Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Mike Monte]

(It's trash pick-up day in my area of the town.)

On trash pick up day people sometimes odds/ends out for the "scrappers" to collect and sell.

I was out for my morning walk this a.m. and found a 50' length of 10/3 Royal Electric SO cable terminated with NEMA 6-20 connectors.

The rubber jacket is in excellent shape and it looks like the cable was used in a home to power a window AC (which was next to the cable on the side of the road).

To point:
My power cables (for portable sound) are all SOOW.
I have looked up some info regarding the difference between SO and SOOW and the info is vague.

I know that the SO is oil resistant - but is it also water resistant?  I assume so.............but.........?




   

[Erik Jerde]

(It's trash pick-up day in my area of the town.)

On trash pick up day people sometimes odds/ends out for the "scrappers" to collect and sell.

I was out for my morning walk this a.m. and found a 50' length of 10/3 Royal Electric SO cable terminated with NEMA 6-20 connectors.

The rubber jacket is in excellent shape and it looks like the cable was used in a home to power a window AC (which was next to the cable on the side of the road).

To point:
My power cables (for portable sound) are all SOOW.
I have looked up some info regarding the difference between SO and SOOW and the info is vague.

I know that the SO is oil resistant - but is it also water resistant?  I assume so.............but.........?




   

The types of SO cord:

S = Service cord

J = Junior service cord

O = Oil-resistant outside jacket

OO = Oil-resistant both inside insulation and outside jacket

W = Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) designation for weather and water resistance

T = Thermoplastic

E = Elastomer

[Frank Koenig]

Lucky you! If the outer jacket and conductor insulation are in good shape I’d use it in a heartbeat. Don’t worry about the missing “W”. I really doubt an inspector will ding you unless you use it for a pool light or submersible pump.

I’ve got S cords that I bought surplus when I was a teenager (66 now) and they’re still going strong – stronger than I am. --Frank

[Brian Jojade]

Awesome find!  Cables treated well can easily last a lifetime.

The difference between SO and SOW is the weather rating of the wire.  It's both weather and water resistant. The water part is typically the filler material between the conductors, as the outer shell is clearly water resistant already.

The weather part also included UV protection in the cable.  SO wire left in the sun tends to get brittle and crack eventually.  SOW would last longer in that scenario.

[Kemper Watson]

(It's trash pick-up day in my area of the town.)

On trash pick up day people sometimes odds/ends out for the "scrappers" to collect and sell.

I was out for my morning walk this a.m. and found a 50' length of 10/3 Royal Electric SO cable terminated with NEMA 6-20 connectors.

The rubber jacket is in excellent shape and it looks like the cable was used in a home to power a window AC (which was next to the cable on the side of the road).

To point:
My power cables (for portable sound) are all SOOW.
I have looked up some info regarding the difference between SO and SOOW and the info is vague.

I know that the SO is oil resistant - but is it also water resistant?  I assume so.............but.........?




   

SCORE!!!!

[Mike Monte]

SCORE!!!!

I used that particular recently-found-cord on a high school graduation gig last week and my tech buddy couldn't stop talking about my find - lol.

[Geoff Doane]

I used that particular recently-found-cord on a high school graduation gig last week and my tech buddy couldn't stop talking about my find - lol.

We are the ultimate nerds, getting excited about electrical cable.   

GTD

[ProSoundWeb Community]