Thirty years in construction and I've never had a problem getting neat, clean coils wrapping hand to elbow. Always a good idea to make sure you're unplugged from your outlet, first.

@jefferyrbrown

11 ай бұрын

I'd find it pretty hard to do 100 ft 12g cords hand to elbow..lol

Just an added tip. When following his tip for winding a cord that has been wound the wrong way for a long time, when you lay it out straight, do it on the blacktop and on a warm day if you can. It helps to soften the the outer coating so that you can twist the cord a little easier. Some cords have a cheap hard plastic outer covering that just won't straighten no matter what you do.

@JP-ue6jj

Жыл бұрын

Or use a heat gun … certainly works

@jhandle4196

11 ай бұрын

Or just breathe hot air on it. Many seem to have an abundance of that.

@flamingfrancis

11 ай бұрын

That is also a good tip for garden hoses.

@thunderstorm6616

10 ай бұрын

Or your wife's hairdryer works well

I was taught to wind cords this way in the 70s when I was a Instrument Tech in Mississippi. My Supervisor fussed at me the first time he saw me wind a extension cord around my arm and imminently taught me to do it this way! I have shown many others how to do this through the years! Great video!!!

Finally...... A you tube on how to coil an extension cord. A requirement for all apprentices.

I learned a very similar technique in audio visual class at a community college in Las colinas Texas. It was, in fact, a game changer. And now I do the exact same thing with all electrical wires including extension cords, audio cables, pretty much anything that looks like a cable and it's a beaute.

Wow! I am 70. Wish I learned this 50 years back!

Glad to see someone else doing this. I have done this all my life. Coiling large cables and ropes, too heavy to hold, it can be done, say, on the deck of a ship, too. Plus, there is a technique called a "Ballentine Curl", that makes a stack of ships lines that looks like the symbol of three interlocking rings on a Ballentine ale bottle that is a very stable stowage. But the principle is the same for laying down the coils.

This is excellent. I wind up my extension cords like i do my pressure cleaner hose. Basically like you do. A 5 gallon bucket is good to put that "MEMORY" into your hose or cord.. like this guy said, once you have EMPARTED that into whatever you are winding up, your building that MEMORY into it.

@edithbannerman4

10 ай бұрын

@Hello there, how are you doing this blessed day?

I was shown the exact same technique for ropes (sheets) when I did a basic sailing course. A very useful life-skill for all sorts of things.

Hi there great demo. I am 72 and my dad taught me this technique before I was 10yo and it works every time.

I have been wrapping my extension cords around my elbow for years and wasting time getting the tangles out when I use them the next time. I have watched several KZread videos today to find the best way to wrap cords to avoid tangling. I like yours the best. Thank for a really helpful video. I did subscribe to your KZread site because I am sure that you have a lot of helpful tips and tricks.

Good job! I also find that leaving it in the hot sun (during 50 degree temps or higher) can help get some of the kinks and twists out when recoiling.

@canucanoe2861

Жыл бұрын

That is what I do. This technique is also good for long hoses.

Thank you! Very nice of you to take the time to make this useful video.

So needed to see this. Thanks for sharing this technique.

Thank you, I now understand the "why" you have been so very helpful to me. I am grateful and I appreciate you my friend. Thank you again. ❤

A very long time ago one of my Dad's friends showed me this trick. However shortly after I forgot how he showed my to do it. So for the next 40yrs it has frustrated me not only that I knew that there was a trick to it and I had been shown it, but could not remember the actual process!!! Thank you so much for this video!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great technique for coiling. The uncoiling part, however, not so much. Here is the tip that makes the whole thing work. Say you start coiling from the plug end. This will impart a specific coil twist to the cord. (The unspoken part on twisting is that all coil methods impart a twist, the method shown simply makes the twist work for you rather than against) Always uncoil the cord fully. When it comes time to coil back up, coil from the receptacle end. No more twisting is required! The twist is already in the cord, and you can maintain by always uncoiling from one end and coiling from the other. Only took me 30 years to figure that out!

@johnbianchi3877

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that!

@AHEUTUBE

Жыл бұрын

I hope you can make a video and share it in KZread 😊

@robertingram2820

11 ай бұрын

Ya. Please post. My small mind just felt smaller. I am a visual learner...just ask my wife

@richardbarber5911

10 ай бұрын

ha! ha! My thoughts exactly! Me, too. I need to *see* it :) @@robertingram2820

I learned this when I was working as a tree trimmer years ago. While winding up the ropes you had to give it a twist or you would get the same results as the twisted cord in his example.

