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USA Extension Cord (not Power Strip) - 125V/13A/1625W - unusable in Thailand?


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Posted

Thanks for the 3 responses but it's left me confused.

 

Do both of you agree with sometimewoodworker that the cord is  perfectly usable here?

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Posted
1 hour ago, mackayae said:

If it's rated at 13 amps, that's the rating, whether the voltage is 125 or 220.

The amperage rating is governed by the thickness if the conductors. If you want to have the same rating at 126V and 220V then the cable is thinner on the 220V cable.

 

The limiting factor will be the sockets and plugs

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Posted
1 hour ago, norbra said:

For the layman.

Double the voltage halve the amps.

Conductor size is determined by its current carrying capacity in this case it is lowered to 7amps at 240 volts

 

Please explain your last sentence, you can use non-lay terms if you wish. Why is the current carrying capacity reduced at higher voltage?

 

But I agree with @Excel just buy a local one.

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Posted (edited)
17 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Please explain your last sentence, you can use non-lay terms if you wish. Why is the current carrying capacity reduced at higher voltage?

 

But I agree with @Excel just buy a local one.

I am familiar with ohm's law where in any given circuit having a resistance of 1 ohm When 1 volt is applied 1 amp will flow. The cable is rated as maximum 1650 watts by the manufacturer not 330kw,with the pressure you suggested the cable would be no more than fuse wire.

Your reference to high tension transmission lines is misleading as they too have a maximum current carrying capacity and are protected from overload by circuit isolation devices that also protect the generators from too many kw loading 

 

Edited by norbra
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Posted
3 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

The extension cable is perfectly usable in Thailand. The 125V 13A rating will be now be 220V 24A.
 

The only problem will be that sockets are usually 16A maximum and you will need to ensure that the plugs and sockets are suitable. 

If the maximum wattage is 

 

2 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

Thanks for the 3 responses but it's left me confused.

 

Do both of you agree with sometimewoodworker that the cord is  perfectly usable here?

I disagree completely.

 

According to Ohm's law the safe wattage is volts times amps.

 

If you double the volts, then you must half the amps which gives you the same safe wattage. As other posters have mentioned, staying safe with about 7.5 amps at 220 volts is good.

 

As others have mentioned it is a lot easier to buy a locally made cable.

 

When I got my house wired up many years ago I made the mistake of ordering cable that was twice the size I needed. It cost me more but at least my cables won't overheat and melt.

 

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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Crossy said:

You lead will still be 13A capable, the insulation should be OK at 220V, any surge arrestor WILL NOT BE OK!!!

 

So theoretically it should be good for around 2.8kW but I wouldn't be going anywhere near that!

 

What size cable is fitted (it should be marked)?

16 AWG.

Edited by JimmyJ
Posted

Some rather frightening lack of understanding of basic electrical theory on display in this thread!  Some people confusing power dissipation in the load with dissipation in the cable.

Assuming adequate insulation then voltage is not really relevant.  Power dissipation in the cable is IxIxR  (I = current, R = cable resistance) which can be rearranged to give VxV/R.  Where V is voltage drop in the cable.  Power dissipation in the cable leads to heating of the cable. So then we are down to how much above ambient temp are you willing to accept? 10 deg or 30 deg. ?

The OP says that he's using #16AWG.  That has resistance of about 13 milliohm/metre.  If you want to keep voltage drop to 100mV/metre then maximum current is about 7.6A and you would be dissipating about 0.75W/m or about 1/4W per foot. Which would give only a tiny temp rise.  Doubling current to 15A would increase dissipation to about 3W/m, about 1W per foot. Very mild heating.

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Posted
6 hours ago, Crossy said:

You lead will still be 13A capable, the insulation should be OK at 220V, any surge arrestor WILL NOT BE OK!!!

 

So theoretically it should be good for around 2.8kW but I wouldn't be going anywhere near that!

 

What size cable is fitted (it should be marked)?

This is the only correct answer, and anybody still confused do an internet search why, and the ramification of, Europe is using 220V and the US has 110V. Hint - Europe wanted to skimp on copper.

 

The only point of Crossy I disagree with is his fear of loading the cable to 2.8 KW - its perfectly fine. Our vacuum cleaner is rated at 2500W and the extension cable gets a lot hotter from the sun than from the juice flowing though it.

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Posted (edited)
17 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

Hint - Europe wanted to skimp on copper.

220 volts uses half the current for a given wattage. This is more efficient and doesn't require the same amount of copper. It's also why long distance transmission uses a much higher voltage. The practical upshot is that you can have more powerful or more appliances on a given circuit for a given sized breaker.

 

For the OP, the cable would be fine at 220V.

Edited by ozimoron
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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 9/1/2022 at 6:55 PM, Excel said:

Wouldn't it just be so much simpler to just not use the US extension lead but rather buy one locally, they are not expensive.

I am not seeing any 3 conductor extension cords on Lazada. 

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Posted (edited)

Surely wire is wire. Doesn't matter where it is sourced. A "US" cable is likely from China.????

Edited by VocalNeal
Posted
3 hours ago, Crossy said:

"3 pin extension cord" in a Lazada search nets 2,500 hits. You must check carefully that they are actually 3-core cable.

 

Or get one in Lotus's where you can look at the markings on the cable.

 

Or get the bits and make your own.

 

Amazingly, 0 of the 2,500 hits are for electrical extension cords, that are usable in your house. 

 

Lots of other stuff comes up. 

 

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Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

Or get one in Lotus's where you can look at the markings on the cable.

 

Or get the bits and make your own.

 

Good luck finding an electrical 3 conductor cord in Lotus's. 

 

My opinion is that such cords are not available in Thailand. 

Edited by Danderman123
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Posted
29 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Amazingly, 0 of the 2,500 hits are for electrical extension cords, that are usable in your house. 

Lots of other stuff comes up. 

 

image.png.34a5c298a965dbd3d123e71089138457.png

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Posted
32 minutes ago, Danderman123 said:

Good luck finding an electrical 3 conductor cord in Lotus's. 

My opinion is that such cords are not available in Thailand. 

 

I've already been to Lotus's today so I'm not making a special trip to check and photograph.

Posted
11 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

image.png.34a5c298a965dbd3d123e71089138457.png

Good catch!

 

I didn't spot any when I looked weeks ago, but gave up and didn't look at all 2,500 hits.

Previously I felt the same as Danderman123.

 

 

 

Is that 1.5 meters in length?

 

On the bottom right it says "Samut Sakhon".

Is that the city that the Seller is located in?

Posted

Yeah, the bottom right is the location.

 

Warning Will Robinson. Warning!!! 

I'm not recommending any of those, or even guaranteeing they are 3-core. For that matter I'm not sure I'd trust a 100 Baht cord.

 

That's just the first row of the first page, do check very carefully if the cord is actually 3-core, some of the later listings actually have detail of the cord or you could ask the seller what the cord is.

 

 

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