Best Overall Cord Reel We’ve Found!

A mounted cord reel is a great shop or garage addition. The cord is always there, ready to go to work, and when you are done, it stows quickly. But be sure to get the right one for you!

#cordreel #extensioncord #powercord

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Like any other product, you get what you pay for. I had a cord reel in my shop mounted above the end of our main shop table. A small portable heater was plugged into it when we were shooting some episodes for this YouTube channel. After about 30 minutes, we heard the sound of soft electrical arcing, and then there was the strong scent of electrical burning. Smoke starting to come out of the cord reel. We quickly shut off the heater, unplugged it, and took down the reel - which was toast (pun intended).

The problem was my fault. The cord reel was an inexpensive unit that someone had given to me. I’m loath to admit it, but to me, a cord reel was a cord reel. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. WRONG.

Various attributes of the reel are all affected by the price point. The cord gauge, housing, plug ends, mounting bracket, and cord type are all variables.

In my case, the heater I plugged in drew 1500 watts/12 amps. The cord reel was rated under that at 1250 watts/10 amps. The draw was too much through a small circuit, with resistance creating enough heat until the connections literally melted in the reel.

There are a few obvious lessons here. First, any circuit you plug a device into must be able to provide and carry the load required. That’s true for a wired circuit or a plug reel. So, make sure the reel you buy will exceed what you are going to draw from it.

Second, cord reels are for short-term demand, not to plug into and walk away from, like a wall outlet. You can probably get away with it, but why take the risk?

What is not so obvious is that even if the cord reel you use has multiple outlets at the cord end, the total amount of draw, from all devices, must still not exceed the capacity of the unit.

Another thing to consider is the type of cord the unit uses. Most of the reels we’ve seen use either SJT or in a few cases, SJTW. The best unit overall we’ve seen is from Watts Wire®, and the cordage is type SJTOW.

What does all this mean? The following is from the Watts Wire website:

"SJ" stands for Service Junior (meaning 300V rated service cable)
"T" stands for Thermoplastic Jacket (meaning PVC jacket)
"E" stands for Thermoplastic Elastomer Jacket (meaning TPE jacket)
"W" stands for Weather and Water Resistant (Outdoor rated cable)
"O" stands for Oil Rated
Put it all together:
SJTW stands for a 300V-rated PVC Outdoor Extension Cord.
SJEOW stands for a 300V rated TPE Oil Resistant Outdoor Extension Cord.

So, the most common SJT cordage is service junior rates with a thermoplastic/PVC jacket. These are usually somewhat shiny, and the cordage is stiff, especially when cold.

A Snap-On® cord unit with a hanger shop light affixed to the end uses SJTW (service junior thermoplastic/PVC, weather/water resistance outdoor cable).

The Watts Wire® cord reel uses SJTOW (service junior thermoplastic/PVC, oil rated, weather and water resistant) 14/3 cable, rated for 13 amps/1625 watts/125 volts. This is a good overall cable size for 50’ (15.24 meters), which the Watts Wire® unit is. At the time of filming, the cord reel was about $113.

The mounting bracket is stout, and the translucent triple tap end is illuminated to inform you that the plug end is energized. It also includes a built-in 13-amp overload switch that will trip if too much amperage is being pulled through it. This prevents the cord from getting too hot like what happened with my other less robust cord reel!

The case is stout, and the ratchet appears to be well-made! For all these reasons, this cord reel is our favorite and has earned a spot in our shop. If you’d like to get one, visit this link and get 10% off your order:

https://www.wattswire.com/pages/dfj

If you need something with a higher load rating, you can consider the Volt King® reel offered by Rockler®. They have a 40’ (12 meter) reel with 12/3 wiring that is rated for 15 amps/1875 watts. When this was written, you could buy one for $140. It looks like a nice unit, and the ratings are good. However, the cordage is SJT (the most basic you can get), and it doesn’t have an illuminated end - a feature that I really like.

If you want to take a look, here’s the link:

https://www.rockler.com/volt-king-12-gauge-cord-reels?

We are very happy with this unit and think you will too. Thanks for watching!

JUST DO IT YOURSELF!

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