"john reeves" wrote in message
...
This is about those extension power leads ( usually orange coloured from B
& Q etc). Quite often sold for use with electric lawn mowers.

These cables seem to have 'a mind of their own' every time you reel them
up and unreel them.

It's like a 'memory effect' they have, ( as if they are not flexible
enough ) and want to keep moving in a direction that they must have been
stored in previously.

This probably sounds like a minor thing. But the total time wasted and
frustration trying to unravel the thing mounts up time after time.

I've tried that trick sailors use in giving it a small twist every time
you reel it around your arm, but its just a bit too stiff to do that
successfully. Has anyone else found a good way to deal with this? It has
crossed my mind that this cable is just too old and has lost what
flexibility it did have once.

Boy, do I need to get out in the yard and make some youtube videos. I have
dealt with long lengths of many types of things, wire rope, hose, wiring,
and other things. up to 9,000 feet long.

When anything is wound on a spiral, like on a level wind fishing reel, or a
reel of rope you buy at a supplier, a thimble of thread, the line is fed
straight on. If you put the reel on a shaft and pull it off straight, it
comes off just like that. Straight. But if you stand the reel on end and
pull the end of the line up and unreel it like that, it comes off in a
spiral. Just like a spinning reel. That is an important detail for storing
hoses, cables, etc.

A lot of storage devices are reels. Like a hose reel. Like a level wind
fishing reel. It just reels it up, and then unreels it, doing so without
getting the spiral. But when one wraps a 100' length of extension cord on
their arm, they are making a spiral, and a rather tight one at that. But
when unrolling it, one does not put it on a shaft and pull it straight off,
but pills it off sideways. It is going to come off as a spiral, and if you
pass the wrong end through the center, you come off with a series of magical
overhand knots.

PLUS, this fairly tight spiral is then stored to heat and cool with the
weather, or just be under strain so that it flexes inside to relieve
tension. So, when you go to unwind it and use it, the spirals are set
into it depending on the nature of the materials.

There is a way of storing hose/wire extension cords that works great. It is
taking one loop in your hand, and letting it hang about three feet down.
Now reach for the next long loop with your palm up, and when you bring it to
the hand holding the other loops, rotate your palm inward. This makes a one
in/one out lay in the roll. You can pull it off with no spiral. This works
great for cable and wire rope where you want it to come off easily with no
spiral. I use it to store a lot of things, mainly my 100' 220v. welding
machine cord, and my 5/8" air lines.

Another way of storage that will keep it from coiling is to figure 8 it.
Laying it on the ground, just form a large figure 8. Tie in three places,
the outsides, and in the center.

Another way is slipknotting that will give you fast management of long
cords. This is easy once you've done it a few dozen times.

All materials that are coiled have different properties of stiffness,
material it is made of, how it reacts to heat and cold, diameter, how tight
it can be wrapped without causing problems, etc. This leads to different
storage means. One way does not work on everything.

One of the most common mistakes is to wrap it in too small of coils.

HTH, and I'll do some youtubes on this, as it has been asked for a lot.

Steve

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