Good stuff. My father took a totally different approach that did away with the coil altogether. Pick a point near the middle and walk it out as you did, but half as far. Adjust where your middle is until the ends (away from you) are about even. Now walk that middle back to the two ends. You have something 1/4 the length with four wires at each point. Then take everything at one end and bring it back to to the other. Repeat until it is the length you want. Then wrap something around the center of that to keep it together. This eliminates twisting altogether.

@derekj3601

Жыл бұрын

4:00

I've been winding cords and ropes around my arm for 50 plus years and never had a problem. The cords still work and so do I! LOL!!! On the wall of my garage, I also have one of those 'basket thingies' with a hand crank. It holds 200 feet of cord. All you do is wind it back into the basket. Works great and takes less than five minutes to have your extension cords all wound up nice and neat with NO hassles.

Thank you. Simple and useful. Nice video.

I'm a pro sound engineer - we coil hundreds of LONG cables every day - and this is the only way to do it. :) nice video tip> one suggestion. If you have a badly kinked cable - you may not ever be able to get it to lay flat.. the wires inside might not ever straighten out ... But here is a technique to try. trail the cord out straight as shown in the video - then drag it around the yard ... a lot.. walk around trees and allow the cord to rub gently against things as you drag it around the yard. You might be able to work out some of the kinks by exercising the cable. this also works MUCH better when it's warm out - and you are in the sun. If that fails - put on work gloves and work the cable through your hands. as you press the cord as if you were wiping it down with generous pressure - thru your hand the cord will try to un wind... you will need to stop and work those loops all the way out to the other end of the cable - then go back to the start and do that again. it might take a long time .. Occasionally the kinks are just so bad - that the only smart thing to do is to throw out the extension cord ... Note - if the cord is kinked badly - the outter jacket is more likely to crack - and that will allow the inner wires to become frayed - and fail - or worse - Shock you . Wet grass and a bad extension cord can be dangerous. :0! Good luck with your cords and DO NOT EVER wrap around your elbow. !! !!

@davidwarren4569

Жыл бұрын

My sentiments exactly!

@robertduda4234

Жыл бұрын

Whoops!

Definitely useful, I was looking for a tip on what to do to secure it after it's wound cleanly however!

I agree with John Cornfield below. The over under method is the preferred way to wrap microphone cables and once you learn it, you’ll use it on all your cables and ropes. The overhand method you are teaching is a good starting point though.

I learned the elbow technique when I was young, doing our boat ropes. I naturally used the same way for my electrical cords. They seem to be okay, but if this is a better way to sustain the internal wiring integrity, I’m all for it. I tried your recommendations but think I have more work to do. It’s about 90% rounded. One kink I need to figure out.

@sinusnovi3826

Жыл бұрын

the elbow technique is okay when you do it not like a oval but like an eight. And what he tells is nonsens, better do it like this kzread.info/dash/bejne/gY1k0dKwqqutmNI.html

@Randor10

Жыл бұрын

During broadcasting school you’d almost get tossed out the door for using the elbow method.

i worked with a contractor when i was 15 or so , i learned the right way to wind an extension cord real fast

I learned this technique when having to coil an air compressor type hose. If you don't twist as you go, you will never get it coiled. I also try to go with longer loops but that is just my preference.

You have it going on! Somebody daisy chained my cord once - ruining it ! I've used this on my Music cords for a long time. Thanks!

Great. Really useful tip.will use this infuture. Have to store for future reference. Watched it 10x already. Will watch tomorrow before breakfast to learn how to do it. Great

I have four or five extensions that are a mess, I'll give this a try and take pictures for you. I have always used the around the elbow method but I believe years ago when extensions only had 2 wires this worked fine

I’ve done this for 40 years. In fact, any construction site I was on most people did this, so yes it does work.

This is a great way to create a coil which looks nice. But there's a problem. This kind of coil requires you to untwist the cable as you unwind it from the coil (because you did all that twisting in a single direction while coiling it up. Did you notice that while you were coiling up the cable, the remaining cable on the ground got harder and harder to deal with because of all the twisting you were doing? The kind of coil you created is equivalent to how the cable would be coiled around rolling spool, and it's best unwound by unrolling the spool, not by lying the coil on the ground and picking up an end. If you pull on that end, you'll have a loopy, twisty mess, not very different from the mess you'd get had you chosen to wrap the cable around your elbow. A much better way of wrapping a cable uses what is called the "over/under" technique, which keeps the net twist of the cable near zero. Please check out this video for details. kzread.info/dash/bejne/p61nw9qdqKfKe9Y.html

@davidb6999

Жыл бұрын

Over and under is the only way to manage cables, every other method is amateur hour!

