Extension cord for skillet

[pheasant16]

Greetings all
Not too sharp on electric things. Gramma wants to have an electric
skillet on picnic table as when we do fish fry it spatters side of camper.
Said I don't like extension cords for heating appliances.
Have a spare 25' 30amp cable. Would this work with an adapter to
20 amp without too much line loss or heat buildup?

 

[RRR]

An electric skillet will draw 12 amps or less. You will be fine. I would use 12 gauge extension cords for nearly everything, which also gives you a safety margin. But if you got the 30 amp cord and the adapter, go for it.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

I would bet the socket on the RV is 15A, so yeah, a 30A cord would be OK. Another option would be a generator running under the table.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[DutchmenSport]

I've been using extension cords on my electric frying pans and my flat griddles for years and years and years when camping. Like you, put them on the picnic table. I use a 50 foot orange construction style extension cord. I've had several over the last 50 years of my life.

I needed a heavier one for my camper to plug into a 15 amp outlet once, when parking at a relatives house and plugged in, in their well-house on the property.

I ended up getting one of these, 100 foot from Harbor Freight: Click here. Yes, mine is 100 feet too. I now use it for everything. It's heavy! And yes, it powered the camper on that 15 amp plug just fine.

I have also, in the past, used my old 30 amp RV cord with adapters. If it will power an entire 30 amp camper, it will easily power a skillet or an electric griddle!

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Just make sure the extension wire gauge is adequate. Since the electric fry pan is designed to operate on a typical 15A kitchen outlet, a 15A-capable cord is what you need. 14 gauge should be adequate, but 12 gauge would allow for longer distances if you really want 20-30 ft. Lowes, Home Depot, etc have heavy gauges extensions with high quality insulation suitable for outdoor use in areas where the cord is likely to suffer some abuse.

Yes you can use your 30A power cord with adapters at both ends, but make sure those adapters are good quality. The cheap ones tend to overheat if they have to carry 12-15 amps for a lengthy time.

 

[SpencerPJ]

Is she at a campground? Does the pedestal have a 30A plug and a 20A plug? If yes, you can simply convert a 20A plug to your extension cord, than back at the other end to work with fry pan, that way she can keep AC and RV on while also cooking at the picnic table. Adding up the $$ options, might just be easier to find a basic 14g extension cord at Harbor Freight or Amazon.

 

[CharlesinGA]

I have a 40 ft 14 gauge cord with quality Wood Electric ends, I have a 50 ft store bought 12 gauge cord, and a 25 ft TT30 extension cord and a number of adapters, both puck and dogbone style. I have a single burner hotplate I have run on a picnic table using the 20 amp GFCI receptacle in the pedestal.

Charles

 

[pheasant16]

Thanks for all the information guys. I think to be sure we have adequate length, buying a new 12ga 50' cord would be the best solution. Gary's point about cheap adapters would be a possible gotcha if I used
the spare 30a cable I have. Always labored under the idea that heating appliances and extension cords are a bad combination due to line loss, heat buildup, appliance not reaching desired temp, etc.
Now I have a reason to hit Harbor Freight
This group is truly appreciated.
Mark

 

[John From Detroit]

I"m with RRR get a 12ga cord. 12 ga wire is rated 20 amp IN WALL (Most folks do not know the open air rating is higher) Though they typically come with 15 amp plugs and outlets but that's what is on the skillet as well so a 12 ga Extension cord will do the job just fine.

 

[pheasant16]

Just thought of another question along the same line; we use the camper as a spare bedroom when the kids come home, (seems even the grandkids need their own room nowadays.) We have never used the
a/c in the camper at home, was told previously it should only be run with 30a service. Have noticed the microwave will take longer to heat when using our home outside outlet. To be honest, have never checked the gauge of the extension cord, as just used what I had around the house which heaviest use would be a skil saw or weed eater. Imagine it's probably 14-16 gauge, whatever was cheap when I bought it.
Would a heavy cord let us use the a/c at home with our 15a outside outlet without damaging it? Have read camper units are like a window air at home, but those are plugged into an an outlet directly.

