220 volt extension cord

[sroxberg]

I am wanting to make a short ten foot extension cord for running my tablesaw, planner and joint, but one at a time.

I have some heavy 12 gauge cord and they are running on a 20 amp circuit today with 12 gauge wire.

Do you see any problem with this or should I make the cords on each machine longer.

[Shop Dad]

I have one and it works fine. I got it with some machines I acquired and have since made two more. As long as you use proper wire and plugs it should be fine. (...and keep the runs an appropriate length)

Doug

[Ohio Mike]

Nothing wrong with a 220volt extension cord. I use one for my table saw. It has a 15amp plug and receptacle but 20amp would be fine too.



Mike

[Admiral]

When I made mine, I found that buying 12ga 110v pre-made extension cords at the Borg were less significantly less expensive than buying the bare wire, enough to make it cheaper overall to buy the male and female 220s, cut off the 110s and convert it. Don't know if that is still true but worth checking out.

[joespehar]

I bought a 220v extension cord for my tablesaw about 10 years ago at Home Depot. I don't know if they still have them.

[brianwelch]

@Admiral, still true (at least for me), and in the process of doing just that "currently". Opted for 10 ga. so as to minimize any voltage drop, but my cord is over 50' long...
B

[Herb G]

I looked at a 100' 12/3 120 volt cord at Lowes just last week.
$90.

[Splinter Puller]

Use Pass and Seymour plugs. They are very well built and easy to wire. Well worth the price upgrade.

[Robert Adams]

Yup most of the rest of the world uses 220v and all their cords are 220... We are one of the minority that use 110 still along with Japan and most of the us protectorates.

I wish we had 220 as the standard here but then we would be stuck with those enormous receptacles and plugs that Europe has. Their wall outlets are massive things. Makes commercial receptacles look small.

[pprobus]

Admiral said:

---

When I made mine, I found that buying 12ga 110v pre-made extension cords at the Borg were less significantly less expensive than buying the bare wire, enough to make it cheaper overall to buy the male and female 220s, cut off the 110s and convert it. Don't know if that is still true but worth checking out.

---

While looking for a cord for my portable generator, I happened to observe that a "proper" 220V extension cord (12/4 to give a neutral and ground) is more expensive than taking a 12/3 cord and putting the 220V ends on and not deal with a neutral. I want to be clear that I would not use it to hook a generator to a house (assuming the genny only put out 220V @20 amps max), but for an extension cord for machines that can be run with just 2 hots and a ground, it should work fine.

I don't know why there's such a price difference other than low demand for 4 conductor extension cords in the US. I have a 30 amp genny and I could take a 10/3 cord and run a separate ground, tape them together to form one cord, for much less than a 10/4 extension cord.

Paul