How to patch missing wire insulation?

[ahuckphin]

How can I cover the exposed copper strains without using electrical tape? 

 

I do not want to use electrical tape because I feel like in my climate, they will come off, they will become a sticky mess.

 

Edit: This is not wiring from a computer. It is wiring from a car. 

[Tristerin]

Heat shrink tube?  While Ive done it, and dont recommend it because its quite...a hassle lol you can always buy a tube extra sized, slit it, roll it around and glue it together before hitting it with a heat gun (so you dont have to cut the wire).

[Kadzo]

if you don't want to use electrical tape, heat shrink tube is the only normal way, be sure to use multiple layers of it (the cable is thick and might pierce one layer of HS) and after a few layers do a electrical tape wrap, in auto industries electrical tape on wire harness is normal so do a overlapping layers of tape and full rolls in the begging and the end. 

DO NOT cut the wires, in harness industries it is strictly prohibited to cut it and there are only few exceptions where you have to use USW (ultrasonic welder) to reconnect it.

 

[mariushm]

Yeah, heatshrink... if you can't cut the cable, maybe just regular plastic (cut a strip of plastic from a bag or something, wrap around several times, then use a wire or something to tighten the bag around the plastic foil.

 

Something else... maybe epoxy?  Make a tube shape with some walls on the sides and pour epoxy to cover the exposed wire and maybe a cm (half inch or so) of insulated wire on each end. 

 

Maybe good Caulk could be used to insulate as by default it's not conductive.. and maybe you have a tube of caulk around the house... but keep in mind over time some formulations can become slightly conductive as humidity gets into the caulk material.

There's also elastomers, selastic materials... those glue like materials used to keep parts on circuit boards, to prevent them from vibrating or falling off boards during soldering.

 

Alternative, maybe cut the wire and use one of those wago terminal blocks to connect the wires together... but I think the vibrations and crap will cause the terminal to pop off eventually

 

 

[Arrogath]

3 hours ago, bindydad123 said:

do not want to use electrical tape because I feel like in my climate, they will come off, they will become a sticky mess.

You can get better electrical tape than the generic junk if you’re  that worried, but as long as you clean the surface of the insulation first and tape tightly with good overlapping for a couple layers it should be fine. You could even use a small amount of self adhesive rubber tape first if you’re  worried about insulation value.

 

Heat shrink definitely looks nicer, the trouble is you would have to remove the lead from the connector to slip it over the wire, where as tape can just be added immediately 

[Unimportant]

@bindydad123 google for "liquid electrical tape".

[akio123008]

I sometimes cover exposed bits like this in a blob of hot glue. Works like a charm.

[artuc]

See if it's possible to remove the pin from the connector, some you can insert something like a needle to push in locking tabs.

 

If so you can then you can easily get heatshrink over it.

 

Otherwise electrical tape and self fusing tape as advised or liquid heatshrink, non conductive epoxy, glue or silicone.

[Randon]

Self amalgamating tape is what is used in cars. It basically molds itself together and wont come apart

 

[Randon]

On 3/9/2021 at 11:38 AM, mariushm said:

Yeah, heatshrink... if you can't cut the cable, maybe just regular plastic (cut a strip of plastic from a bag or something, wrap around several times, then use a wire or something to tighten the bag around the plastic foil.

 

Something else... maybe epoxy?  Make a tube shape with some walls on the sides and pour epoxy to cover the exposed wire and maybe a cm (half inch or so) of insulated wire on each end. 

 

Maybe good Caulk could be used to insulate as by default it's not conductive.. and maybe you have a tube of caulk around the house... but keep in mind over time some formulations can become slightly conductive as humidity gets into the caulk material.

There's also elastomers, selastic materials... those glue like materials used to keep parts on circuit boards, to prevent them from vibrating or falling off boards during soldering.

 

Alternative, maybe cut the wire and use one of those wago terminal blocks to connect the wires together... but I think the vibrations and crap will cause the terminal to pop off eventually

 

 

Most wago terminals are classed as maintenance free which means they have to stay on pretty much forever and can therefore be sealed up in a wall etc under UK electrical regulations If they are also in a maintenace free enclosure.

[mariushm]

2 minutes ago, Randon said:

Most wago terminals are classed as maintenance free which means they have to stay on pretty much forever and can therefore be sealed up in a wall etc under UK electrical regulations If they are also in a maintenace free enclosure.

Walls don't vibrate as much as an automobile does, and the ambient (humidity, temperate) doesn't change as much as within a car's body (think winters, then summers)

[Randon]

The Wago 221 series connectors, to give an exapmle, are rated for up to 85 celsius ambient altough they dont say how low. They dont give a vibration rating on the website but the point of "maintenance free" is that it doesn't come loose. sealing connections in a wall is a tame example, Connections also get buried under ground and in other more rough environments

[icase81]

Silicone tape. It’s not sticky to anything but itself, and won’t melt or fall off. It fuses to itself when wound tightly. I can’t recommend it enough.