in this video we’ll show you how to take
your extension cord to the next level
preventing it from breaking preventing
it from tangling and adding an on/off
[Applause]
extension cords are one of the greatest
inventions ever they make it so you
don’t have to use your tools right next
to the outlet but there are still some
improvements that I think can be made to
extension cords and today we’re gonna
show you what some of those are here’s
the basic idea
we’re going to test a method for
wrapping an extension cord so it doesn’t
get tangled when you stretch it back out
next we’ll stretch out a steel spring
and add it to the plug to give the cable
more durability then we’ll splice a
switch onto the other end so we can turn
the power on or off whenever we want I
think most people who have used
extension cords a lot can agree that the
number one problem is how often they get
tangled that gets really annoying you
spend a lot of time trying to get knots
out of your cord before you use it what
I want to show you first is the very
best way to wrap an extension cord to
prevent it from getting tangled you can
see I can just pull the cord it’s not
getting stuck wrapped up in itself the
method I use to wrap the cord is
something that I learned was called the
roadie wrap roadies are the ones who set
up band equipment on tour and they have
to manage all sorts of cables every
single day this is the method they use
to keep their cables tangle free
starting by holding on to one end of the
extension cord the cord is coming out
the back of my hand toward my body the
basic idea is that as we wrap the cord
we’ll be alternating which direction the
loop goes we alternate the direction of
the cord loops by alternating the
direction we grab the cord with our hand
for the first loop my thumb is pointing
to the left and we simply make a loop in
the cord for the second loop my thumb
points to the right and instead of just
making another loop we twist the cord
around we now have our extension cord
passing in a loop and then going behind
itself while it’s being wrapped move
back to the thumb pointing left add
another loop back to the thumb pointing
right add another loop where the cord
passes behind normally when you wrap an
extension cord in a loop or around your
arm like a lot of people do the cord is
getting twisted as it wraps alternating
with this method it twists one direction
and then it twists back the other
direction so the net result is that the
cord isn’t being twisted at all another
nice thing about this method
rapping is how well you can throw the
entire cord to have it extend out
not a single tangle it’s beautiful
now even the very best cord wrapping job
in the entire world can become tangled
if the courts just hang loose and then
fall on the floor and wrap around each
other additionally the next tip is very
simple there are velcro tabs
specifically designed for attaching to
things like extension cords and hoses
they’re cheap and they work really well
this velcro strap attaches onto the cord
in one spot and then wraps around the
whole cord to keep it nice and organized
to use just past the narrow end through
the slot well wrapped around the cord
and tighten it down all the way the
strap will now hold itself in place you
can wrap it around your extension cord
and it sticks right onto itself cord
will stay bundled up you can hang it up
on the wall you can drop it down on the
floor either way it’s gonna stay just
the way you wrapped it sometimes after
extended use extension cords can start
to break and fray where the cord meets
the plug this is usually a result of the
cord being pulled sideways too hard
while it’s plugged into an outlet we
want to reinforce the point where the
cord meets the plug and to do that we’ll
use a small compression spring some
pliers and some electrical tape the
basic idea is that we will wrap this
spring around the head of the plug and
part of the cord this will give the cord
a flexible reinforcement that will make
it bend over a larger area preventing it
from breaking down the line now this
spring is a good size for fitting around
our cord but it’s wound too tightly to
be able to get on easily so the first
step is to take a couple pairs of pliers
and stretch it out until the gaps in
between each loop can fit over our cord
our spring is now stretched out to a
point where we should be able to wrap it
around our cord let’s trim off one end
of the spring on the other end of the
spring will widen the loop until it’s
large enough to fit all the way around
this bottom portion of the plug if
cutting the end of your spring leaves a
sharp edge you may want to smooth it out
with a file
[Music]
with one end of our spring cut and
trimmed and the other stretched out so
it should fit over the bottom of the
plug we can now begin wrapping the
spring down along the cord with the
spring wrapped around the bottom of the
plug and the first few inches of our
extension cord now let’s use a little
bit of electrical tape to secure it in
we know how to wrap our extension cord
we know how to keep it nicely wrapped
