(no subject)

[nonethefewer]

Question!

I have an AC device.  The cord snapped.  I hear tell that I can:

* Strip the insulation.
* Get some shrink tubing meow meow what and slide it on, cord-side.
* Twist the two wire ends together.
* Slide that tubing over, and use heat or summat to seal it all together.

Two questions:

1) Can I use duct tape instead?  Wrap it around the middle to keep the wires separate, then around the whole thing?
2) It's not two wires, so much as two bundles of teensy wire things.  Let's pretend I don't speak hardware, and that this extends to electrical work - what would be the easiest way to reconnect these?

Comments

[roadriverrail.livejournal.com]

I guess you could use duct tape in a pinch, but I'd be very careful. Basically, under the directions you've just proposed, you're not really bonding the wire back together...you're just twisting it back together. So, the only thing between your patched cord and a spark is your heat shrink/tape and its ability to cover the wrapped wire and to hold it together. And that can be pretty serious, because if the wires come apart enough to make a spark, you could have a house fire on your hands.

So, if you do this with duct tape, please be careful and don't consider it a long-term fix. There are rolls of electrician's tape that are dirt cheap (like duct tape cheap) that you could use for this and that you can wrap really really tight. They're a bit stretchy, so they would hold something like this together better. I still wouldn't leave the thing plugged in.

It sounds like it's braided wire rather than solid wire. Almost every plug-in device is this way because it makes the cord flexible. If you're going to wrap the wires back together, I would highly suggest that you take each end and twist it a little on its own (kinda like if you were twisting a ponytail into a bun) to smooth it out, then wrap the ends to each other. You don't want stray bits that might make a spark.

Just my mildly informed opinion.

[the-xtina.livejournal.com]

Yeah... *sigh*  I have a replacement appliance-thing coming in, so it's not a huge problem, I just wanted to know if I could fix this.  Alas, danger quotient is a little high.

But, now I have this nice long cord to whittle, so that's okay.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Alas, danger quotient is a little high.

Nope. For short-term supervised use you're perfectly capable of doing it and doing it right. I wouldn't recommend anybody do this for long term use (as in keeping the item for another year, or running it for three hours just the next day), or for unsupervised use (like a crock pot or rice cooker), or for any devices with a high electricity draw (heaters, AC units, fridges, microwaves).

If you feel you need to use this item before the replacement comes in, I think you're perfectly justified in and capable of doing this temporary fix.