What reliable source should I be asking?

You? Your grandparents? Homeless ex felon on the street corner?

I check multiple sources, actually - gotta do research the scientific way. But, if you are the All Knowing One, I can just come here and ask you (and your [biased] attitude) personally.

Can I just stop by your place and have a chat? What's your phone number?

Where did you get this biased attitude?

What I have said before and will repeat it here:

Don't believe everything you read on the internet.
Don't believe what an AI bot tells you.

Et sequitur, since AAC is part of the internet, don't believe everything you read on AAC.

 

So... You've nothing to contribute but a negative argument?

Good job!

*I've been on here three days, and already a "moderator" is telling me not to trust this site? Weird.*

 

I love this question. I had a tough time explaining to my neighbor who needed to extend the cord from his generator to the house that it made no difference. It's not a fluid duct I told him.

 

As far as internet source reliability, this site does much better than most. But not every time.
and in many instances the difference would be difficult to measure with normal test equipment. So just becaause there is a difference does not mean it matters. Most of us do not have eight digit voltmeters.

 

So... You've nothing to contribute but a negative argument?

Good job!

*I've been on here three days, and already a "moderator" is telling me not to trust this site? Weird.*

I've only been here 15 years. My good friend from Argentina has been here 20 years since the year AAC was founded.
Choose whatever sandbox suits you.

 

So... You've nothing to contribute but a negative argument?

Good job!

*I've been on here three days, and already a "moderator" is telling me not to trust this site? Weird.*

It's weird to have someone acknowledge the obvious -- that an Internet forum that does vet and approve every post individually is susceptible to containing content that is not 100% accurate?

Thinking that that's weird is what strike me as weird.

The fact that there is no shortage of inaccurate information on the Internet about just about anything should not come as a surprise to you. Even people that are legitimately trying to provide correct information often post incorrect information because their understanding is not correct or complete. So it shouldn't come as a shock that that bad information gets folded into LLM responses (just as they get returned in any the results by any search engine). LLMs currently have very limited ability to assess the correctness of what they generate, though this is certainly a hot area of active research.

 

You should have asked whether a black cable has better heat dissipation than a white one

In theory, the black cable will have better heat dissipation in most cases because black radiates heat better than white. However, if the two cables are heated with a high power light source, then there will be a break even point after which the black cable will actually heat up more than the white. The break even point is the point where the black absorbs more energy than the white. Compare this to wearing light colored clothing in the summer vs dark colors.

 

The #10 extension cord should be first so that the voltage supplied to the second cord will be a bit higher. The voltage drop in the second cord will be subtracted from the higher voltage at the end of the heavy cord. But the difference will not be very much.
And consider that the AI bot can only base it's conclusions on whatever it uses as a reference, obviously the yellow cord will drop less voltage than the black cord.

Hi,

Where are you getting this from?

(In the following, Vp=positive terminal of the voltage source, Vn=negative terminal)

If we have a 6 volt power source and three resistors R1=1 Ohm, R2=2 Ohms, and R3=3 Ohms with R3 the load, and connect them in series with R1 first, the current through all three resistors will be 1 amp. The load R3 gets 1 amp, and the voltage at R3 is 3 volts.
Now reverse R1 and R2 so instead of:
Vp-R1-R2-R3-Vn
we have:
Vp-R2-R1-R3-Vn
nothing changes except for the physical location of the heat in R1 and R2.

To be a little more elaborate, we can arrange R1 and R2 to represent both a forward and return resistance:
Vp-R1-R2-R3-R2-R1-Vn

and reversing the extensions represented by two of R1 and two of R2:
Vp-R2-R1-R3-R1-R2-Vn

and here we see in the first case the current flows through R1 then R2 in the forward path, and then R2 to R1 in the reverse path, and in the second case we have the current flows though R2 then R1, and then the return path is R1 then R2.
Thus, we always have a path that includes R1 twice and R2 twice. That means the voltage at R3 is always the same, and of course the current is always the same.

Did you perhaps mean something else?

 

First, The comment about cord colors was ONLY intended as a poke at AI and how it can be so incredibly OFF! I have read a few of the articles in some publications that seemed to be AI created because of the way they read. The title claim did not come close to the actual content.
As for the drops in a string of cords, the resistor analogy is interesting. And if the only losses in extension cords are simply from resistance it would be correct. But then note the conclusion that it was not enough to matter, and it would be difficult to measure.
AND certainly not enough to argue about.

 

First, The comment about cord colors was ONLY intended as a poke at AI and how it can be so incredibly OFF! I have read a few of the articles in some publications that seemed to be AI created because of the way they read. The title claim did not come close to the actual content.
As for the drops in a string of cords, the resistor analogy is interesting. And if the only losses in extension cords are simply from resistance it would be correct. But then note the conclusion that it was not enough to matter, and it would be difficult to measure.
AND certainly not enough to argue about.

It's customary to use a smiley when joking so it becomes more obvious. Yes, 'ai' can be very funny and I've seen more of this today when looking for other information. It's too stupid to even mention here though

Not sure what else you are saying here. I don't think anyone is arguing about anything.

 

First, The comment about cord colors was ONLY intended as a poke at AI and how it can be so incredibly OFF! I have read a few of the articles in some publications that seemed to be AI created because of the way they read. The title claim did not come close to the actual content.
As for the drops in a string of cords, the resistor analogy is interesting. And if the only losses in extension cords are simply from resistance it would be correct. But then note the conclusion that it was not enough to matter, and it would be difficult to measure.
AND certainly not enough to argue about.

Not trying to argue about it, but could you please show an example where the ordering of the cords (assuming that nothing is connected to the junction of the two cords) makes ANY difference in the voltage or current seen at the load (and assuming that the two cords are in the same environment, not one the first in a freezer and the second in an oven)? Not looking for whether or not it is enough to matter, just an example where the difference exists, even in theory on paper.

 

The example will require a good imagination as well as a suspension of disbelief. While the logic is good, the conclusion is not quite as valid after the early morning coffee has worked it's magic.

 

The example will require a good imagination as well as a suspension of disbelief. While the logic is good, the conclusion is not quite as valid after the early morning coffee has worked it's magic.

Next up: three different gauge extension cords in series; which one goes in the middle

 

Next up: three different gauge extension cords in series; which one goes in the middle

The purple one.

The blue one goes on the left and the red one goes on the right.

 

My actual scheme for sequencing extension cords has been to select the lengths to avoid the connections being in puddles of water. That has served me well.

 

My actual scheme for sequencing extension cords has been to select the lengths to avoid the connections being in puddles of water. That has served me well.

Hi,

Oh yes, there are all kinds of conditions we could run into in the various applications that come up.
One of the most difficult (I think) is the extension that must go across the driveway, which means cars would run over it now and then. One solution was to use two poles to run it overhead. Another solution was to get one of those cord covers that allow the wire to be run underneath and then the cars could run over the cord cover. They are available in different places but I've never tried one. Note it's for temporary use not permanent meaning not overnight just for maybe 4 hours. I don't want to have to ask anyone coming in the driveway to park elsewhere for a while either

There's also the "tug" problem where we plug it in and maybe tug it a little too hard and it gets unplugged. I found that if I wrap a small section around something that is very sturdy, that helps prevent the cord from unplugging by accident. If it is joint between the two extensions, I can first tie the two ends into a square knot, then plug them into each other. If the cord is tugged the knot gets a little tighter but the connection remains.