and we know how to prevent the end that
goes into the wall from breaking but
there’s still more we can do to really
improve the usefulness of the extension
cord take this lamp for example it’s a
good little lamp puts off a lot of light
but it’s cord is about 1 foot long so
anytime you use it you are going to need
an extension cord the other downside of
this lamp however is that there’s no
on/off switch if it’s plugged in it’s
turned on there’s no way to turn it off
other than to unplug it if what you’ve
got plugged into your extension cord
will need to turn on and off often you
may not want to always unplug it just to
turn it off what we’re going to do is
install a switch into the middle of our
extension cord so we can turn it on or
off without having to unplug it on one
end or the other with this 3 amp 125
volt inline switch all we need is a
Philips head screwdriver and a razor
blade to install it into our cord to
start remove the two screws using the
Philips head screwdriver
[Music]
the switch then opens and you can see
everything that’s going on on the inside
we want to carefully remove the outer
covering of this extension cord about as
wide as our switches long very carefully
with a razor blade I’m cutting through
[Music]
with the outside casing cut on both ends
we now want to slice down the middle and
carefully remove this entire portion of
the chord let’s now take the black wire
cut it in the middle and then strip off
the black plastic casing back to just
behind where the screws are in our
switch we now want to fit the red and
green wires down along the inside of
this switch and wrap both ends of the
black wire around these screws with the
copper wires wrapped around the screws
we need to tighten the screws down with
our wires attached to the screws we can
now put the cover back on and screw that
down in place
[Music]
with our switch installed we now have
the power to turn things on and off
without unplugging them a properly
wrapped secured and reinforced extension
cord with an on/off switch installed
right where you need it in my opinion
this is now of the ultimate extension
cord guys there’s still more for you to
see that little box of the top will
transport you directly to our last video
and you can go check it out
the box at the bottom will show you what
YouTube thinks you should be watching
next this lovely bomb here in the middle
subscribing to our channel so you never
miss a video don’t forget to ring the
bell and we’ll see you in the next one talk to you then
your extension cord to the next level
preventing it from breaking preventing
it from tangling and adding an on/off
[Applause]
extension cords are one of the greatest
inventions ever they make it so you
don’t have to use your tools right next
to the outlet but there are still some
improvements that I think can be made to
extension cords and today we’re gonna
show you what some of those are here’s
the basic idea
we’re going to test a method for
wrapping an extension cord so it doesn’t
get tangled when you stretch it back out
next we’ll stretch out a steel spring
and add it to the plug to give the cable
more durability then we’ll splice a
switch onto the other end so we can turn
the power on or off whenever we want I
think most people who have used
extension cords a lot can agree that the
number one problem is how often they get
tangled that gets really annoying you
spend a lot of time trying to get knots
out of your cord before you use it what
I want to show you first is the very
best way to wrap an extension cord to
prevent it from getting tangled you can
see I can just pull the cord it’s not
getting stuck wrapped up in itself the
method I use to wrap the cord is
something that I learned was called the
roadie wrap roadies are the ones who set
up band equipment on tour and they have
to manage all sorts of cables every
single day this is the method they use
to keep their cables tangle free
starting by holding on to one end of the
extension cord the cord is coming out
the back of my hand toward my body the
basic idea is that as we wrap the cord
we’ll be alternating which direction the
loop goes we alternate the direction of
the cord loops by alternating the
direction we grab the cord with our hand
for the first loop my thumb is pointing
to the left and we simply make a loop in
the cord for the second loop my thumb
points to the right and instead of just
making another loop we twist the cord
around we now have our extension cord
passing in a loop and then going behind
itself while it’s being wrapped move
back to the thumb pointing left add
another loop back to the thumb pointing
right add another loop where the cord
passes behind normally when you wrap an
extension cord in a loop or around your
arm like a lot of people do the cord is
getting twisted as it wraps alternating
with this method it twists one direction
and then it twists back the other
direction so the net result is that the
cord isn’t being twisted at all another
nice thing about this method
rapping is how well you can throw the
