How to wrap your EVSE/other cables! (You're doing it wrong!)

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Ingineer

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2010
Messages
2,742
Location
Berkeley, California
We get EVSE's in all the time that have had their cord wrapped incorrectly and their cables are trashed! You should ALWAYS do the over/under wrap method!

You will benefit from way less tangles, and the cable will still look/act new after many uses. Usually you can just throw the properly wrapped cable out and it will be straight with zero knots!

Here's a video showing how: (Disclaimer: Not mine!)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MziOBf60Kn0[/youtube]

Practice this, it seems hard at first, but quickly becomes second nature. Please share this method! (And it would make a great sticky for this section too!)

-Phil
 
That is great! Now I know why my 50 foot extensions are messed up. Wonder if this is why my garden hose is also kinked (or just cheap hose)?

Thanks, Phil!
 
Ingineer said:
smkettner said:
Loop around your wrist and elbow is free ;)
DON'T!

Definitely not!

We get EVSE's in all the time that have been wrapped this way and their cables are trashed! You should ALWAYS do the over/under!

You will benefit from way less tangles, and the cable will still look/act new after many uses.

Here's a video showing how: (Disclaimer: Not mine!)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MziOBf60Kn0[/youtube]

-Phil


cable does wear out which is why i use a cord reel for my Electric mower. its 100 feet and i dont want to replace it
 
Another helpful hint... when a cord or hose is new unroll it as if it was on a spool.
If you lay it on the floor and pull it out you already have a big twist going as the loops come off the pile.
 
I didn't know this and spent some time outside with my 50' and 100' extension cords. It works exactly as described; I was amazed! Now to try it on a hose, although part of the problem with those is that they get very stiff when cold.
 
I've been using the coil and twist method used by sailors (as shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2ChlCns4AU but without the final tight wrap & knot). This requires that a the far end is free to spin around because the twist turns the rope. It also requires that the line get shaken out (with one end free) to undo the twists or kinks will appear. Both of which are a real pain with garden hoses and wire.

This looks much better. Thanx. Another cool thing learned on MNL!
 
What about that pretzel (French braid?) style wrapping I see hanging on the back of so many commercial trucks? What's that called, how does it compare, and how do you do it? :D
 
This is excellent!

I have been aware of the problems of using your elbow for years with everything from extension cords to water hoses. What I usually do is try to roll the cable up by rotating the spool through my hands. But it usually requires having a velcro tie or something to keep the cable from unrolling on the other end. This method simplifies it a lot. I'll give it a try next time.
 
I just repaired an XLR cable this weekend that was trashed by improper wrapping. I was taught the proper method years ago and I've been trying to teach people this technique for years, I always end showing it because I just can't describe it. I cringed when I see some people spooling up cable the wrong way. Now I have a video I can point them to. Thanks Phil!

arnold
 
Learned me something mighty useful today. I'll have to teach my brother who does construction. He has so many xtension chords and they are all messed up.
 
padamson1 said:
I've been using the coil and twist method used by sailors (as shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2ChlCns4AU but without the final tight wrap & knot). This requires that a the far end is free to spin around because the twist turns the rope.
I had modified this method so that when the wire gets twisted, I twist it the opposite way and put the loop on the other side of the coil. This keeps the cable from getting twisted overall. I use this on the 20 feet of cable on the 120V brick EVSE. But--it does nothing to help you get it unrolled. I have to unroll it the old fashioned way...

THEN, I watched the video! No more of the old method! I am going to learn this over/under method. As padamson1 said, I learned something new today.
 
GeekEV said:
What about that pretzel (French braid?) style wrapping I see hanging on the back of so many commercial trucks? What's that called, how does it compare, and how do you do it? :D
I believe that's a variation of the Ballantine coil, as in the logo to Ballantine beer. Here's a pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/57475570@N00/50301659/.

I am pretty sure this has the same uncoiling issues as a regular sailor's coil in that it needs to be untwisted as you uncoil it or you get little curls and the wire doesn't lay flat.
 
Yep, over & under. That's the way we always store XLR cables, and TRS cables too. We use a lot of them for mics and speakers in the theater. Some of the stage hands get very sloppy with extension cords. We don't let them touch our audio cables.

[Totally OT, but if anyone is in the Morgan Hill area one of the next four weekends you really ought to drop in on us. We're an all-volunteer community theatre group, but we're putting on a production of "The Wizard of Oz" that I think might make some professional groups blush. 'Course I am a bit biased.]

Ray
 
Thanks Ingineer!

I knew there must be a better way. Just had a practice and can see the results immediately!
 
Now the question is: If you have an extension cord that has obviously been abused by wrapping over the elbow - is there a good way to help straighten it out? SImply untwisting it doesn't work. I'm guessing the previous owner (wasn't me, honest!) always wrapped the cord over their elbow in one direction...

On some of my other extension cords with no visible twist damage that I rewrapped over-under that have been wrapped over the elbow, I found that it helps to fully stretch the cord out when re-wrapping it using over-under which lets it untwist itself.
 
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