
THe over under works perfectly. Ive used it all my life when I learned it doing stage lighting. It also works great for garden hoses. One thing though. he starts with the cord facing the wrong way. in you left have the end of the cord should be facing your body. Then do the over and under. The reason it works so well is that each over puts a quarter twist one way then the under puts a twist the other way. then when you pull it out it cancels out and lays perfectly flat. This is extremely necessary for large gauge cable.
I coil my cables and ropes that way, except that I coil them in one direction. I never thought of the over and under way. What makes it easy is to start in the middle of the cable, then I get to the ends of the cable before any twists become a problem. I straighten out twists (when someone else used my cable) by coiling a small coil and feeding the cable through my holding hand to the right coil size. The bend in the hanging cable when it gets to my holding hand helps to straighten out the twists. I have an extension cord that is 29 years old and still perfectly straight.
I like the over-under technique, but Kenny ties a granny knot at the end of his demonstration. I've used the over-under method, having been taught it by an Audio cable Roadie guy. He would just take the cable and toss it out straight and it would fly out and lay virtually flat. The only problem for me came when someone who wasn't privy to the system tried to "untangle" my cord, which is an awesome way to introduce instant chaos. You definitely need to keep the two ends secure so they won't slip under the other loops in the coil, and definitely want to just take one end and either toss it straight out, let it pay itself out, or just take the one end and start walking with it, but don't, please don't, try to untangle anything. When done correctly the over-under loops counter-act each other and you don't have to fight any "e" shaped binds in your cord. Well-done, Kenny, except for the Granny knot at the end.
0:55 Another no-no, you don't want to use tape because that could leave glue behind. This old house has saved me from the most minor and temporary of imaginable annoyances ty ty
I attach one end of the extension cord to the rear wheel of my work van. Then when I take off from the job site the van automatically wraps the cord around my rear axle.
When I store rope, cords, water hoses, air hoses, etc, I wind them in a figure 8 on the ground. That way when I pull it out, it doesn't form loops or kinks. It's the way the Navy stores rope on the pier. And because the cord, hose et al is unkinked it is easy to restore it to its figure 8 configuration.
When they ask you for a rationale, they don't want you to repeat what the end result will look like. They are interested in the underlying principle that makes it work.
Many years ago, one of the techs at work did the bucket routine but left quite a bit of coiled cable in the bucket. Unfortunately, it acted like a big inductor and got hot enough to melt the insulation (think AC through a coil). I've never left a cord coiled when using ever since.
The orange cord is what mine looks like except I wind it myself and I use Velcro instead of tape. I am saving this to rewatch every time I need to wind up cords!
all my cables are under over wrapped. I did stage work for years and we had cables older than me still in service. I let no one touch my cables unless they know how to wrap them. also like what someone else mentioned, I sometimes lay them in the drive way in a hot day. it relaxes the cable and helps them wrap nice.
I always notice it's harder to look after them in winter. So I'll lay them out flat and use a damp hot cloth on them. Gets the grime off at the same time!
Gumba Sal - Yep! Also learned this skill when I first started to learn stagecraft as a teen. As my friend Stan, who taught me said, "Be nice to your snake (cables), and it'll be nice to you." This technique also works on water hoses, though it's a little more cumbersome. The main thing is to sense which way the cable 'wants' to curl.
I use the method shown at mark 1:34 - except I start with the plug pointed towards me. (Just use the formula 'outside - inside') And don't let the term 'Twist' throw you. I can use this method with a flat cord and have no hesitation accepting a bet of any amount you chose to name that you can not find a single twist in the cable when I'm done. The 'sound guys' who taught me this loved this method - it eliminated coil loops (aka coil snakes), but the lighting rental guys I worked with hated it for some reason.
@This Old House, Thanks. I never had anyone show me the over under method in 35 years of residential construction. A good quality cord is worth the money too. The low end types are much harder to coil or uncoil. I did coil long and heavy cords like a sailor by coiling it on the ground. Wondering if I could have done that with the over and under method?
+Foomba I also use a boating method of storing me leads, I hold the power end of the lead in the left hand and the remainder in the other hand, stretch both hands apart in a rhythmical manner bring the bight in your hand together with the other, placing the lead into the left hand now, now do the same again, but when the hands come together again the lead in held by the left hand again BUT the lead is placed in the left hand from the other side so that the lead is coming in one way and then from the other way each time, ,this allows the the wind up action to unwind as you go, lastly take a loop around the top of the bight of coils the same as you would normally. Much easier to do than to tell.