@rhatid

Жыл бұрын

Great comment! So so useful!

@im1who84u

Жыл бұрын

I use the over under method and my extension cords are in great shape. It's the only way to do it.

I work in laying out miles of fiber optic cable. I appreciate and relate to your show. Hoses, pipes, cables or anything that goes in a reel have their own protocol to wind and unwind. Otherwise, you will have a big mess to solve.

As others have noted you have it half right. Over under, meaning you pinch and twist one direction on the first coil and then twist the opposite direction and bring the coil up under the last one you did. This keeps it from getting twisted in one direction over time and when you go to use it it uncoils nice and untangled coil after coil.

@lshimon4

Жыл бұрын

I am not sure what you mean by over under. Wish there was a video to show me.

man you teach me something that was a terrible for me at the moment to store my extension chords...... thanks!!!

I remember when I was a teenager in high school, a rock band came to our school out of the blue. We were in gym class so we helped them set up. We all got in different groups. Sone helped set up the drums, others the speakers. I remember one of the guys in the band told us "don't do this" as he was starting to wrap the speaker cords around his arm.

Absolutely correct,a good friend of mine once told me that Leeds’s,cords,ropes and hoses all have a memory,and need to be rolled up that way,I’ve told many people how it works and and showed them,all you get is a weird look from them🤪

Hahaha! You have explained it in a simple language. However one small suggestion, before starting the second loop I lock the first coil by using a biding wire or a piece of tape. This way when you takeout your cable next time you know that this is was the start and so you can use the other end to unwind. We also use this technique when pulling out our submersible pump. Only difference is that we lay down the cable in the form of '8'! Same principle. It becomes easier when we rerun the pump back into the well. Thanks.

Thanks for this mate I shall do this in the future and I will let my son know about it too!!

I will try this method but before I came here I watched two other videos that showed the over-under technique😊

👍 thumbs up. The most important part is when you plug into the outlet, you have to know which side of the pile is up. Otherwise it will tangle as you pull it...

Great tip/technique. Thanks!

I don't care what you say. I have worked with wires all my life. It is the spinning of the earth that tangles them. No matter what you do during use they will twist up. We use to call it training the cord getting it to obey you when curling it back up. I always found it amazing at time the perfect knots that got tied in the wires. For the cheap plastic outer jacket cords we got the reals that would wind them up. The best cords made of real rubber were much more cooperative. Time is money this takes to long. But thanks for the video any way.

Thankyou, I have been in my yard with extension cords and garden hoses galore ...elbow girl.

Gonna try this. Thanks much for the tip.

Thanks. I was doing it the wrong way for the past couple of decades.

Yes you are getting the existing twists out BUT once the twists are out you do the over under wrap the next time you wrap. Over and under works on garden hoses, and multi wire cable and fiber as well. Using the the over under method will never put any kind of twist in the coil.

@edithbannerman4

10 ай бұрын

@Hello there, how are you doing this blessed day?

try going over and under, it will protect your cables and unwind so much better

@gerdberg4188

Жыл бұрын

J you are correct , if you pull the cord under every other it will throw out completely untwisted . This guy is Almost right but not quite

@ColetteTremblay007

Жыл бұрын

What do you mean by « going over and under ». ?

@ColetteTremblay007

Жыл бұрын

Where can I see this in action ?

@j.d.3269

Жыл бұрын

​@@ColetteTremblay007 kzread.info/dash/bejne/gY1k0dKwqqutmNI.html

@yllwprl5229

Жыл бұрын

kzread.info/dash/bejne/q56OtbKoqtiokpM.html

I used it for my aquarium hose successfully, thanks!

You made rocket science simple. Thanks!

Wow great job 👍👍👍👍👍👍

Get an old garden hose winder and put all your cord on that. Works great!

If you need to make a video about how to coil an extension cord then this country is well and truly hosed. Good luck out there.

Thank you for thee useful tips

Interesting, you learn something new every day ....im the elbow guy .......lol ...ill try it ...thanks

Thank you so much. I am going out to work on my garden hose.

I've struggled with winding cords, ropes, cable, etc. all my life, and I believe it's because I'm left-handed. In the video I notice that the cord is held in the left hand and wound with the right. Note also that the winding is done in a clockwise direction which I believe matches the way the internal wires are wound around each other. As a left-hander my tendency is to hold with my right hand and wind in a counter-clockwise direction with my left.

