[JRubin]

40 years ago a then older gentlemen showed me a way to keep my power cords, extension cords, and air hosed from tangling, something that eventually does dammage to them. He told me to always coil them up counter clockwise. His reason was that in the manufacturing process of these items, everything is done in clockwise. Think about it, you've all seen how cords get into a birds nest looking tangled mess, especially the flat cords. It really works...

Another trick I learned back then was to give all my cords a yearly heavy Armor-All wipe down. It works best when you do it on a warm sunny day after you've let the cord(s) set in the sun to soften. I had an OSHA 10 power construction cord given to me that was braided and stuffed into a bucket for 10 years and up in the guys rafters. The cord was hard and almost impossable to get undone, I left it out in the bucket in the sun for a couple days giving it a liberal spray bath with Armor All a few times each day, The cord is in perfect shape today soft. pliable, and I only coil it up not braid it for storage.

[Irelands child]

Originally Posted by JRubin

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Another trick I learned back then was to give all my cords a yearly heavy Armor-All wipe down. ..................

Good information!! I also tie a short piece of rope around each of my many leads and hoses to keep them from tangling.

The only thing that I do differently is to use Protectant .303 only because the older Armor-All, pre 2006, and lot of us still have a big jug in our garages, will actually deteriorate rubber as it has some petroleum products. The later stuff is a water compound with the worst product being ammonium chloride which turns into hydrogen chloride if it gets too hot (http://www.armorallpro.com/M694_6_EN1_USA.PDF)

[Old Fool]

For larger id air hoses such as 3/4" or 1" I learned from one of those grouchy old millwrights ( I wonder why he was grouchy, heck he only had to have me with him 8 hrs a day,lol) to not coil the hose but to form a figure 8 and it would easily uncoil by just grabbing the end of it and walking away.

I have always 8'd my lawn & garden hoses this way and it works great.

[69 widetrack]

Originally Posted by JRubin

40 years ago a then older gentlemen showed me a way to keep my power cords, extension cords, and air hosed from tangling, something that eventually does dammage to them. He told me to always coil them up counter clockwise. His reason was that in the manufacturing process of these items, everything is done in clockwise. Think about it, you've all seen how cords get into a birds nest looking tangled mess, especially the flat cords. It really works...

Another trick I learned back then was to give all my cords a yearly heavy Armor-All wipe down. It works best when you do it on a warm sunny day after you've let the cord(s) set in the sun to soften. I had an OSHA 10 power construction cord given to me that was braided and stuffed into a bucket for 10 years and up in the guys rafters. The cord was hard and almost impossable to get undone, I left it out in the bucket in the sun for a couple days giving it a liberal spray bath with Armor All a few times each day, The cord is in perfect shape today soft. pliable, and I only coil it up not braid it for storage.

I hope your doing this in a mechanical shop...anybody walks within 200 feet of my shop with Armor-All won't be walking much. The stuff is pure silicone and will give you fish eyes in paint. Mechanical...fine....just keep it as far away as possible from any Body shop.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by JRubin

40 years ago a then older gentlemen showed me a way to keep my power cords, extension cords, and air hosed from tangling, something that eventually does dammage to them. He told me to always coil them up counter clockwise. His reason was that in the manufacturing process of these items, everything is done in clockwise. Think about it, you've all seen how cords get into a birds nest looking tangled mess, especially the flat cords. It really works...

I'll try that, I know that I roll up my hoses and extension cords every single time after use. I have one short hose that stays on the floor, but other than that they are all rolled up with a velcro tie holding them from coming unrolled, and hanging on the wall on a large hook.

The time spent doing this is SOOOO worth it in my opinion.

And yes, NO ARMORAL in my shop!

Brian