Longest Extension Cord For Charging

[konakid]

I have no idea what I need to know in order to figure out the answer to the following question.

But basically, I wanted to know how far away from a standard 15 amp plug can I run an extension cord and still charge a 48v cart?

I'm sure it depends on the type/gauge of extension cord, and how many amps the charger draws. But can someone give me some tips on the distances I may be looking at.

Is there any extension cord that would allow me to go 100 ft? Is 125 fr. asking too much?

[Isaac-1]

100 Ft is the maximum length of an extension cord in the US per the NEC, and without getting into a lot of details if you want to have your charger that far from an outlet you should use 10 or 12 Gauge extension cord, when I was shopping for one in this class a couple of years ago the best price I could find was from Lowes for one of their yellow heavy duty cords, just make sure to get the one with the 15 amp plug, not the 20 amp plug if you don't have a 20 amp outlet that you will be using (If I recall correctly Lowes offers the exact same cord with either 15 or 20 amp plugs). The cost a when I bought mine was about $100 for 100 ft 10 GA cord, and they are HEAVY.

[konakid]

So, is there a distance that would become dangerous or hurt the cart or charger? For example, could I use the 100 ft 10 GA cord and then put a 25 ft HD extension onto that?

I have a storage building where I would like to store and charge two carts - but it is 125 ft. away from my nearest plug. And running dedicated service would be a problem - a wire would have to run through very rocky, very heavy forest. A trench or overhead wire would be problematic (expensive).

But I could just lay an extension cord on the ground - as it would run in a virtually inaccessible area.

[Clemsoncartguy]

I would but that's me. I'd plug another 25ft 10ga into the big one. Feel for heat on the cord at the plug ends on both sides. But in theory the cord is strong enough to handle any load the charger will pull through it.

Just cause I would do it though does not mean it's recommended for the charger to run on that long a run

[konakid]

Would it be the amperage draw of the charger that is the determining factor? Would a smaller charger be better - assuming that it would take longer to charge.

I guess I'm asking some basic questions about chargers - realizing I don't know what makes them different - better/worse.

[Clemsoncartguy]

It has to do with the amperage draw of the charger and the capacity of The cord. But also the voltage drop in the long run as there is more resistance in the long wire.

Johnnyb is the electrical guru and can give you all the calculations of line drop on the cord.

I think the charger probably would also recommend or not the max run of cord and size it would need to be. I can Garentee you this won't be "recommended "

[Volt_Ampere]

You need to first know what the Amp draw of the charger is. Then you need to look at the rating of the extension cord. The smaller the gauge, the longer it can be for the same rating. There is no magic maximum length - it's a function of the wire size and amp draw.

[kendeiss]

You will lose 1 AMP carring Capacity for every 10 Ft of Cord.A 10 AWG Cord is rated at 30 AMPS
So a 100 Ft Cord would be rated at 20 Amp Approx.
I would look at a RV extension Cord I know they come in 50 Ft length
So as metioned what is the AMP rating of the Charger

[Isaac-1]

There are a number of factors, charger amp draw is just one, there is also the model of the charger, for example the Delta-Q brand QuiQ chargers operate on a wide range of volatages making them a world wide single product line and will accept anything from 100-240VAC and operate down to about 85VAC, so being in the US, in theory they should still operate if you were getting a nearly 20% voltage drop due to line length (sane numbers for extension cord voltage drop are in the 3-5% range for long cords). There are a number of other factors that would be good to know here like how far is it from your breaker panel to the outlet, what is your typical AC line voltage, it should nominally be 120V, but in the real world can range from about 110 - 128 or so (again we get back to voltage drop over the line, if you have low voltage coming into your house it is just going to get lower.) Officially none of this is going to be recomended and my biggest real world concern would be heating at the outlet, given that you are in a tropical climate I would probably go so far as to install a new outlet to eleminate corrosion induced heating at that point, otherwise there is no magic issue about 100 ft being a hard and fast technical limit, it was just the number the people that wrote the electrical code choose a round number close what was deemed to be a safe practical limit. Having said that the NEC does also specify that extension cords are TEMPORARY setups and permanent wiring should be used for permanent runs. Also I can tell you from personal experience that most outdoor cords have a life of about 3-5 years max outdoors (I use one for the block heater on my diesel pickup truck) It is going on 5 years and needs to be replaced before next winter.


Ike

p.s. the above mentioned Delta-Q charger draws about 12 amps at 120V according to the published data, members here have measured them at just over 10 amps in the field, which is typical of real world vs data plate numbers. I don't particulalry indorse this charger, it is just what I have and I was moving and remounting mine yesterday so was looking at the specs.

p.p.s. on the above comment I think he meant to say the smaller the gauge NUMBER the more amps it can handle, smaller number means bigger wire until you get to 0

[kendeiss]

A Club Car Charger draws about 11 AMPS