@helder4u

Жыл бұрын

if you read my link below , you will find it works equally with any leading hand

@johnlishman4946

Жыл бұрын

@@helder4u i was think that it make's no deference what hand i learnt this from my younger day i am a 53 yr old sparky used to get wrong off my boss for it i soon learnt how to do it now i am always shouting at people who mess my leads up if they mess them up i go mad u.k

To my mind the easiest way is the way we store kite flying lines. Basically you wind the line onto a flat board with cut outs on both ends and one on a longer edge, that allows you to constantly make a figure of eight, crossing over each time. This actually avoids any twists.

@sinusnovi3826

Жыл бұрын

You are right. The figure eight ist the solution. Since decades I do this (without a board) with electric cords, thin or thick ropes. For thin ropes (para cord or thinner) in length 2 to 3 yards I do this technique with thumb and the tiny (pinkie?) finger of my left hand using the right hand to lay the figure eight between these fingers. For electric cords or thicker ropes at a lenght of about 4 yards I use the elbow method combined with the figure eigth methode. For a electric cord in a length like used in the video I do this figure eight using both hands in a distance between the hands of about 1 yard, grabbing the loose part of the cord alternatly with left and right hand. Left hand grabs the cord so that the loose part comes out of the hand on the lower side, same with the right hand. The advantage of the figure eight method is that you can hold one end of the rope and throw the rest of the rope without creating loops or twists.

Vacuum cleaner cords too…I never put it back as it comes from the original purchase. I do as you did and let it hang loosely from the top hook on the cleaner

Brilliant. Thanks for the tip

Great demo - Thanks

I needed this ! Thank you !!

Brilliant, thank you Sir! I have something to go on now and will get to it, my long extension cord is a birds nest.

I have wound mine on my arm for 40+ years and have never had a problem with my cords shorting out. Guess I got lucky but I do believe this is a better way.

Well, I did the elbow wrap method all my life. It's super quick and simple. On most job sites the boss wants speed from the beginning to the end of the day. At the end of the day, you want to be as quick as possible when wrapping up. Your tired as hell if you've done your job and truly earned your pay, and you just want to get it freaking done and go home. And unless the cord is your own personal tool, you really don't care if it's bad for the cord to roll it up this way. The boss with the bucks can easily buy another cord with out batting an eye. Especially if he has an expense account. As far as the cord being hard to unroll in the morning goes, there's a sure fire method to insure a smooth and fast transition from rolled to stretch. It's called paying attention to what you are doing. It takes way to long to use your method on a job site. 7 Unless of course you are calling the shots and running the show. In that case you will award yourself the extra time an effort it takes to use your slow poke method.

It looks a LOT better than the “Chain” method of storing cords too!

That's a good tip and I've doing it for years. It also works like a charm for the various computer cables. I haven't got the room for my printer in my very tight computer space so I just unfurl the wires and plug them in as I need it to get printing done. Then I just wind them back up as you say for storage by the printer.

Find the middle of the cord... Tie a loop about ten inches long at that point....reach your hand through the loop hole and grab both cords and pull them back through....now put your hand through the new hole and pull the next two cords through.... repeat till you reach the plugs.....the nice thing about this method is you only have to undo loops to suit the amount of cord you need !

@georgehauser5819

Жыл бұрын

I was told that's called a linemans knot. I use that for all of my long cords.

@averteddisasterbarely2339

Жыл бұрын

@@georgehauser5819 it is ! Some call it a daisy chain also

Thank you! I'd send b4 and after shots but haven't figured out how to do it on this phone😊

Best tecnique ive ever seen: lay out full length. Bring one end even w/ other. Now cord is even, bend at center. Pick up bend, hold two runs in one hand, form a loop. Put free hand through loop, and grab two runs below first hand and pull both through first loop drawing up a second loop by pulling free ends to you. Now reach through new loop and grab runs again and pull through, until a thrid loop forms. Repeat over and over until cord is all loopped into a "chain". Be sure to always pull loops in same direction. Cords will never knot.... can be "unzipped" for just the length needed for use without unzipping entire cord. Known as a California Chain.

@timothy7497

Жыл бұрын

That's my method, you only have to unwind what is needed.

OOUO Stands for over one under one That seems the best method for coiling as it does not put any twists in the cable, rope or hose. A method i am trying out for cables is "halve the wind". Grab the cable at the ends and coil them togethet old school around your folded arm. Very quick, compact and the cable ends can be pluged together through the resulting midpoint loop to hold it in shape. Would not use this for shorter extensions.

The theory here, re the “wires inside” the cord is important to understand conceptually… And then his wrap theory is good. Personally, I would then add these points to “how to wrap” a “daisy chain” from the cord. For that, search for “cord daisy chain”… then you decide which method you like most.

I do this into a 5-gal bucket (handles 100 foot cord.) Also store aluminum hoses in small aluminum trash can same way. A fisherman showed me how he used this method with his anchor chain. Works well for 71 year old 85# weakling.

Very good tip , times is money,nice

I've always done the over under loop method, so the cord ends up in figure 8 coils. It makes very easy to uncoil.

Great video. But if I don’t have time to train my cables can I send them to cable training school?

When used to coil a 3 strand rope you should twist the opposite direction. This will keep the strands twisted together, staying tight and not opening the normal lay of the 3 strands.

@edithbannerman4

10 ай бұрын

@Hello there, how are you doing this blessed day?

I have used the figure 8 method on microphone cables…gently laying it flat on the stage and doing a figure 8 and making sure it wasn’t twisted…. that way you can plug the mic in and walk away and the unwrapping cable follows you in a straight line. I also worked in the shipyard and we laid out many ropes untwisting them and winding them up with the same technique in your video.. on the ground though, too heavy.

@Randor10

Жыл бұрын

I’ve heard of that method as well but we only used it on larger, heavier cables.

I have wrapped my cords around my arm for years and have always had good luck.

Thanks and I have found to "always" start winding with the female end and of course that means you will end with the male end. When unwinding, always start with the male end which you will be plugging into a socket. This will save the training you have given the cord.

@1styoudummy

Жыл бұрын

Wrong, you always start coiling from the male end. ALWAYS

@Randor10

Жыл бұрын

Try running microphone lines from a stage all the way through a building out to the live truck only to find out you’ve got the ends reversed. That’s why we carry adapters that change the male and female connectors to what is needed. We call them gender benders. When you make the mistake once, you tend not to do it again.

I agree that one should not have wound against the arm. However I have exactly the same. As a result my cable has so many kinks. Do you know to get rid of those kinks to make it smooth and straight. My 100ft cable is left 80 ft long only.

@shawnfinger5287

Жыл бұрын

On a good hot day, lay it outside in the sun, in a straight line. Let it get hot, then wind it up using this method or the over under method.

The same things happens with kite string. Nice job with your explanation. OJT on the job training. Learn today remember always.

Great ideas !!

There is another way. I used to do steam cleaning and had about 200 feet of high pressure hose. Similar to hydraulic line. It was impossible to twist. Instead of coiling it up to store it, I made a figure eight when wrapping it up, which required no twisting. Lengthy stiff hoses can be frustrating. When it came time to use it, I simply took a part of the figure eight loop and laid it on the ground and walked it out to whatever length I needed and there was no twisting or knots. I had no swivel joints, they always leak and are expensive. At 4000 psi and 160 F, there is no garden hose version. I got some stories I can tell you about that, especially the subzero temperatures.

Thanks for the good tip I got a garage full of those screwed up cords.sam

I'm learning to "kit" my eqp. As simple as pill bottle for head phone and jumpers. Also for spares. Then 5 gallon buckets for antenna cables and extension cables. Be sure to label all as our 4 the amendment is fadeing.

it works great when starting with a brand new cord/hose/cable.etc. If it has been wrapped up and stored incorrectly you will have issues with it. Lay it out on ground on a nice warm day works best. Cold temperatures are not friendly to wrapping a cord up.

# 5:02 now,what you got is a coil. A close lightening strike can make a spark @ the ends. Twist the coil into a figure 8 and tie it of. Now the coil will not be so subjected to out side animations. It canciled itself out.

Thank you! Wonderful!!!!

That tip is finer than frog hair ! 😃 😎👍😊

Good 👍 thanks 😊

Coiling with your elbow works fine if each time you roll it with the opposite arm that you used before. I’ve been a carpenter for 50 years and have never had a problem with my cords. If you constantly use the same arm to roll it up with then they will twist.

Good job

Thank you !!

how long was the orange extension cord in this video?

We did figure 8 with the Studio cameras at the TV station. So it never tangles as you move the huge camera.

I've been sailing since I was 5, so to me its the natural way. But I will say that the over the elbow method is fine provided you uncoil it the same way, but most people use the 'throw it on the ground' method.

Not sure, but I will try it. Thanks.

I've always done this with long, 4 to 4 and a half foot loops. Hanging on a lg. hook in the garage.

Epipany! Thanks.