Danderman123 Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 My specific application: I live in a condo. When it rains, sometimes I lose power, sometimes for hours. i have a solar powered battery pack on my balcony, coupled to an inverter. I need an extension cord from the inverter to my refrigerator. 25 feet will do the job. No, I don’t want a Powerstrip, or a 2 conductor line, or some weird connector. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 2 hours ago, Danderman123 said: This topic is about a US extension cord, not power strips. The extension cord is 3 pin. you offer: A powerstrip a 2 pin extension cord some European connector no fun. No it is not about ONLY a us extension cable. You are totally confused and using confusing language. The initial question was “could a US extension be safely use” answer = yes. Subsequently a complaint was made that 3 pin extensions were not available in Thailand. This is wrong, the are available as I pointed out & can easily be home made if you have a moderate DIY ability. what you term a “powerstrip” (my photo) is an extension cable with a number of sockets on the end. The 2 home made extension cables illustrate that you can use whatever plugs and sockets you like. That 1 uses a twin core cable and that the other uses a 3 core cable was given in my post. As I said I have other extension cables that I have built that have other cables. The fact that the 2 home built cables (in the photos) have 1) a 2 pin plug and socket fitted, & 2) a 3 pin Schuko plug and socket are functions of the ease of locating those examples. They are irrelevant to the plugs and sockets that can be fitted. This should be explained in enough detail for you to understand. If you are continuing to have difficulty in understanding then asking for explanations will get information, sniping off snarky comments is less than helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopburi3 Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 10 hours ago, Danderman123 said: You are a little confused here. For a given wattage, increasing the voltage decreases the amperage. It also allows for a smaller wire. I thought I stated it was not a given wattage but the available wattage increases with the higher voltage in my post - sorry if not clear. IE you have ability to run more using higher voltage. As for the amps used I gave the formula so if you only want to use the same equipment (wattage) and increase voltage indeed the amperage would indeed be lower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, Danderman123 said: i have a solar powered battery pack on my balcony, coupled to an inverter. I need an extension cord from the inverter to my refrigerator. 25 feet will do the job. You will almost certainly need to build one yourself, quality 8 meter extensions are not easy to find. Specially with plugs and sockets built for Thailand Edited September 12, 2022 by sometimewoodworker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyf Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 16 hours ago, Danderman123 said: What part of: " 13 Amps @ 220 volts = 2,860 watts. 13 Amps @ 110 volts = 1,430 watts. Watts are constant in the real world, amps and volts may vary." Is completely wrong? You conveniently left out the first statement that was completely wrong, "Well, no." "13 Amps @ 220 volts = 2,860 watts." - Wrong, that is VA not Watts. This statement is also wrong but obviously you do not understand why. "Watts are constant in the real world, amps and volts may vary." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyf Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 45 minutes ago, lopburi3 said: I thought I stated it was not a given wattage but the available wattage increases with the higher voltage in my post - sorry if not clear. IE you have ability to run more using higher voltage. As for the amps used I gave the formula so if you only want to use the same equipment (wattage) and increase voltage indeed the amperage would indeed be lower. Your thinking is ok, the post you responded to is wrong. There is no such thing as a given wattage. The wattage shown on the label is an estimate based on the resistive load of the appliance/device at a particular voltage How the appliance is installed can affect the actual power used by the appliance/device. As you say the higher the voltage the less current is required to dissipate the same level of power. I used to design industrial ovens and would use elements in a series/parallel combination to get an appropriate temperature profile in the chamber. Reducing the current reduced the watts/sq inch and the surface temperature of the element. The elements we used were all 1Kw@240v. If you put 2 in series, the given wattage is no longer given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimewoodworker Posted September 12, 2022 Share Posted September 12, 2022 3 minutes ago, sandyf said: Your thinking is ok, the post you responded to is wrong. There is no such thing as a given wattage. The wattage shown on the label is an estimate based on the resistive load of the appliance/device at a particular voltage How the appliance is installed can affect the actual power used by the appliance/device. As you say the higher the voltage the less current is required to dissipate the same level of power. I used to design industrial ovens and would use elements in a series/parallel combination to get an appropriate temperature profile in the chamber. Reducing the current reduced the watts/sq inch and the surface temperature of the element. The elements we used were all 1Kw@240v. If you put 2 in series, the given wattage is no longer given. There is a nice signature that explains the situation, to possibly paraphrase ‘I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MajorTom Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 On 9/12/2022 at 8:55 AM, sandyf said: "13 Amps @ 220 volts = 2,860 watts." - Wrong, that is VA not Watts. Right and wrong. VA and Watts will be the same in a circuit with only resistive load. Including your example with heating elements. With inductive load (motors, transformers etc.) there will be a difference determined by the power factor of the components. Labeled as cos φ. Not very relevant for any layman using a household extension cord. Either way, stick to VA when calculating wire dimensions. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyf Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 (edited) 2 hours ago, MajorTom said: Right and wrong. VA and Watts will be the same in a circuit with only resistive load. Including your example with heating elements. With inductive load (motors, transformers etc.) there will be a difference determined by the power factor of the components. Labeled as cos φ. Not very relevant for any layman using a household extension cord. Either way, stick to VA when calculating wire dimensions. If you want to be pedantic, VA and Watts can have the same numeric value, but by definition they will never be the same. Edited September 13, 2022 by sandyf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyf Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 2 hours ago, MajorTom said: Either way, stick to VA when calculating wire dimensions. There was no wire calculation. The original query was could 13A cable be used in Thailand, some seemed to think that the 13A cable could only be used for some figure around 7A , sticking your nose in it would appear you agree with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crossy Posted September 13, 2022 Share Posted September 13, 2022 At this juncture I think enough bickering and misinformation has been supplied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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