entire cord to have it extend out
not a single tangle it’s beautiful
now even the very best cord wrapping job
in the entire world can become tangled
if the courts just hang loose and then
fall on the floor and wrap around each
other additionally the next tip is very
simple there are velcro tabs
specifically designed for attaching to
things like extension cords and hoses
they’re cheap and they work really well
this velcro strap attaches onto the cord
in one spot and then wraps around the
whole cord to keep it nice and organized
to use just past the narrow end through
the slot well wrapped around the cord
and tighten it down all the way the
strap will now hold itself in place you
can wrap it around your extension cord
and it sticks right onto itself cord
will stay bundled up you can hang it up
on the wall you can drop it down on the
floor either way it’s gonna stay just
the way you wrapped it sometimes after
extended use extension cords can start
to break and fray where the cord meets
the plug this is usually a result of the
cord being pulled sideways too hard
while it’s plugged into an outlet we
want to reinforce the point where the
cord meets the plug and to do that we’ll
use a small compression spring some
pliers and some electrical tape the
basic idea is that we will wrap this
spring around the head of the plug and
part of the cord this will give the cord
a flexible reinforcement that will make
it bend over a larger area preventing it
from breaking down the line now this
spring is a good size for fitting around
our cord but it’s wound too tightly to
be able to get on easily so the first
step is to take a couple pairs of pliers
and stretch it out until the gaps in
between each loop can fit over our cord
our spring is now stretched out to a
point where we should be able to wrap it
around our cord let’s trim off one end
of the spring on the other end of the
spring will widen the loop until it’s
large enough to fit all the way around
this bottom portion of the plug if
cutting the end of your spring leaves a
sharp edge you may want to smooth it out
with a file
[Music]
with one end of our spring cut and
trimmed and the other stretched out so
it should fit over the bottom of the
plug we can now begin wrapping the
spring down along the cord with the
spring wrapped around the bottom of the
plug and the first few inches of our
extension cord now let’s use a little
bit of electrical tape to secure it in
we know how to wrap our extension cord
we know how to keep it nicely wrapped
and we know how to prevent the end that
goes into the wall from breaking but
there’s still more we can do to really
improve the usefulness of the extension
cord take this lamp for example it’s a
good little lamp puts off a lot of light
but it’s cord is about 1 foot long so
anytime you use it you are going to need
an extension cord the other downside of
this lamp however is that there’s no
on/off switch if it’s plugged in it’s
turned on there’s no way to turn it off
other than to unplug it if what you’ve
got plugged into your extension cord
will need to turn on and off often you
may not want to always unplug it just to
turn it off what we’re going to do is
install a switch into the middle of our
extension cord so we can turn it on or
off without having to unplug it on one
end or the other with this 3 amp 125
volt inline switch all we need is a
Philips head screwdriver and a razor
blade to install it into our cord to
start remove the two screws using the
Philips head screwdriver
[Music]
the switch then opens and you can see
everything that’s going on on the inside
we want to carefully remove the outer
covering of this extension cord about as
wide as our switches long very carefully
with a razor blade I’m cutting through
[Music]
with the outside casing cut on both ends
we now want to slice down the middle and
carefully remove this entire portion of
the chord let’s now take the black wire
cut it in the middle and then strip off
the black plastic casing back to just
behind where the screws are in our
switch we now want to fit the red and
green wires down along the inside of
this switch and wrap both ends of the
black wire around these screws with the
copper wires wrapped around the screws
we need to tighten the screws down with
our wires attached to the screws we can
now put the cover back on and screw that
down in place
[Music]
with our switch installed we now have
the power to turn things on and off
without unplugging them a properly
wrapped secured and reinforced extension
cord with an on/off switch installed
right where you need it in my opinion
this is now of the ultimate extension
cord guys there’s still more for you to
see that little box of the top will
transport you directly to our last video
and you can go check it out
the box at the bottom will show you what
YouTube thinks you should be watching
next this lovely bomb here in the middle
subscribing to our channel so you never
miss a video don’t forget to ring the
bell and we’ll see you in the next one talk to you then
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