Bad cords can be a hazard on any working site. It's easy to trip over those cheap badly coiled cords. A good quality cord coiled correctly will lay nicely flat on the ground when uncoiled properly. I takes a little work to look after your cords but it's really worth it in the long run. For the very long cords it might be a good idea to get a proper reel.
+dan braun Few things frustrate me quicker than a tangled extension cord. I've used the over over technique for years, and have always had good success. It dawned on me one day that my "wingspan" when coiling must be about 5 feet, because the loops always end up even with the cord ends close enough to plug together to prevent damage, without stressing the connectors.
Under over is standard for leads for any sound desk jockey. For thicker leads like the multi core I used a figure 8 roll up which is basically under and over, but each direction is to one side so you end up with a figure 8.
My dad was right handed and Im left handed. The first time he asked me to coil up his drill cord, I was excited and eager to help. Quickly we learned the problem. I did what I had seen him do but .... well surely you see the problem.
I understand that this works good for taking your extension cord to a job site. I find what works well for me is two bike hooks in the wall studs and wrapping the cord around the hooks and taking out as much as I need then wrapping it back up my bike hooks are set up horizontally I'm sure vertically also works hope this helps someone.
Never seen the bucket method! Genius! :) I will have to try that. Thanks for sharing. I always do the over under method. My Dad does the old Carpenters wrap that I can never figure out LOL!
I don't bother cutting any holes, just feed the end out the top. Unless you're planning to put some kind of reel mechanism inside, it doesn't really do anything. When feeding the cable in, I don't even bother to take any extra effort to make any nice circular loops, because it'll come back out basically in reverse of how you put it in, so there won't be any knots or tangles even if you just do it all willy nilly and randomly. I just stuff it in wherever the open area is, since the bucket has plenty of room to spare even without having o be meticulous about it.
That bucket trick is a fire hazard. You never use a cord that is coiled up. electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/192923/why-is-it-dangerous-use-a-coiled-extension-cord
I've got the spool type, when I 1st put it on I found the middle of the cord, that's the start point to roll it onto the reel. You end up with both ends together. You pull off as much as you need by pulling both cords out. Then rewind them when you're done.
It also makes it easy to hold one end and toss the rest across the stage without getting a tangled mess. I’ll tell you though, for locations, I don’t wrap the stinger over and under. I just follow the camber and keep the loops the same size. The cable lays flat enough, and it’s usually going to get dressed behind something anyway.
I can't believe that there are 634 comments on a 2:30 minute video about how to wrap an extension cord. Well, here goes 635. I always hold the cord in my hand & wrap it up around my upper arm, then grab the loop in my hand & repeat. I don't know if that's an actual technique or if I picked it up from the Bugs Bunny show, but it works fine for me.
...... Yes, in our band many years ago our drummer was ex navy man and he drummed into the rest of us to always wind up the cables loosely ,never tightly and same for ropes n winch cables if possible .
Hadn't heard of the over/under way. That looks good. My way is to take the cord by both ends, essentially "folding" the cord in half, then winding it in a large loop.
Tony C - Can't EVEN believe I've never seen this, or anyone do it before. I got a thing about cords and rarely leave them in a pile,but I've seen lots of guys cram a bucket with cord(s),so this is a great idea.
If you us e the 'over under' method, you can grab the coil and throw it out in a straight line without tangling. I've done this for stage wiring stages for rock shows. It save a lot of time.
I just lay the cable out on the ground and drag it along a while to straighten it and relieve any kinks, then keep walking as I wind it over my arm; this allows the end to rotate freely and keep it from re-twisting or re-kinking. Same with rope or hose.
The only thing I would mention about reels or keeping a lot of cord together like in the bucket method, is that if you don't use all of it on some jobs and majority of the cord is still on the reel or bucket, it gets hot very quickly. When electricity travels through cords, the flow causes it to warm up and when it's coiled up and doesn't have enough space to dispense the heat in surrounding air, it gets hot very quickly. I ended up with melted extension cord one time work in a heat and using extension cord for 2 hours straight. Lesson learned, rather have few 15 ft cords instead of single 100ft and keeping it coiled up.
the coil of extension cord (in the bucket) induces a very large inductance that will heat up the cable and melt it enough to short and catch fire! I've seen it happen!
The essential craftsman on here has a real good method . It's easier to watch it than explain it but you plug the ends together and stare at the middle of the cord and start looping it amongst itself tieing loops in it. Then when you need it you just grab the end and it will unwind as you pull it.
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far in the comments to find someone who recommended the chain-stitching (or daisy chain ??) method. I love EC and appreciated that video. My grandfather had shown me that method years ago but I couldn’t remember exactly how it was done until I came across the EC video. Kudos to you sir!
