|
Sat, Nov 7, 09 at 14:09
| I want to plug two small porch christmas trees with 100 mini lights in each.
I have no outside outlets. so can I put a timer into my garage outlet, then plug an extension cord onto the timer and then when I get to my front trees there is only one outlet at end of extension cord and of course I have two trees. Can I just buy a little 2 or 3 plug adapter and plug it in the extension cord to put my two trees in or is this considered not safe.Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
|
|
| You should be fine. However, if your plug-in connections are going to be exposed to pouring rain or a lot of snow it wouldn't be a bad idea to put the connections in a baggie and tape it up to exclude moisture. |
|
| Thanks for the help Wayne and kudzu. I will put it in a baggie for sure. |
|
| Can I join 2 ext. cords together. Both are about 12 feet each. I never know when this is considered unsafe? |
|
| Given your load of 200 small tree lights, the two cords will work fine. If you were going to run a window AC or washing machine, maybe not. |
|
| Before everyone says a blanket OK on this, lets make sure these are OUTDOOR rated cords we are talking about. Do not use the light gauge indoor only rated cords for this! |
|
| steve- Excellent point. I know I was thinking that, and assumed it was implicit, but I should have said it, too. I think the professor just gave me an incomplete on that test question! |
|
| I would not baggie the connection. Water will get inside and them it will be worse because it will never dry out. Just make sure the plug is elevated so that it does not lay in a puddle if you get rain. The less connections the better so one cord is better than two. |
|
| I'm assuming your garage outlet is GFCI protected. If not, I'd either replace it with a GFCI (if you're comfortable with that kind of work), have it replaced, or use a plug-in ("job site") GFCI. |
|
| More good advice. thankyou. My cords are for outdoor, But say light duty 16 gauge. Would they be OK if I use two connected to each other. |
|
| A 16 gauge cord less than 50' can power about 1600 watts. Now I wouldn't want to get that close to the limit, and that limit should be reduced a little since you won't have a continuous run because you're plugging things together, but the 200 watts you say you have are far under the limits of your setup. You should be fine. |
Please Note: Only registered members are able to post messages to this forum. If you are a member, please log in. If you aren't yet a member, join now!
Return to the Electrical Wiring Forum
Instructions
- You must be a registered member and logged in to post messages on our forums.
- Posting is a two-step process. Once you have composed your message, you will be taken to the preview page. You will then have a chance to review the contents and make changes.
- After posting your message, you may need to refresh the forum page in order to see it.
- It is illegal to post copyrighted material without the owner's consent.
- HTML codes are allowed in the message field only.
- No advertising is allowed in any of the forums.
- If you would like to practice posting or uploading photos, please visit our Test forum.
- If you need assistance, please Contact Us and we will be happy to help.