Made this tonight

Tom Baugues

Member
Messages
2,790
Location
Lafayette, Indiana
I've been planning on starting a new project once the weather got better and today it got up to about 61 degrees here so I got out in the shop and made this. I had some boards that I wanted to run through the planer.
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The downside to it is...I also did this...
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I was running my planer and had just stopped to empty my vacuum. Only a 6 gallon vacuum. Have to empty often but it works well for my use. Vacuum was packed full so I pulled the 4 inch hose off the vacuum and dumped the contents of my vacuum, reconnected the hose and went back to running the last board of the night through the planer. After a few passes through I noticed the shavings starting to blow back into the planer and thought it was odd that the vacuum would be full so quickly again so I shut it down as I was finished running the board through anyway. Just as I shut off the planer I heard what sounded like a "bug zapper" sap..snap..snap...I looked up and saw my hose reel smoking and all the insulation burnt away from the wires. After freaking out for a moment I got it all unplugged in a hurry. The wires were very hot! I decided to leave it lay while I put the planer and vacuum away and thats when I noticed that the 4 inch vacuum hose was completely plugged up. So I'm guessing the last time I emptied the vac the hose was full too and never got cleared. Being plugged up the vacuum started pulling too many amps and the wires got too hot and burned up the cord. Vacuum still runs fine as does all the rest of my machines. Just the cord reel was damaged.
Now...does anyone know if I can replace the cord to the reel or do I have to replace the whole thing?
Man...this is how people burn down their homes....glad I didn't do any more damage than this.
 
Thhhaat, would scare me! I did similar with my dust collector on a 4" hose. Turning pens, acrylic, and thought the long stringies were awesome. Then I started noticing the dust collector sounding different. I stopped and checked and the hose was clogged with those beautiful long curlies. That was when I quit using it when turning with tools and only used it for the sanding process.
 
I use my planer on a cord reel. I noticed once during a long planing session that if I only pulled out enough to connect the planer (about 6 feet or so) it got hot. I now pull the cord all the way out when I use the planer and that did away with the problem.

I'm glad you caught it before it got bad!
 
It got hot?

Just makes me think out loud.

Wire gauge?

I have my shop wired with all 12-3 wire for 20 amps. I took extra care to be sure the receptacles and light switches were rated for 20 amps.

Finding an extension cord larger than 16 gauge is a bit of a chore, maybe 14 gauge, but one at 12 gauge is a stretch.

My guess is that the cord on the reel is no bigger than 16 gauge and that would tend to get hot under the load of the vacuum.

Just my opinion.
 
I use my planer on a cord reel. I noticed once during a long planing session that if I only pulled out enough to connect the planer (about 6 feet or so) it got hot. I now pull the cord all the way out when I use the planer and that did away with the problem.

I'm glad you caught it before it got bad!

John you may be onto something here. The more I think about this the more I believe your opinion. It may not have been just my vacuum pulling to many amps it may be BOTH my vac and planer pulling amps on a coiled up cord. Either way...... I'll be watching very close next time I use my planer.
 
I use my planer on a cord reel. I noticed once during a long planing session that if I only pulled out enough to connect the planer (about 6 feet or so) it got hot. I now pull the cord all the way out when I use the planer and that did away with the problem.

I'm glad you caught it before it got bad!

That is a good practice if you check the NEC you ill find that the current ratings for wire on a spool or coil is less for the same wire in free air. Obviously with the wire coiled up you are trapping the heat. Not a problem for light loads like lights but for running anything heavy like a planner or compressor it can be problematic. some charts I have seen for having multiple conductor together will de rte the capacity from anywhere 80 to 50%. most charts talk about wire in a wire trough but coiling wire in a spool would be very similar.
 
...it may be BOTH my vac and planer pulling amps on a coiled up cord...

I think I'd avoid running both machines off the same extension cord. Both of them are potentially pulling quite a few amps when they're working hard, and they're typically both working hard at the same time.
 
My dad had one of those cord coilers that "wrapped" the cord in a container. He only pulled out what was needed for a battery charger. The whole container went up in smoke. Always assumed it was due to the coils making the cord like an armature. Consequently I make it a habit to roll out a whole extension cord when in use instead of leaving the not needed portion in a coil. Glad it ended well Tom. Makes for a nervous evening.
 
here is some more informtion there is a lot of this type of info on the web.

[h=1]Danger Associated with Electrical Cable Reels[/h]Following a number of recent incidents, including electrocutions, where electric cable reels were involved, the HSA wishes to warn people of the dangers that could arise from the misuse or abuse of electric cable reels.
The danger arises principally from

  • overloading,
  • overheating due to the cable reel being coiled up while powering equipment or
  • lack of structural integrity of the cable or reel allowing access to uninsulated live parts of the cable or
  • connections

Picture 1: Results of overheating in cable. (This may not be evident until the cable is unreeled).
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[h=3]Overloading & Overheating[/h]When power flows through an electrical cable, some heat is always generated in the cable. This heat generally dissipates into the air. If the reel is left coiled during use, the heat generated in the cable may not dissipate and can start to build up. This in turn can melt the outer insulation of the cable and the insulation on the cores, leading to earth cores and neutral cores becoming electrically live. In this situation a very serious risk of electrocution arises for anyone using an appliance fed through the reel or indeed for anyone touching any piece of metal in the vicinity.

 
I know we don't like it, but in my world the shop vac, the dust collector, and the water pump use the most amps when they are doing the most work. Moving the most "stuff". When they are restricted the "stuff" just sits in the pump and goes round and round. That is why I hear my sweeper run faster (higher pitch) when the hose is blocked, it is not doing any work there is no net volume of air going anywhere. It takes very little energy to spin the same two cups of air round and round. Now to get 650 cubic feet of air from rest to 50 mph that is work.

The heat build up in the cord reel is from high resistance and or lack of proper cooling. Cord damage or capacity being most likely. The above post about the de-rating of a coil of wire is spot on.
 
It got hot?

Just makes me think out loud.

Wire gauge?

I have my shop wired with all 12-3 wire for 20 amps. I took extra care to be sure the receptacles and light switches were rated for 20 amps.

Finding an extension cord larger than 16 gauge is a bit of a chore, maybe 14 gauge, but one at 12 gauge is a stretch.

My guess is that the cord on the reel is no bigger than 16 gauge and that would tend to get hot under the load of the vacuum.

Just my opinion.

Fortunately we have a business called Hardware Sales in Bellingham. It's the kind of store where if they don't have it you probably won't find it anywhere else either.

Several years ago I went to Hardware Sales & purchased 2 50' lengths of 10 gauge extension cord with plugs to run my hot/cold pressure washer. So far no matter what I've run on this cord I've never had a problem.
 
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