What's new
By:
Filters

Ac experts step in

WaterH

WaterH

Well-known member
Joined
May 20, 2020
Member Number
602
Messages
2,899
Loc
North Florida
So my wife buys an electric blanket to keep some clay warm. (Don’t ask) She plugs it into a extension cord and it doesn’t work. The led lights on the control blink, but no heat. Her daughter tells her she had the same issue and she had to plug it directly in the wall. (No extension cord) My wife tries it and it appears to work.

So how the hell does the blanket know what it’s plugged in to? Before you say “the ground pin”, I will tell you this is an extension cord with a ground pin and besides, the blanket does not have the third pin.
 
WaterH said:
So my wife buys an electric blanket to keep some clay warm. (Don’t ask) She plugs it into a extension cord and it doesn’t work. The led lights on the control blink, but no heat. Her daughter tells her she had the same issue and she had to plug it directly in the wall. (No extension cord) My wife tries it and it appears to work.

So how the hell does the blanket know what it’s plugged in to? Before you say “the ground pin”, I will tell you this is an extension cord with a ground pin and besides, the blanket does not have the third pin.
Click to expand...
5e5.jpg
 
NorCalJalopy said:
Resistance.
Click to expand...
This was a good extension. The extension was plugged in one of my shop recept about 20 feet away. When she plugged it in directly it was in a recept right there. So the effect is twenty less extension replaced by twenty feet of conduit. Can’t believe there’s much difference.
 
Other stuff works fine when plugged in to the cord? Does the extension cord have a little lamp in it that glows to let you know its plugged in at the other end or anything like that? Id maybe change the end on the extension cord. Had trouble with the scissor lift charger at work, wouldnt keep the batteries charged if it sat for long periods but would act like it was working when you plugged it in initially. Cut the cord and put new ends on and its been fine since.
 
Was it one of those construction type grade yellow jacket cords? Electricity is like water. Any type of cord unless you step up the gauge will cause resistance. The extension cord for my welder is almost double what the cord is out of my welder. I could be wrong on the resistance part tho. Maybe it’s made to be super sensitive so the typical jack ass doesn’t try to use a cheap Xmas light cord.
 
The only thing I can think of is if your extension cord is a surge suppressor. I've seen where a surge suppressor will work for some items but not others when it's defective. Other than that, I've got nothing.
 
PAToyota said:
What gauge extension cord?
Click to expand...
Not sure. It’s about as big as my pinky. I wired the shop receipts and they are 12 gage. You could certainly fit 12 in that extension, but maybe it’s all filler and only has 16 in it. Of course, it is flexible. Not sure if flexible stuff conducts better or worse.
 
Bad cord. That blanket doesn’t care if there’s a cord or not as long as it’s getting its voltage. Either you have a bad connection at either end of the cord, the cord has a bad spot, or it’s a really small gauge cord and the blanket isn’t working due to not having the voltage it needs.
 
Tin Roof said:
Bad cord. That blanket doesn’t care if there’s a cord or not as long as it’s getting its voltage. Either you have a bad connection at either end of the cord, the cord has a bad spot, or it’s a really small gauge cord and the blanket isn’t working due to not having the voltage it needs.
Click to expand...
Usually that cord is powering a big shop fan. Sometimes a hand tool. Not sure what the blanket draws compared to the fan. I guess heat draws a lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Back Refresh