@@jarod725 learned to use it from my dad but had gotten rusty from not needing it and ran across his channel. He does have a lot of information that isn't as well known, even some of his construction tips.
I was taught to make coils appear 3 feet and hang on a 12 inch minimum diameter round. My cords last a long time I only need to replace the ends every couple years. On the truck i will hang them with an engine belt. Im going to try the over under method for a couple days
I’m a tradesman; I use the over/under method. Or the normal looping, but left handed one day, right handed the next, so I get no twisting. Also buy premium rubber cords not plastic. Easy peasy.
For those of you that use an extension cord for home use all the time and don't need to be portable. I use a garden hose real. It works great for my 100' cord.
THIS is simply the very BEST presentation on storing electrical cords! Over-Under, got it and so easy. Thank you This Old House, for being my favorite teacher through the years! I should have come here first!
I've heard this described many times, but this is the first time I've seen it demonstrated and NOW it makes sense.
Kenny’s way to wind the cable is great (it has been uses for over 500 years, when sailing boats were the only ships available)Another way to do it, when the material you want to wind is heavy or hard to twist, is to wind it on the ground in an 8 shape. Each opposite loop will act as a torsion, anti-torsion action. When finished take each end of the 8 and bring them together and tie them.
Up until now, I always thought you left them at the job site when you were done and just purchased new cords for every job. Learn something new everyday.
Jesus
@@amauryadams402
He was a carpenter, not an electrician. I don't think he knew how to coil cords. 😏
Isabelle Victoria BC 🇨🇦
@@abelis644 🤣
me too i thought they were single use only. ive been switching them out for a new one in between each saw cut.
That's what I do with Xmas lights. After taking them down on 1 January, I put them in a bag and "donate" them.
I'll buy new ones in November. I'll spend $20 bucks for new lights. Pretty good deal for keeping me sane
Probably the best over-under method I've seen.
This show has great advice. The over and under method really works. Thank you.
Love the 5 gallon bucket trick. I've used one to store coiled cords, but never though to drill out the hole like shown. Awesome!
Once you get used to the over-under cord wrap, you can actually do it as fast or faster than the over the hand and elbow method that just makes a coiled mess. I use the over-under for garden hoses, pressure hoses, and large vacuum hoses as well.
@whooozen. I'm fairly sure you can really wrap a cord using the over-under method, faster than when using the over-the-hand-and-elbow method. So far I've watched 5 people, in 5 videos, trying to explain how to use the over-under method - but not one of them has, to me, either explained or demonstrated how, to do it. Every one of them said look, _over,_ now, see, _under._ but not one of them has said over or under _what!_ Over and over _what?_ What am I, a mind reader? Plus they all try to show me how to coil the cord by standing facing me, which obviously seems like the wrong way to show me. The only time I see me facing me is when I look at me in a mirror. The correct way to show me would be by facing the same direction I am facing, having the same handedness (the same dominant hand) as I have, and by having a transparent body so that I can see what you are doing. with your arms and hands.
@@soilmanteddid you not watch this very video??
@@wchops7578 Yes I watched it and I was unable to understand how to perform the procedure from watching the person in the video do it and explain what he was doing. I have a nice 50-foot extention cord and I tried copying the procedure shown in the video, and I was unable to do it. I wound up with a tangled mess so I spent some time untangling it and resorted to the hand-to-elbow technique.
When you straight wrap a cable you keep adding twist after twist with each loop. When you over-under wrap the cable you alternate half twists in each direction so they cancel out.
You can coil a garden hose by coiling it on the ground in a figure 8 pattern and it also allows the hose to feed out smoothly without twisting.
I find the biggest tree I can find (diameter wise), duck tape one end of the cord to the trunk, stretch the cord out as far as it will go, then run around the tree, keeping the cord taut until it is wrapped all the way around. It's great exercise!
Then I gas up the chainsaw, cut down the tree a few inches above the cord, and go home with a perfectly coiled extension cord.
This is how the professionals do it.
You're welcome!
I tried that once. Face planted into the trunk when I ran out of cord. Never tried it again.
I used an electric chainsaw. Cut the trunk, the cord and killed power to chainsaw in one single stroke.
Funny, we need more creative goof balls to write three stooge antics
@@whiteknightcat.. By.
Lmao
I cut my extension cables into 10" long pieces and bunch the pieces together with a cable tie for easy storage. Then when I need to use them I simply go out and buy some new ones.
Lmao
😂
Ah, genius! I never would have thought of that!
Brilliant!!!
