What is better? Extension cord OR soldering cord extension

[Wakahisa Shinta]

Hi all,
I am staring at a Hammer A3 31 in my garage workshop. It is still on the crate, waiting for a set of Foot Masters leveling casters to arrive. What I need to do now is to provide it some electrical juice. It comes with a short cord with 3 wires (a blue, a brown, and a yellow/green) without a plug.

The documentation has contradictory information. One paper states 20 Amp upstream protection needed. One paper states 30 Amp. From reading here, it seems 20 Amp is the correct number. The machine draws 16 Amps max per the manual.

So, my plan is to install a 20 Amp circuit breaker using 10/2 wire (ground to ground, black and white to the 2 poles on the breaker then to terminals on the receptacle, tape white wire to mark "live"). Luckily, my main panel is in my garage workshop wall. I will only need about 5 feet of wire from outlet to breaker!

Now, which option below is better?

1. Install plug at the end of the machine's supplied cord. Connect to wall outlet with an extension cord. Or
2. Soldering an extension cord to the machine's supplied cord, terminate with a plug, which plug into the wall outlet.

Honestly, I feel that if I am going through the trouble of adding a circuit to the panel, I might as well add 30 Amp and use 10/3 wire.

[Steve Peterson]

I cut the 12' heavy gauge power cord on my PM66 about 2' long and inserted twist lock plugs. Now I have a saw with a 2' power cord and a 10' extension cord. This allows me to disconnect the power without needing to crawl under the table. I used to keep it plugged in when changing blades because it was such a hassle to get to the plug. It is so easy to unplug that I do it every time now. You can buy 12ga extension cord wire by the foot at HD. I recall something like $2.00 per foot, but you only need a few feet. The end connectors are $10-20 each.

I vote for option #1.

Steve

[Rod Sheridan]

The 20 ampere protection is correct.

I replaced the short pigtail on my Hammer equipment with a piece of flexible cord that was long enough for my application.............Rod.

[Bill George]

It is against Code to modify a cord to a machine or otherwise. Either replace the entire cord and 12/2 with a ground is heavy enough or use a heavy duty #12 extension cord.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

On my MM-16 I bought the proper cord. I wired it directly to the terminal strip in the machine and put a plug on the other end. On the wall I mounted an appropriate wall outlet . All my 220 outlets and machines use the same scheme so if I decided to rearrange my shop, I can use the closest 220 wall outlet for any machine with no changes necessary. If I leave home for an extended period of time, I disconnect the plugs to all my equipment for reasons of safety.

[Tom M King]

Hubbell twist lock at the machine. It gives a quick disconnect, without having to walk back to the panel. Also, helps with cleanup sometimes. I have all my stationary tools hooked up like that.

[Kent A Bathurst]

It is against Code to modify a cord to a machine or otherwise. Either replace the entire cord and 12/2 with a ground is heavy enough or use a heavy duty #12 extension cord.

IN other words - put in a new cord all the way back to the switch, and discard the short cord, or go with the twist-lock-extension cord idea. The one thing you cannot do is to solder onto the short cord.

[roger wiegand]

It is against Code to modify a cord to a machine or otherwise. Either replace the entire cord and 12/2 with a ground is heavy enough or use a heavy duty #12 extension cord.

Could you cite the appropriate reference? I didn't think building codes, if that's what you're referring to, had much if anything to say about wiring on a device. I pretty routinely modify cords for example when switching a motor prewired for 110 v to 220, shortening a cord to eliminate a potential safety hazard, or changing a straight plug to a twist-lock and I've never seen anything In the code book on that. Are you suggesting you have to throw the wire away if you want to change the plug? Even in Massachusetts you don't have to get a permit or inspection to do that! If this is a new rule I'd like to know about it.

[Bill George]

Its been in the NEC since forever, you can not splice or repair a portable cord. It needs to be replaced at the connections inside the tool,(machine) new cord and plug. Replacing the connector on the end of the cord is fine, but no splices. its not only in the electrical code but OSHA will fine you if your caught on a job site with a repaired cord.

One OSHA Ref. > https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owa...ONS&p_id=22666

And another> https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owa...ONS&p_id=27356

Please note these are NOT links to Forums but to official dot gov websites.

[roger wiegand]

But then there's this from the NEC, which I think would apply to most of the cords used on stationary woodworking equipment. That said, I wouldn't bother to splice a power cord and OSHA may well be much more restrictive than the NEC, so I'm not disputing what you've written. : 400.9 Splices

Flexible cord shall be used only in continuous lengths without splice or tap where initially installed in applications permitted by 400.7(A). The repair of hard-service cord and junior hard-service cord (see Trade Name column in Table 400.4) 14 AWG and larger shall be permitted if conductors are spliced in accordance with 110.14(B) and the completed splice retains the insulation, outer sheath properties, and usage characteristics of the cord being spliced.

[Bill George]

The problem is the splice in certain types of flexible cord has to be equal to the OEM manufacture of the product. The other part is OSHA only allows minor taping repairs of the outside covering, under certain cases, but no splices or repairs. The repair is never equally sized to the OD of the cord. When its dragged across the floor or other places on a jobsite that outside repaired cover gets worn off and then exposes any repair or splice to damage.
its a can of worms and the smartest thing to do, is not splice or repair flexible or portable cords, unless they are expressly permitted to repaired in both the NEC and OSHA rules. What you do in your own home or shop is up to you.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Annnnd.....

Here we go, once again, down the Code rabbit hole. Go to it, fellas.

Gonna get some popcorn to watch the show.

[Phil Thien]

One other option I haven't seen mentioned here but have seen in a shop I visited is to add a box somewhere on the saw or the rails, and bring that 2' cord into that box. Now add a male twist-lock receptacle to the box. It makes for a nice, clean installation and if you mount the box up high enough, you don't even need to bend-over to disconnect power from the saw. This means you're more likely to disconnect when it is time to change blades.

[Jim Becker]

For my MM16 bandsaw, I put a plug on the pigtail and made up a heavy, rubber "extension cord" that was appropriately sized in length to connect to the twist lock receptacle that was to service it in my shop. That provided an easy "quick disconnect", since the receptacle isn't in the most convenient location, and is something that is the high quality I try to maintain in my shop. Neither my J/P or my slider came with a cord of any kind, so those were wired up with a custom length, heavy rubber cord with a similar setup to the bandsaw. Since your J/P has the pigtail, I'd probably do l like I did for my bandsaw. And it's convenient if the machine needs to be moved because there's no cord reaching the floor to have to worry about.

[Erik Loza]

No dog in this fight except to say that pretty much "the" standard for any type of machinery that must have a plug is that black, rubber coated SJO stuff and then a twist-loc connector. It's what you'll see at every trade show and what I reccommend to customers. I agree: If the machine has a pigtail, get rid of it and connect the SJO cable directly to the distribution block.

With regards to splicing, I've always been told never to solder major power wires, since solder is actually non-conductive and can cause resistance. That's why major power connections are almost always lugged and crimped instead. But I'm not an electrician.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA