Electric Splitter tripping GFI

[Bad LP]

You can get some great deals on cords off flea bay. In fact my twist lock cord caps cost more than the 100 feet of 10-3 SJO cord.

Buying store bought extension cord is $$$

 

[brenndatomu]

I bought a roll of used 10-3 wire from a local electrician and put the ends I needed on it for my generator to plug into the genny disconnect panel here at the house...don't remember what I paid, but it was pennys on the dollar compared to buying a 100' cord!

 

[jetsam]

I bought a roll of "used" 10-3 wire from a local electrician and put the ends I needed on it for my generator to plug into the genny disconnect panel here at the house...don't remember what I paid, but it was pennys on the dollar compared to buying a 100' cord!

The price of copper is the price of copper. The biggest cable buyers in the world do not get a discount that goes below the market price of copper.

I would never do business with that guy again, if I was you. If he is willing to steal from his other customers and/or his employer, he's probably willing to steal from you. (To say nothing of the fact that he probably sold you Romex knowing you were going to use it for an extension cord... anything you'd use to make a generator cord, like SJ, would say 10/4, not 10/3.)

 

[brenndatomu]

The price of copper is the price of copper. The biggest cable buyers in the world do not get a discount that goes below the market price of copper.

I would never do business with that guy again, if I was you. If he is willing to steal from his other customers and/or his employer, he's probably willing to steal from you. (To say nothing of the fact that he probably sold you Romex knowing you were going to use it for an extension cord... anything you'd use to make a generator cord, like SJ, would say 10/4, not 10/3.)

Whoa whoa whoa...back up the truck here! This was NOT stolen wire...this dude is a highly reputable electrician (business owner) in the area...not a thief!
Instead of throwing everything in the dumpster, he keeps stuff from remodels to re-sell...if the customer doesn't want it or something. Longer pieces of wire, larger stuff especially, newer breaker panels, stuff like that. No stolen merchandise here thank you very much.

 

[Soundchasm]

To have a full run of 10/3, you'd also need to run 10/3 from the panel to a new outlet outside.

The less total cords you're plugging together the less resistance you have at the plugs, especially as they age.

Honestly if you're looking at spending $180 on extension cords and $50 on 10/3 romex, and then maybe replacing the electric splitter when it dies of being run like a gas splitter.... I'd look at buying a gas splitter.

I can't argue with the logic. It makes sense.

My panel is located on the closest wall facing the work space. It'd take 2-3' of romex to get outside to a new 20A receptacle. Then I really think 150' would get me anywhere.

I'd love to have a real splitter, believe me. But every storage location has a serious drawback.

Just a few thoughts on the electric.
My first was the typical 5-ton. I got years and years out of that thing. My estimate was that I split 30 cords with it. The motor survived 16/3 for most of those before going to 12/3. What finally happened was that I wasn't keeping an eye on the two nuts that attach two rods to the piston. One was loose; the rod bent and then broke. A forum member who welds came and got it and resurrected it.

Here are the only things one can like about electric.

I can split inside the house at night if I have to.
No ear protection or honked-off neighbors. We can tell funny stories while splitting.
Stores anywhere.
I can sit down while splitting. This is becoming more and more important!! ;-)
It's a 13" lift from the ground for a round, or so I found, and less altitude per pound.

I think a new outlet will get squeezed into 2018.

 

[Soundchasm]

Howdy again all.

Conserving electricity has become sport to me (we're 100% electric). I bought a product called Sense, which is a device you ring-clip to your two main legs, and it uses machine learning to identify devices. Installed in January. Honestly, detection is pretty bad.

It's only detected 10 devices, but not the heat pump, even though I can see the juice it pulls. I'll try to get to a review in another post.

Turns out you can buy a smart outlet that uses wi-fi to connect to the monitor. I plugged the splitter into the smart outlet and monitored a few splits. I didn't have any serious rounds up here, but the gist of what I saw was--

Splitter idles at 675W!!
Saw a power stroke max out around 900W on my phone display.
Going into the app's "Power Meter" function I see a few sharp spikes with a 1400W scale. So for now, I'll call it a 1400W peak.

I don't have the ambition to figure out how many amps that might equate to at the moment, but will probably give it a shot later on.

I think the software that goes with the sensor will log (no pun intended) all the splitting and keep track of the cost. Once I get enough data, I'll probably start plugging into my neighbor's outdoor outlets.

Thanks.

 

[brenndatomu]

I don't have the ambition to figure out how many amps that might equate to at the moment

1400 watts divided by 120 volts = 11.66 amps

Once I get enough data, I'll probably start plugging into my neighbor's outdoor outlets.

That's an excellent way to lower your bill!

 

[jetsam]

Howdy again all.

Conserving electricity has become sport to me (we're 100% electric). I bought a product called Sense, which is a device you ring-clip to your two main legs, and it uses machine learning to identify devices. Installed in January. Honestly, detection is pretty bad.

It's only detected 10 devices, but not the heat pump, even though I can see the juice it pulls. I'll try to get to a review in another post.

Turns out you can buy a smart outlet that uses wi-fi to connect to the monitor. I plugged the splitter into the smart outlet and monitored a few splits. I didn't have any serious rounds up here, but the gist of what I saw was--

Splitter idles at 675W!!
Saw a power stroke max out around 900W on my phone display.
Going into the app's "Power Meter" function I see a few sharp spikes with a 1400W scale. So for now, I'll call it a 1400W peak.

I don't have the ambition to figure out how many amps that might equate to at the moment, but will probably give it a shot later on.

I think the software that goes with the sensor will log (no pun intended) all the splitting and keep track of the cost. Once I get enough data, I'll probably start plugging into my neighbor's outdoor outlets.

Thanks.

Measure your voltage at the work site while it is under load and divide wattage by that. Voltage will dip under load, especially with long/small conductors like extension cords, or anything else that causes resistance (so if your outlet in the house is 121v, you might have 105 at the end of a 14g extension cord that is pulling 10 amps).

Heat also causes resistance. As your conductor heats up, resistance goes up more, which heats the conductor more, and so forth until something melts or the breaker goes. This is one reason to use an extension cord bigger than your wiring.)

You'll also get more accurate info with a dumb meter on the leg in question than you will with a clamp-on device, especially one that is trying to guess current on individual runs from the service entry...

 

[Soundchasm]

Measure your voltage at the work site while it is under load and divide wattage by that. Voltage will dip under load, especially with long/small conductors like extension cords, or anything else that causes resistance (so if your outlet in the house is 121v, you might have 105 at the end of a 14g extension cord that is pulling 10 amps).

Heat also causes resistance. As your conductor heats up, resistance goes up more, which heats the conductor more, and so forth until something melts or the breaker goes. This is one reason to use an extension cord bigger than your wiring.)


View attachment 244586

You'll also get more accurate info with a dumb meter on the leg in question than you will with a clamp-on device, especially one that is trying to guess current on individual runs from the service entry...

That's all good information. I've settled on 10GA for my extension cords. Still waiting on my handyman to install a dedicated 20A outlet.

The Sense monitor is actually quite elaborate, precise, and fun to use. I don't think it's guessing. It gives accurate measurements in real time.
However the machine learning is just one step above bad. It's identified the coffee maker, toaster, space heater, pump, water heater and some other stuff. But NOT the heat pump!! It's had five months to figure that one out. But the heat pump is reflected in the real-time display of total watts used.

It's alleged to have good reporting capabilities. So it's keeping track of devices so you can slice and dice with graphs and stuff over time.

In the log it'll tell me that at 8:45 am the water heater (4KW) was on for six minutes. If I run the tap after a few minutes, boom, real-time alert, the pump is running (1KW).
https://sense.com/

Anyway, back to the splitter. I only had a few rounds of something soft up at the house. It was easy to see the thing idling at 670-680W, and the display on my phone got up to 900W when the round cracked open. When I looked at the Sense log, it showed VERY sharp spikes on a 1400W scale. Too quick for the phone display.

I'll need to look into the reporting capabilities soon. Thanks!