Just make sure if its raining you place drain holes in your cable to keep you safe
Good to have an IATSE brother show us how it's done! Thanks, Kenny (and Tommy)!
IATSE local 480 here too brother! Long live union workers!
I worked in a union for 17 years. They took $4 an hour from us and put it into the pension. That’s $117,000 in total. If I died today nobody would get that money because I’m not married. And if I were married she’d only get to collect a percentage of it for 5 years. Had I invested that money in a good ROTH IRA I’d be a multi millionaire by now!! I’ll never work union again!
Wholly Shmokes! Been using Gaffer Kenny's method for years and didn't realize it. My "over/under" technique was the same idea, only his method is more efficient. Time to upgrade. Thanks for the vid!
I learned how to do this in Australia...there, it's known as the "under/over" technique.
Yes! Finally someone who knows how to properly coil a cable "over and under" such that the jacket on the cable does not twist and turn into a tangled mess. The other means of doing the same thing is by coiling the cable in a "figure 8" fashion which will also insure your jacket does not twist. This is a television and film industries' cable puller's method used to coil cables that are many times more expensive than electrical cords and hoses - some are more than $10 - $20 per linear foot.
My dad taught me to crotchet loop them, no damage and easy to store and uncoil. I like the over and under method.
THANK YOU!!!! Does my heart good to see This Old House showing this technique. I've used it for years on construction sites but until now I am the only one Ive seen do it. I just did a video myself showing this because I went to get my extension cord and someone fouled it up horribly. Learned it while helping friends out in a band setting up for their concerts and the sound man showed me how to roll their cords. Figured if it worked for them it would work for my extension cords. For all those people below saying that it is ok just to wrap it around their arm. You touch my extension cords and I'll beat you with them.
Whipping or strangling may be more effective than beating... just a thought... trying to save you the embarrassment as they laugh hysterically at you while you try to "beat" them.
I came up with this bucket trick 25 years ago. Shared it with Family Handyman (Tips & Tricks section) hoping to get an honorable mention or a minor prize. Nope. Six months later, another individual was "awarded" for his "Tips & Tricks" suggestion, identical to mine. Some of the sentences in his description were identical to mine. "Hmm..." I thought. "I wonder where this member lives. Maybe he has seen me & my buckets." Checking in the membership listing revealed that he did not exist.
Thus ending my membership in the Club.
I don't use that method anymore, Now I prefer bigger loose loops or the Over/Under method for short cords (25' or less.)
Do you have specifics on that overheated coiled up cord that caused a house fire? What were they operating with the cord, and what gauge extension cord were they using?
I'm guessing it had less to do with the fact that it was coiled up but more likely a severely insufficient current rating or defective to begin with.
the coil of extension cord (in the bucket) induces a very large inductance that will heat up the cable and melt it enough to short and catch fire! I've seen it happen! don't do it!
It's an induction coil your making in the bucket put a cold beer in it and will be hot in no time
After seeing the thumbnail for this video I was presently surprised to see you had somebody show you how to properly coil a cable. I do live corporate events for a living and THE only way is over/under. It drives me crazy to see people do the "elbow" technique, and even crazier when I have to deal with the resulting mess afterwards. So thank you for getting it right in this video!
This is BS. What resulting mess? It does the exact same thing ,only twice as fast. Tell me how there is any difference. A loop is a loop.
freeweed The elbow method slowly but surely introduces a twisted bias into the cord itself. I'm sure you've seen old extension cords where you can see the cables forming a spiral underneath the insulation. This puts a lot of strain on the copper and on the insulation. Sooner or later, one or the other will break. There's a reason why all lighting and audio professionals use the over/under method exclusively. (It's more critical the larger number of strands the cables have, so audio guys with XLR cables are fanatical about it.)
DesolationRobot
BS. I have done this for over 15 years. Like I said, a loop is a loop.
The cable never lays flat, the coil is twisted like helix makes storage harder... not sure why I even have to explain it, but elbow wrappers are the worst.
manorin I've been doing it around the elbow for years, maybe i'm just a super human because it works every time and I've never damaged a cord.
I'm a retired gaffer (over 30 years in movies and tv) and while 'over and under' is a great technique I didn't use it for "stingers" (extension cords) only audio and video cables. My crew would simply coil cables making sure they were always wrapped clockwise and not too tight or too loose, the cords needed to fit into milk crates for transport. And 'Over and Under' takes a lot of practice to get it right. Here on my ranch I use the bucket technique and that works great too, as long as I'm not drawing a lot of amperage which builds induction in the coil left in the bucket.
Ron Sill
I learned it from a gaffer. Smart group of people.
