Question about using a wet saw extension cord in cold weather

I brought my 100 foot 12-gauge cord out on a 30 degree morning in Omaha last week and the saw kept bogging down halfway through cuts. Switched to a shorter 50 foot cord and it ran fine the rest of the day. Does the cold mess with voltage drop more than normal or was it just a coincidence?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_hart382d agoMost Upvoted

I had the same trouble in Denver last December around 25 degrees. My 12-gauge 100 footer made my saw drag on every cut after about 30 feet from the outlet. Going to a 50 footer fixed it immediately so I think cold weather does make voltage drop worse on longer runs.

the_sage2d ago

Cold weather making voltage drop worse doesn't really hold up if you think about it. Copper wire actually gets less resistant when it's cold, not more. That 30 degree morning should have made your 100 footer perform BETTER than on a hot summer day, electrically speaking. The real culprit was probably the outlet or the breaker panel being loaded up with other stuff running that morning, like heaters or block warmers. Also, 30 feet from the outlet on a 100 foot cord means the reel or coil was still tight, which creates way more heat and voltage drop than the cold ever could. Your saw bogged down because the cord got warm and soft, not because the temperature outside was low.

ross.kim2d ago

Man, I gotta push back on that a little. Colder copper might resist less, but cold also makes insulation brittle and connectors shrink, which can create bad connections at the plug ends. @ryan_hart38 swapping to a shorter cord proves it's a real issue, not just in his head. I think the combination of a stiff cord and a tight coil just multiplies the draw problems when it's freezing out.