I would like to point out that the emergency situation presented in the initial story is a great deal different from your situation where you expect to have the cords used over and over. I am sure that you are too practical to be suggesting that all RVers should carry these large and heavy cord protectors around with them for the rare times they would need them.
I would guess that most of us would approach this simply expecting that the cord would need to be sacrificed, as the most cost effective way of helping a neighbor avoid losing hundred of dollars of food.
That being the case, and having already seen that you prefer a scientific approach to things, when you say the cord will eventually have irreversible changes, what sort of time frame are you taking about before the cord ought to be tossed? What has testing showed? After 1 car goes over it? A day? Week? Or what?
Great points Neal. I would assume that the more heavy-duty the extension cord, the longer it would hold up to any kind of abuse. I have very rarely seen an extension cord go bad, even the fairly cheap ones. I’m just talking about general use, not with traffic going over them. Usually, they fail at the ends or at one place where they have been damaged mechanically or by sun exposure. Before I switched over to electric leaf blowers, I used a heavy duty 100’ 12 gauge extension cord to power a Stihl corded leaf blower. I would have to replace the cord every couple of seasons due to it being dragged on the driveway, pulled around corners, tugged and twisted in the process of keeping my long driveway and parking areas clean. Based on my experience, I seriously doubt that one small car with standard tires (no chains or spikes) slowly driving over a heavy duty extension cord (one time) would do much damage to it. But common sense should be applied to any actual situation. That said, I think I’ll order a set of the tire ramps Mike recommended just in case. They would come in quite handy for parties, special events, and emergencies.
Mike
I would like to point out that the emergency situation presented in the initial story is a great deal different from your situation where you expect to have the cords used over and over. I am sure that you are too practical to be suggesting that all RVers should carry these large and heavy cord protectors around with them for the rare times they would need them.
I would guess that most of us would approach this simply expecting that the cord would need to be sacrificed, as the most cost effective way of helping a neighbor avoid losing hundred of dollars of food.
That being the case, and having already seen that you prefer a scientific approach to things, when you say the cord will eventually have irreversible changes, what sort of time frame are you taking about before the cord ought to be tossed? What has testing showed? After 1 car goes over it? A day? Week? Or what?
Great points Neal. I would assume that the more heavy-duty the extension cord, the longer it would hold up to any kind of abuse. I have very rarely seen an extension cord go bad, even the fairly cheap ones. I’m just talking about general use, not with traffic going over them. Usually, they fail at the ends or at one place where they have been damaged mechanically or by sun exposure. Before I switched over to electric leaf blowers, I used a heavy duty 100’ 12 gauge extension cord to power a Stihl corded leaf blower. I would have to replace the cord every couple of seasons due to it being dragged on the driveway, pulled around corners, tugged and twisted in the process of keeping my long driveway and parking areas clean. Based on my experience, I seriously doubt that one small car with standard tires (no chains or spikes) slowly driving over a heavy duty extension cord (one time) would do much damage to it. But common sense should be applied to any actual situation. That said, I think I’ll order a set of the tire ramps Mike recommended just in case. They would come in quite handy for parties, special events, and emergencies.