Came here for this. Over over for stingers, over under for solid cables like BNC.
Ron Sill 9
Ron Sill - Good news! There’s no induction in the bucket! The power feed (hot) and return (neutral) wires carry an equal and opposite current. The equal and opposite magnetic fields cancel each other out. It’s the same reason that it doesn’t make a functioning electromagnet.
I can't believe i just read theses comments AND laughed! Very funny boys.
I don't know if this was posted, but my boss showed me the real right way in the '80s.
Start at the plug end. Wrap a loop about 8" diameter. Wrap the cord through once. Then, one after another, grab a couple of feet and loop it in the previous loop, alternating directions each loop.. when you want to use the cord, you just pull it and it unloops. You don't need to unloop it all, just what you need; and no twists, tangles, kinks etc. It's good.
Wow! After 20 years I finally know how to coil an extension cord. Thanks guys. I couldn't have dun it without U.
Something I learned in Scouts, although they were talking about rope it works just as well for extension cords, was to put your foot up on something and wrap the line over your knee and under your foot. This gives you a coil the perfect size to put your head through and carry over your shoulder.
Always ask a stage lighting and sound tech how to coil any cable. It works with data and audio cable as well. Only with those cables the conductor integrity must be very carefully maintained as dielectric and twisted pairs are affected and signal loss can happen.
Audio cables: the over under, 100%
Stingers: all overhand, but follow the camber of the wire and keep loops the same size. The camber is the natural bend from the original spool.
Yes sound guys know how its done! I work in the movies and we coil cords pretty much the same way these guys do it except with bigger coils! Plus I learned if you just stand and throw loops around a 30 gal. trash can, a 50 or 100’ cord will end up exactly looped to where you plug the ends together with zero slack! Lift the trash can off the coils and it looks like the factory coiled it! They come out perfect 100% of the time and never kink and they lay flat when uncoiled!
Goodness I love this show!!! Grew up watching it w my dad
The over and under method really works and it show you how to properly coil a cable.
The National Electric Cord Council of America recommends disposing of electric cords after one use and purchasing a replacement cord.
As a good citizen I'll start right away.
Well played sir
Yeah with all the extra money to spend with the "This old house" crew..I'm surprised they even bother winding it and just throw it out after use.
Huh... sounds just like the national (I bought $1.99 50 count set of Christmas lights string at Walmart-mart) council. After the season.... fk-it... toss and buy new next year.
Very Excellent! Actually Brilliant!
You bet! Years ago, someone taught me how to do this with all the cords we used in our band (extension cords, speaker cords, etc.). They store well like this and when unpacking, they do not come out like they had mad, passionate love with the other cords in the bag!
I use one of the orange gadgets you said coil the cord to tight but instead of starting with the end I put the two ends side by side or parallel to each other. This gives you the middle or halfway point in the extension cord. My orange wheels have a bracket in the center to put the plug in but I use it to hold the center of the cord while I wind it up. When I finish I have both ends on my the outside of the coil. When I use the cord I set it halfway between what I need and only pull out what I need by pulling both plugs half way or all of it if necessary. When I’m finished I set the two sections parallel and rewind them.It works great for me since most of my projects don’t require the full 50 or 100 feet to do the job
A neighbor who saw me coiling up my cord, showed me this method. He also worked in the movie production industry. Said if anyone used my method, they would not last a day in the industry. The great thing about this method that was not mentioned by anyone in the video, is that you can throw a coiled up cord and it will shoot out without a single tangle and lay flat on the ground. Couldn’t believe how well it worked, but only method I would dream of using now.
M Detlef Good to know, but will likely forget in time. Where was spell check when I needed it. Don’t know if you tried this method of coiling a cord, but it does work well, especially when uncoiling. Take care.
THe over under works perfectly. Ive used it all my life when I learned it doing stage lighting. It also works great for garden hoses. One thing though. he starts with the cord facing the wrong way. in you left have the end of the cord should be facing your body. Then do the over and under.
The reason it works so well is that each over puts a quarter twist one way then the under puts a twist the other way. then when you pull it out it cancels out and lays perfectly flat. This is extremely necessary for large gauge cable.
I coil my cables and ropes that way, except that I coil them in one direction. I never thought of the over and under way. What makes it easy is to start in the middle of the cable, then I get to the ends of the cable before any twists become a problem. I straighten out twists (when someone else used my cable) by coiling a small coil and feeding the cable through my holding hand to the right coil size. The bend in the hanging cable when it gets to my holding hand helps to straighten out the twists.
I have an extension cord that is 29 years old and still perfectly straight.
