Cord Drops

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jmellc

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Location
Durham, NC
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Facility Maintenance Tech. Licensed Electrician
Boss had me do 2 cord drops several months ago. Bought me the SO cord, female plugs and strain relief Kellum grips. But the grips were the type that go to the box, not hang from a beam or other structure. So, I put them in and set what seemed a good height, as he said. A month later, I was asked to lower them a foot. He gave me new cable and I did that. Then they wanted them lowered again and he bought more cord. This time, I insisted he get the grips that I could hang separate from the box. He did this and I now have 4 feet of extra slack rolled up in the cable tray. The cords can go down a lot and up with no limit.

I should have insisted on the right grips the first time and not had to switch cords.
 
jmellc said:
Boss had me do 2 cord drops several months ago. Bought me the SO cord, female plugs and strain relief Kellum grips. But the grips were the type that go to the box, not hang from a beam or other structure. So, I put them in and set what seemed a good height, as he said. A month later, I was asked to lower them a foot. He gave me new cable and I did that. Then they wanted them lowered again and he bought more cord. This time, I insisted he get the grips that I could hang separate from the box. He did this and I now have 4 feet of extra slack rolled up in the cable tray. The cords can go down a lot and up with no limit.

I should have insisted on the right grips the first time and not had to switch cords.
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We used a spring support as well. The springs look exactly like those on your screen door limiting the stretch but allowing some movement.
 
MTW said:
This is the chord support to use. You add a chord loop at the hanger to allow for relocations. You can use more than one if you need more than one support. Use normal klemms grips on each end of the cable, each attached to a box or cover plate.

www.adalet.com

Sky-Tie - Bus Drop Cable Clamp

www.adalet.com
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Never saw those before. I'll have to see if our local suppliers have them. We only have accounts at 2 supply houses, so that limits us sometimes.
 
Depending on the use environment you might also consider kellems grip on the female connector. Hubbell has ones that fit their plugs.
 
Todd0x1 said:
Depending on the use environment you might also consider kellems grip on the female connector. Hubbell has ones that fit their plugs.
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Not particularly hard use there but good to know we can get them. These are cords for a production area, plugging in vacuum cleaners to touch up the finished product.
 
GoldDigger said:
Note however that some cord reels will not support using the cord at full rated ampacity unless the cord is fully unspooled from the reel when in use.
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Was this in the fine print?
I can see that but I have never in my life considered that.
 
qcroanoke said:
Was this in the fine print?
I can see that but I have never in my life considered that.
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I've seen warnings in regards to always completely unrolling a cord before use in some instructions for handheld/manual cord reels where they hold 100+ feet of 16awg cord, but I don't recall ever reading that in the specifications for a cord reel. Probably why most cord reels are less than 50 feet.

But I was assuming someone wouldn't pick a consumer grade cord reel for an industrial application. I was thinking something like a Daniel Woodhead with 50' of 600v SOOW cord on an open reel. One could also cut off the cord down to the maximum length they'd ever need.

DANWODC00002_262_TN_001.jpg
 
VirutalElectrician said:
I've seen warnings in regards to always completely unrolling a cord before use in some instructions for handheld/manual cord reels where they hold 100+ feet of 16awg cord, but I don't recall ever reading that in the specifications for a cord reel. Probably why most cord reels are less than 50 feet.

But I was assuming someone wouldn't pick a consumer grade cord reel for an industrial application. I was thinking something like a Daniel Woodhead with 50' of 600v SOOW cord on an open reel. One could also cut off the cord down to the maximum length they'd ever need.

View attachment 2563300
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True. A lot depends on the exact design of the spool and housing, in terms of ventilation of the pile of cord. Fully enclosed is very pretty, but not as safe.
 
I didn't think earlier but an issue we would have with reels is that someone would likely pull the cord halfway between stops, then lose his grip and send the plug flying up to the bar joist. :ROFLMAO:
 
jmellc said:
I didn't think earlier but an issue we would have with reels is that someone would likely pull the cord halfway between stops, then lose his grip and send the plug flying up to the bar joist. :ROFLMAO:
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Every cord real I've ever seen, even the cheapest crap at Menard's, includes an adjustable cord stop. There's even one in the picture I posted above.
 
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