I agree with JavaLawer's conclusions. One other explanation that I could think of is the possibility that I did not do a good job with the solder connection, introducing resistance at those points. I must admit, however, to being a little surprised at how little margin there was with the wire.
I am not sure, however, that I see any evidence that less than 10 feet would be fine if using original guage wiring (though it might be). I think I would use a bit heavier guage, regardless of extension length (cost difference not significant) unless there was another factor driving the use of the lighter guage.