 

[SpencerPJ]

It really depends on the AC. Many Camper units are much more than a window AC. Some people will put a soft start on the RV ac and it will work fine. If it was me, I'd consider having a 30a rv outlet installed at home.

 

[pheasant16]

Sounds good to me. No need for new service. We'll be safe not sorry. Stick to fans. We should have the kids get us a hotel, then the grands could come swim.

 

[John From Detroit]

Would a heavy cord let us use the a/c at home with our 15a outside outlet without damaging it? Have read camper units are like a window air at home, but those are plugged into an an outlet directly.

iT MIGHT.. A/C in RV is normally breakered at 20. Draws around 13-14.. on a 15 amp house circuit. that's iis real. and I mean REAL tight. now on a 20 amp not so bad and you can have a 30 installed easy enough.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

The 25' or whatever 30A shore cord on mine doesn't reach the house. I have a 50' 12ga cord that plugs into a 20A circuit, and that plugs into my shore cord with an adapter. I've run my A/C off of this on a number of occasions. Doing the voltage drop calculation for the wire gauges and running amps of the A/C I'm under 3% drop. Throwing another load like a microwave or hair dryer on top would immediately put it over the edge but the A/C and a light load like lights or a TV it works fine.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Have noticed the microwave will take longer to heat when using our home outside outlet. To be honest, have never checked the gauge of the extension cord, as just used what I had around the house which heaviest use would be a skil saw or weed eater. Imagine it's probably 14-16 gauge, whatever was cheap when I bought it.

Technically the microwave isn't a heating device. It's a microwave radiation generator and the heat is produced when the rays penetrate the food. A microwave generator pretty much either works or not, i.e. it shuts down if power is insufficient because it doesn't generate any waves at all. But not all microwaves have sophisticated circuitry to recognize that. Also, if it's a convection oven a well as a microwave, the convection function is just a plain old electric oven with a fan added.

The typical home "heavy duty" extension (the orange ones with thick-looking insulation) are nearly always 16 gauge. That's a max rating of 10 amps.

 

[Kirk]

The thing to keep in mind is that the amp rating of the outlet is the maximum current that it was designed to carry and using and extension cord can make it less, but nothing you use will increase that amount. Air conditioners are rated in BTUs but the data plate normally has a listing of amps needed as well. In RVs the size of air conditioner is typically larger as the size of RV is increased, up to a point. The issue with using it at home is that you might get things working and the current required then slowly heat up the extension cord, the plugs on the cord, or the outlet. If any of those should melt the power will stop, but in rare cases it starts a fire before anything melts. When in doubt you are wise to err to the safer side of things.

 

[Adventurous Traveler]

One of my favorite camping activities is to cook breakfast outside. I'll use my wife's mom's 50-year-old electric frying pan to do bacon and fried eggs and I use a simple 6' household extension cord from my outside outlet without a problem. As posted using a standard orange outdoor extension would be a great choice for the OP's table top cooking.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I use a simple 6' household extension cord from my outside outlet without a problem.

"Household extension" isn't very definitive, though. I see them at Walmarts, hardware stores, Home Depot etc in sizes (wire gauges) from 18-14 and thus capable of carrying anywhere from 5-12 amps. A typical electric fry pan draws 1000W-1200W, roughly 8-10 amps, so a 16 gauge, 6 ft cord is probably OK but maxxed out.

 

[pheasant16]

50' 12ga cord is what I got. Figured this way I can plug it into the 20a pedestal socket not using the camper outlet at all. Shouldn't have any issue with hot sockets, cords, and lots of hot oil for crisp not soggy greasy fish.
This will be a first for me, a heating appliance on an extension cord.

 

[_Rusty_]

I didn't see any mention of "Resistive" v.s. "Inductive" loads on the ext. cord. Voltage drop (or loss) should not harm heating coils but blower-type inductive motors don't like it much. Solid-state electronics can compensate for low voltage, but power-output devices (microwave tube) will not perform at peak. I think the skillet will work off a quality cord coming from the power pedistal.