Extension cord

susievb, Feb 22, 10:08pm
I have a carport, well it's a double carport , with me and the front unit.
I use mine to dry clothes in wet weather and as a work shop for craft DIY projects, up to now if l needed power out there about 5 metres away l used an extension cord from inside trailing out the door into the carport. I was wanting a more permanent solution.

I was thinking of drilling a small hole in the bottom of my wooden window frame in the bedroom to thread through cord to power point in my bedroom, and hid the cord along wooden fence, under the brick path, back on fence, up the fence (which is the wall of the carport ) and across the wooden rafters of the carport to about the middle to connect plug in DIY light, and any power tool.

I was planning on getting an extra heavy duty extension cord, but as it will be exposed to the sun and weather 24/7 (even if l put it in a small plastic piping ) small bits will still be exposed to the elements - so will the cord get sun bleached and crap out? I have looked on line and none say UV resistant
fibertrix, Feb 22, 10:19pm
Yes, the outer cover will break down with UV and weather. May be best to stick to running the cord out the door, or get a caravan type connection to the house. You may run into insurance problems if anything goes wrong.
macman26, Feb 23, 12:21am
Once you chop the plug off and feed it through your house framing it becomes installation wiring and needs a sparky involved and meet all the wiring rules. Why not get a sparky to install one correctly.
t_naki, Feb 23, 1:19am
Like previous posters have said, once the lead is fed through the fabric of the building it becomes fixed wiring and you will need to get an electrical inspector to sign it off. Also flexible cable cannot be used as fixed wiring so it will need to be TPS cable to meet regs.

Either get a sparky to do the job properly or carry on using the lead as you have been.
oh_hunnihunni, Feb 23, 7:30am
And get an RCD to protect your interior wiring. Just in case.
amasser, Feb 23, 7:58pm
Easy access to switch probably required too.
tegretol, Feb 23, 9:35pm
RCD's are not for 'protecting interior wiring'.
gpg58, Feb 23, 11:42pm
t_naki wrote:

Also flexible cable cannot be used as fixed wiring so it will need to be TPS cable to meet regs.
---------------
I do not think that is correct anymore -used to be though.
Not got regs on hand, but google found an olex cable site said -
Flexible cords can be used as fixed wiring if the alternative insulation colour scheme (ie. as per fixed cables) is used and they are of the heavy duty type or installed in the appropriate wiring enclosure.
https://www.nexans.co.nz/eservice/NewZealand-en_NZ/navigatepub_0_-32891/Frequently_Asked_Questions.html#General
susievb, Feb 24, 1:23am
Thanks all for your thoughts, as this is a old brick unit the money required to get an caravan power point out side is not worth it on this old place as when l go it will be torn down to make way for more apartments, so will stick with a single long heavy duty rcd extension cord by the looks
voyager4, Feb 24, 2:01am
If you own, you could get electrician to do an outside fitting.
easygoer, Feb 24, 10:35am
As stated by others, if you do the job in that manner it will become permanent wiring, the hole for the lead would have to be big enough for the plug to fit through it so it can be readily removed, stick with running your lead out.
bryalea, Feb 24, 7:12pm
The cords will last years outside. We have one between sheds to power our woolshed. Uses 2 cords joined in another shed for protection. One gave out last year after about 12 years of weather. The other is still holding. We have a circuit breaker at power source. So they certainly last a good while. From other comments I wonder if you just mutilated your window so the cord fitted under it closed would that work so you aren't making it permanent but rather long term.
onl_148, Feb 24, 8:13pm
Actually the op's current arrangement of running the extn cord through the door way is a no no, unless there is some physical barrier to prevent the door from being closed and damaging the cable.
As stated and what I learnt many years ago "flexible / extn cabling is no substitute for fixed wiring"
andrew1954, Feb 26, 4:45am
Exactly circuit breakers / fuses are designed to protect the wiring. RCDs are designed to protect what is hanging off the end of the wiring, being it a faulty appliance and/or the person hanging onto the appliance.
dbest, Mar 4, 11:57pm
Just for the part of the cord exposed to elements, you can sleeve it with flexi conduit to extend its lifetime.
oh_hunnihunni, Aug 13, 10:47pm
Well, I would assume there are circuit breakers in place on the switchboard, so the RCD is still a sensible precaution.

If not there jolly well should be.