My $15/15-Minute, Long Needed Shop Upgrade

[rhull]

For more than 5 years, I've been suffering the following setup. I can't have two heavy duty extension cords plugged into the same outlet. I used a silly splitter to get the extra cord in there at a different angle. The splitter would always fall out at unexpected times, etc...



For 15 dollars, and with ~15 minutes of work, I now have this:





I can already tell this is 1000 times better!

[Leo Voisine]

Interesting - I have never seen that before.

[Joe Lyddon]

Cool idea!

Where did you get it?

What did you have to do?

[deepsplinter]

It did solve the problem...but $15 dollars? WOW!!

I'm guessing you don't find those just anywhere.

[rhull]

Jan 26, 2010 11:34:48 GMT -6 deepsplinter said:

It did solve the problem...but $15 dollars? WOW!!

I'm guessing you don't find those just anywhere.

No. The outlet was like $9, I think. The rest was shipping costs. It's worth it though, to not have the plug fall out when I'm in the middle of planing a piece of wood. I can't tell you how frustrating that is.

Besides, $15 isn't THAT much. I mean...this will last for years and years. One can easily spend that much eating out for dinner, which is fleeting. Man, I spend much more than that on nice pieces of lumber that I don't have any dedicated need for.

This is a fairly new product, I think. I saw it somewhere last year. Perhaps it was in Wood Magazine or Popular Woodworking Magazine. I can't remember for sure.

At $9 per outlet, I probably wouldn't outfit my whole shop this way, but it's a nice solution when needed.

www.amazon.com/360-Electrical-36010-W-Rotating-Duplex/dp/B000VWC27G

[Ruffnek]

That's a neat, quick fix.

I would probably have just added another box below the existing one with a duplex outlet but I've got a lot of electrical stuff left over from building my house and shop.

[deepsplinter]

I probably would have put some perforated strap around it to hold it in place. (I have a little hillbilly in me)

Eight bucks(+-) for the strap...a few more for the concrete anchors...hit rebar when drilling....break my masonry bit....get mad and throw my hammer drill....

Yeah, maybe you done good at just $15.

[rrich]

I think that I saw those at Lowe's awhile back.

[fredbelknap]

That is a great fix, I have problems with the voltage control things on cords for phones and electronic devices. Thanks for posting.

[lexrex]

Lowe's does have them, I saw it there as well.

[rhull]

That's interesting. I looked around at both Lowes and Home Despot, but I didn't find it at either. Oh well. In any case, I'm only out a few bucks extra for shipping. I'm still a happy camper.

[TDHofstetter]

I've seen those a few times... I wonder a little bit about arcing on the slip rings, but they may be OK.

Me... when I run into a situation like that, I just add another box & two more outlets.

[rhull]

Jan 26, 2010 22:10:37 GMT -6 TDHofstetter said:

when I run into a situation like that, I just add another box & two more outlets.

Ah, but that would have taken me a lot longer than 15 minutes.

[imahic]

I am kinda like Tim. My concern would be with the arcing after a little wear and tear on it. But I guess if they are UL approved then all should be good. I also would add a box and outlet. In my shop I have two outlets where I added the 6 outlet adapter that plugs into the original outlet.

electrical.hardwarestore.com/12-34-outlet-adapters/six-outlet-grounding-adapter-153619.aspx

Mike

[sawduster]

In addition to wear that might cause arching of the slip ring, I'm concerned about the amp rating of the thing. Looked at that link at Amazon and my cursory look did not turn up a listing for its amp rating Its recommended uses for cell phone chargers and kitchen appliances does not encourage me to think it is rated for anything greater than a 15 amp circuit.

[Mark T]

I looked at them at Lowes. They are indeed 15 amp rated. I wouldn't worry much about the slip rings. I have had a 15 amp cord reel with triple taps and 50 ft of cord for probably 10 years. I've yanked that dude all over the shop with no failure yet. I would think the slight movements this receptacle makes would last a very long time.

I dunno.

[rhull]

Jan 27, 2010 13:27:32 GMT -6 Mark T said:

I looked at them at Lowes. They are indeed 15 amp rated.

It is indeed rated for 15Amps, however it's on a 15 Amp breaker, so it should be fine, no? The only time I've ever reached 15 Amps and tripped the breaker is when I'm using the bandsaw and the blade binds.

[sawduster]

Well, if it is on a 15 amp circuit, then the breaker ought to pop before the fire starts. ;D

Long as your extension cords are not too long, and your tools don't draw more amps for more than a few seconds, it ought to be alright. The breaker is there to protect the wiring so it ought to pop before the outlet cooks.

[Mark T]

You're good to go. I think I may use one or two of them myself.