Both of these tips are great. I’ve never seen the over-under method. I’m going to try it later today after I vacuum my wife’s car 😊
This is exactly how I coil all my extra shoelaces!!! Some of them are over 50 years old and are as good as new.
Lol why have you kept shoelaces for 50 years? I hope you're joking what a weird comment
Who doesn't?
Lol
I like the over-under technique, but Kenny ties a granny knot at the end of his demonstration. I've used the over-under method, having been taught it by an Audio cable Roadie guy. He would just take the cable and toss it out straight and it would fly out and lay virtually flat. The only problem for me came when someone who wasn't privy to the system tried to "untangle" my cord, which is an awesome way to introduce instant chaos. You definitely need to keep the two ends secure so they won't slip under the other loops in the coil, and definitely want to just take one end and either toss it straight out, let it pay itself out, or just take the one end and start walking with it, but don't, please don't, try to untangle anything. When done correctly the over-under loops counter-act each other and you don't have to fight any "e" shaped binds in your cord. Well-done, Kenny, except for the Granny knot at the end.
anyone of my staff that granny knots the cable at the end, gets a microphone stand across the ear!!! *(ok, not really....)
+David Sanders
What granny knot? He tied a bow like you tie on your shoes.
Nice - I learned to do that years ago, when I was doing a bit of live sound reinforcement for bands.
What a tangled web we weave when we wrap it around our arm and sleeve.
The trick is to wear a glove and a tight grip to let out the twist as it slides through your hand. Or no glove and a really dirty hand afterward.
Nice 😂
You are poet and don’t know it.
0:55 Another no-no, you don't want to use tape because that could leave glue behind.
This old house has saved me from the most minor and temporary of imaginable annoyances ty ty
Tommy is my hero! ❤️👍🏻
I attach one end of the extension cord to the rear wheel of my work van. Then when I take off from the job site the van automatically wraps the cord around my rear axle.
Dave G has
😂😂😂
Yes i know this works, i saw it on youtube
That has to be the quickest method. I dare someone to come up with something quicker than that.
lol
I run mine around a snowman like a maypole and wait for spring.
Fantastic simple ideas.
When I store rope, cords, water hoses, air hoses, etc, I wind them in a figure 8 on the ground. That way when I pull it out, it doesn't form loops or kinks. It's the way the Navy stores rope on the pier. And because the cord, hose et al is unkinked it is easy to restore it to its figure 8 configuration.
When they ask you for a rationale, they don't want you to repeat what the end result will look like. They are interested in the underlying principle that makes it work.
Many years ago, one of the techs at work did the bucket routine but left quite a bit of coiled cable in the bucket.
Unfortunately, it acted like a big inductor and got hot enough to melt the insulation (think AC through a coil). I've never left a cord coiled when using ever since.
The orange cord is what mine looks like except I wind it myself and I use Velcro instead of tape. I am saving this to rewatch every time I need to wind up cords!
The bucket works well, I've used cloth or canvas bags for years.
Watching this show makes me proud to be an American
all my cables are under over wrapped. I did stage work for years and we had cables older than me still in service. I let no one touch my cables unless they know how to wrap them.
also like what someone else mentioned, I sometimes lay them in the drive way in a hot day. it relaxes the cable and helps them wrap nice.
I always notice it's harder to look after them in winter. So I'll lay them out flat and use a damp hot cloth on them. Gets the grime off at the same time!
Gumba Sal - Yep! Also learned this skill when I first started to learn stagecraft as a teen. As my friend Stan, who taught me said, "Be nice to your snake (cables), and it'll be nice to you." This technique also works on water hoses, though it's a little more cumbersome. The main thing is to sense which way the cable 'wants' to curl.
No one should touch another mans cables.
Gumba Sal I
I just borrow a neighbors neatly wrapped cord with no intention of returning. Throw away when done. Works great
I use the method shown at mark 1:34 - except I start with the plug pointed towards me. (Just use the formula 'outside - inside') And don't let the term 'Twist' throw you. I can use this method with a flat cord and have no hesitation accepting a bet of any amount you chose to name that you can not find a single twist in the cable when I'm done. The 'sound guys' who taught me this loved this method - it eliminated coil loops (aka coil snakes), but the lighting rental guys I worked with hated it for some reason.
@This Old House, Thanks. I never had anyone show me the over under method in 35 years of residential construction. A good quality cord is worth the money too. The low end types are much harder to coil or uncoil. I did coil long and heavy cords like a sailor by coiling it on the ground. Wondering if I could have done that with the over and under method?
