rubber cord

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mattelec

Member
Location
wisconsin
What type of cord should I use for a fair vendor to power a small stand. I only need it to power one outlet, but heavy duty to be walk and drive over?
 
Articles 400 & 590 (Temporary Installations) & 525 (Carnivals, Circuses, Fairs, and Similar Events)

If you want cheap, use a home-despot 12/3 extension cord. If you want durable, get some 12/3 SOOW and make your own. Neither of them should be driven over, and if it's across a walking path, you need some sort of cable ramp, or at least a rubber mat.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
What type of cord should I use for a fair vendor to power a small stand. I only need it to power one outlet, but heavy duty to be walk and drive over?

cords are not suitable for being driven on. walking on them presents a trip hazard. either route them where they are out of the way or protect them in some way.

personally, I would just go to the local big box lumber yard and get a heavy duty extension cord of the appropriate length and gauge.
 

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
cords are not suitable for being driven on. walking on them presents a trip hazard. either route them where they are out of the way or protect them in some way.

personally, I would just go to the local big box lumber yard and get a heavy duty extension cord of the appropriate length and gauge.
I don't know it it's code compliant or not, but I have seen this done with a double run of 1X2's or 2X4's laid flat with the cable down the middle of the run.
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
If it's just running around the back like it should be, just use a good heavy duty cord. Remember your power may be coming from hundreds of feet away and the cords tend to heat up at the far end. As for the tripping hazard, take it serious, I'm on the executive board for the Simi Valley Days Foundation, and a few years back it cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle a law suit for a tip and fall the caused serious injury.
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
... Remember your power may be coming from hundreds of feet away and the cords tend to heat up at the far end. ...
How does it heat up at the far end? The current is the same for the full length as is the resistance per foot. The I?R losses, that produce the heat in the cord, will be the same at all points. Now if you are saying the heat is at the termination points, that I can understand.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
How does it heat up at the far end? The current is the same for the full length as is the resistance per foot. The I?R losses, that produce the heat in the cord, will be the same at all points. Now if you are saying the heat is at the termination points, that I can understand.
1. The termination points, particularly where several cords plug into one set of receptacles, can get hot without someone at the load end noticing it.
2. If one length of cord, in several sections, is supplying more than one booth, the current will be highest at the source end.
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
1. The termination points, particularly where several cords plug into one set of receptacles, can get hot without someone at the load end noticing it.
2. If one length of cord, in several sections, is supplying more than one booth, the current will be highest at the source end.
No one said anything about multiple loads tapped along the run of the cord.
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
No one said anything about multiple loads tapped along the run of the cord.
No one said there were not either. Depends on how the street fair or fair is set up and where the power is coming from and whether the OP is responsible for one booth or the whole fair.
But in addition, Murphy's law clearly states that if both ends of cord are equally likely to heat up, it will be the far one that does. :)
 

cowboyjwc

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Simi Valley, CA
How does it heat up at the far end? The current is the same for the full length as is the resistance per foot. The I?R losses, that produce the heat in the cord, will be the same at all points. Now if you are saying the heat is at the termination points, that I can understand.
Yeah, what all the other guys said. I work many of the local events as security and I also inspect most of the local events, and the number one biggest complaint is usually about the electrical.
 
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