+Foomba I also use a boating method of storing me leads, I hold the power end of the lead in the left hand and the remainder in the other hand, stretch both hands apart in a rhythmical manner bring the bight in your hand together with the other, placing the lead into the left hand now, now do the same again, but when the hands come together again the lead in held by the left hand again BUT the lead is placed in the left hand from the other side so that the lead is coming in one way and then from the other way each time, ,this allows the the wind up action to unwind as you go, lastly take a loop around the top of the bight of coils the same as you would normally. Much easier to do than to tell.
Bad cords can be a hazard on any working site. It's easy to trip over those cheap badly coiled cords. A good quality cord coiled correctly will lay nicely flat on the ground when uncoiled properly.
I takes a little work to look after your cords but it's really worth it in the long run.
For the very long cords it might be a good idea to get a proper reel.
I keep mine on the shed floor in a ball and just shove it with my foot out of the way.... lol
I've been coiling cables for 20 years over under, over over, and figure eight!
These are the only way to coil cable properly!
+dan braun Few things frustrate me quicker than a tangled extension cord. I've used the over over technique for years, and have always had good success. It dawned on me one day that my "wingspan" when coiling must be about 5 feet, because the loops always end up even with the cord ends close enough to plug together to prevent damage, without stressing the connectors.
+Eric Wesson i figure eight camera cables, and big thick snakes! But alway under over power, audio, video, etc cables!
i personally like to wad them up into what I call the "lump" method, I get 1 big lump of extensions cord and I stuff it into a back pack
LOL, Crazy!!
dan braun Mr. Expert sir, thank you for your due diligence and service.
The black cord looks like a higher quality than the red one. There's a big difference with your method on cheap cords.
The black one was SJ or SO cord, so yeah much better than regular cords.
Same rule applies regardless of cord. I'd say it's even more important on cheap cords
Yeah he should of used a cheap red cord...slickster & this ol house -redhead didnt observe that now did he ? Lol
I second this. I'm happy to see this technique confirmed :)
Learned this from dealing with high voltage lighting - valuable skill!
Shockingly valuable!
Under over is standard for leads for any sound desk jockey. For thicker leads like the multi core I used a figure 8 roll up which is basically under and over, but each direction is to one side so you end up with a figure 8.
AusMecham Well well who would had tought of that! Thanks for sharing this important info with the world.
Oh anytime, and its good to see a fellow extension cord enthusiast watching this video.
AusMecham I couldn't live without my extensive collection of extensions.
Carrying it in the bucket is a great idea.
Thank you! I learned something today.😺
My dad was right handed and Im left handed. The first time he asked me to coil up his drill cord, I was excited and eager to help.
Quickly we learned the problem. I did what I had seen him do but .... well surely you see the problem.
Gold, especially starting at 1:15.
I want to see them do this when it's freezing outside lol
*****
In freezing weather? I didn't know a chord has that much electricity running through it that it causes heat O.o
I like the bucket trick myself...very smart idea
This was good advice & tips over/under. Thx
I understand that this works good for taking your extension cord to a job site. I find what works well for me is two bike hooks in the wall studs and wrapping the cord around the hooks and taking out as much as I need then wrapping it back up my bike hooks are set up horizontally I'm sure vertically also works hope this helps someone.
Never seen the bucket method! Genius! :) I will have to try that. Thanks for sharing. I always do the over under method. My Dad does the old Carpenters wrap that I can never figure out LOL!
Jonny DIY Well well who would had tought of that! Thanks for sharing this important info with the world.
Don't cut a hole cut a sq flap
I don't bother cutting any holes, just feed the end out the top. Unless you're planning to put some kind of reel mechanism inside, it doesn't really do anything. When feeding the cable in, I don't even bother to take any extra effort to make any nice circular loops, because it'll come back out basically in reverse of how you put it in, so there won't be any knots or tangles even if you just do it all willy nilly and randomly. I just stuff it in wherever the open area is, since the bucket has plenty of room to spare even without having o be meticulous about it.
That bucket trick is a fire hazard.
You never use a cord that is coiled up.
electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/192923/why-is-it-dangerous-use-a-coiled-extension-cord
Bucket-O-Wire is my favorite. Too bad no one marketed it. Cheers!
I never knew about the over under technique. Gonna try that next time
Same with garden hoses...
The over under method does work nicely.
Fantastic and thanks.
I have heard that method called a steel cable wrap, and it also works with a garden hose...
Roadie wrap works wonderfully.
I've got the spool type, when I 1st put it on I found the middle of the cord, that's the start point to roll it onto the reel. You end up with both ends together. You pull off as much as you need by pulling both cords out. Then rewind them when you're done.
For us non pros this was useful.
Also known as the “Roadie Wrap”, done by band roadies after every show.
It’s also how I learned to coil cables loading shows in and out in Vegas. But to be fair, a lot of them were old roadies that wanted off the road
It also makes it easy to hold one end and toss the rest across the stage without getting a tangled mess.
I’ll tell you though, for locations, I don’t wrap the stinger over and under. I just follow the camber and keep the loops the same size. The cable lays flat enough, and it’s usually going to get dressed behind something anyway.
and say as you do this-OVER worked; UNDER paid! over....under....
I call this the most useful thing I ever learned in high school. Certainly the most used.
Extension cords of course are really nice unless you have to much stuff plugged in and then trip your breaker.
I can't believe that there are 634 comments on a 2:30 minute video about how to wrap an extension cord. Well, here goes 635. I always hold the cord in my hand & wrap it up around my upper arm, then grab the loop in my hand & repeat. I don't know if that's an actual technique or if I picked it up from the Bugs Bunny show, but it works fine for me.
......
Yes, in our band many years ago our drummer was ex navy man and he drummed into the rest of us to always wind up the cables loosely ,never tightly and same for ropes n winch cables if possible .
Hadn't heard of the over/under way. That looks good. My way is to take the cord by both ends, essentially "folding" the cord in half, then winding it in a large loop.
All wire, like a cowboys rope have a natural twist as it's made. As you make the loops feel the twist as you make each coil.
Playing this video at half speed is hilarious.
Very convenient 😎
How many of you bucket folks were in the Fire Service, that's where I learned the bucket trick. I use it for my 50' cold weather extension cord!
Tony C - Can't EVEN believe I've never seen this, or anyone do it before. I got a thing about cords and rarely leave them in a pile,but I've seen lots of guys cram a bucket with cord(s),so this is a great idea.
If you us e the 'over under' method, you can grab the coil and throw it out in a straight line without tangling. I've done this for stage wiring stages for rock shows. It save a lot of time.
When I light stuff in the field I really like the velcro wire ties.
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Good ideas! I always wondered what a Gaff did! LOL!
I just lay the cable out on the ground and drag it along a while to straighten it and relieve any kinks, then keep walking as I wind it over my arm; this allows the end to rotate freely and keep it from re-twisting or re-kinking. Same with rope or hose.
Real expert showed up to help the experts
The only thing I would mention about reels or keeping a lot of cord together like in the bucket method, is that if you don't use all of it on some jobs and majority of the cord is still on the reel or bucket, it gets hot very quickly. When electricity travels through cords, the flow causes it to warm up and when it's coiled up and doesn't have enough space to dispense the heat in surrounding air, it gets hot very quickly. I ended up with melted extension cord one time work in a heat and using extension cord for 2 hours straight. Lesson learned, rather have few 15 ft cords instead of single 100ft and keeping it coiled up.
the coil of extension cord (in the bucket) induces a very large inductance that will heat up the cable and melt it enough to short and catch fire! I've seen it happen!
I use an old water hose reel and I unroll it fully to use. I'm using a heavy gauge because it's very long for yard work.
The essential craftsman on here has a real good method . It's easier to watch it than explain it but you plug the ends together and stare at the middle of the cord and start looping it amongst itself tieing loops in it. Then when you need it you just grab the end and it will unwind as you pull it.
I can’t believe I had to scroll this far in the comments to find someone who recommended the chain-stitching (or daisy chain ??) method. I love EC and appreciated that video. My grandfather had shown me that method years ago but I couldn’t remember exactly how it was done until I came across the EC video. Kudos to you sir!
@@jarod725 learned to use it from my dad but had gotten rusty from not needing it and ran across his channel. He does have a lot of information that isn't as well known, even some of his construction tips.
I was taught to make coils appear 3 feet and hang on a 12 inch minimum diameter round. My cords last a long time I only need to replace the ends every couple years.
On the truck i will hang them with an engine belt. Im going to try the over under method for a couple days
I’m a tradesman; I use the over/under method. Or the normal looping, but left handed one day, right handed the next, so I get no twisting. Also buy premium rubber cords not plastic. Easy peasy.
I use a piece of leather strip to tie up my cord after I coil the cord. and I use milk crates instead of buckets. modular stacking and ventilation.
I have my PhD in cord coiling. I wrote my thesis on the over/under method.
thanks tommy..I finally came up with a good trick.
For those of you that use an extension cord for home use all the time and don't need to be portable. I use a garden hose real. It works great for my 100' cord.
I use the bucket trick all the time