I was hedge trimming and “trimmed” about 2 feet from the female plug end of the three prong cord. As I see it my options are two fold.
Option 1: Splice the 2 foot cut section back together using a soldering iron to reconnect the wires and electrical tape or similar to insulate the wires and bind the cable back together. The issue I see with this is that the repair will not be as strong as the factory assembled cable and when used in yard work this cable is going to experience a lot of tugging and being whipped around and I’m not confident of the strength of the repair re the method I just described
Option 2: Put a new plug on the end. I’ve looked at plugs in the past in the hardware store and while some of the plugs seem plenty beefy at some point all that’s going to be holding the wire to the plug is a solder connector or screws and like the previous repair I don’t think it’s going to stand up to much pulling.
Is there any repair method that will approach the strength and flexibility of the original molded plug connection?
Option 2. The US uses a different plug to here, but unless your standards are seriously, seriously crap, replacement plugs will have some means of holding the cable that does not depend on the final electrical connection.
At least in Aust. there is typically some sort of compression fitting that will take the strain and/or the internal wires will wrap around in a way that will hold tension.
for about $3.5 to $5 you will find a plug with quality screw connection to the prongs and a strain relief for the cord much better than the original on the cord.
Yeah you can surely find a well secured , strong and high quality three prong plug to attach to the blank end… Try at lighting and electrical parts shops rather than supermarkets or hardware stores.
Solder the joints using a flat-overlap joint (basically, push the stripped but not twisted copper wires together so they interlock like a comb). Use shrink tubing on each of the three joints (you have to put it over a wire before you solder, duh.) Use two layers of shrink tubing on the outside to replace the outer sheath; the inner piece should be about an inch longer than the covering break and the outer one should be about four inches longer overall. (Again, these need to be on before you start soldering…)
A good soldering job and tight wrapping and it will be stronger and longer-lasting than the other weak points on the cord.
The problem with replacement plugs and sockets is that they’re 'orribly bulky compared to the original molded connectors, and won’t fit about half the wall plugs and electrical equipment you want to use them with.
I had not thought about it before but this will be a problem with the small inset plug socket dock on the trimmer. The molded plug has very limited clearance as it is.
True. Here’s the long-form version of how to repair power cords:
[ol]
[li]Do a clean cut at each end of the break.[/li][li]Carefully remove about 3 inches of the outer covering from each end. Don’t nick the inner wires, and cut all packing and strength fibers as short as possible.[/li][li]Cut the wires so that the connections are staggered by about an inch. That is, the wires on one side should be one, two and three inches long, and the other wires the ‘opposite’ length. The shortest wire stub should be at least an inch long.[/li][li]Strip about a half inch from each wire.[/li][li]Slide two pieces of heat-shrink tubing over the longer length of the cord. One should be about two inches longer than the net gap between the outer sheathing ends (with the wires overlapped as for soldering), the second should be about four inches longer. The tubing should be about 1-1/2 times the diameter of the cord.[/li][li]Slip a 1-1/2 inch piece of heat shrink tubing over the longer wire of the pair. It should be less than twice the diameter of the wire insulation - a pretty close fit, in other words.[/li][li]Using a ‘helping hand’ or other tool, fit each wire pair together so that the copper strands poke into each other, comb style. Pinch and poke until you have a reasonably cylindrical connection.[/li][li]Solder the wires together as cleanly as possible, using plenty of solder. Use a pair of needlenose or a pointy tool to press the connection into a cylinder, no stray wires or sharp points.[/li][li]Repeat 5-6-7 with the other wires.[/li][li]Slide the shrink tubing over the connections, centered.[/li][li]Shrink them firmly into place.[/li][li]Slide the shorter piece of tubing over the connected wires. There should be at least an inch over each end of the outer sheath. Shrink it in place.[/li][li]Slide the longer piece of tubing over the connected wires and first shrink tube. Center it; it should extend at least an inch past the inner one on each end. Shrink it in place.[/li][/ol]
Yield: One repaired power cord for a net cost of about $1.00.
You are better off buying a soldering iron, solder, assorted pack of shrink tubing and a cheap heat gun the first time you need to do anything like this than you are spending money on crappy repair plugs or trying to use an entire roll of e-tape to do a crappy, unsafe job. Then you’re set. If you already have a soldering iron and/or heat gun, you need only the pack of shrink tubing to do the job right.
Then you’ll want to go with Amateur Barbarian’s suggestion. You’ll lose a bit of flex, but how much flex do you really need 2 feet from the handle of the tool when you’ve got 98 more feet of chord? Trim the sheathing away revealing the 3 insulated conductors on the short end and take that with you when you go to the store to buy your heat shrink tubing to make sure you get the desired diameter.
You only have 2" of wire to do your offset soldering or taping - either find a usable replacement socket (as usual, the HD entry is crap).
Any good hardware store will have serviceable units. Try ebay before searching the entire web - you’ll at leat learn the specific search term. “110v grounded female receptacle” might be worth a try second pass - drop the 110v. Most wil be for 110 anyway,
[li]Cut the wires so that the connections are staggered by about an inch. That is, the wires on one side should be one, two and three inches long, and the other wires the ‘opposite’ length. The shortest wire stub should be at least an inch long.[/li]…
[li]Slip a 1-1/2 inch piece of heat shrink tubing over the longer wire of the pair. It should be less than twice the diameter of the wire insulation - a pretty close fit, in other words.[/li][/QUOTE]
Note that if the heat shrink tubing is too close to the wire being soldered, the heat from the soldering may start to shrink the tubing and could make it impossible to install the tubing over the soldered joint. Be sure to keep the tubing away from the soldered joint until the joint is cool so you don’t have this problem. A bit shorter length of heat shrink tubing and/or longer lengths of wire than described above may be necessary to accomplish this.
[QUOTE=astro]
I had not thought about it before but this will be a problem with the small inset plug socket dock on the trimmer. The molded plug has very limited clearance as it is.
[/QUOTE]
Well, if we are going to get into the arcana of heat-shrink tubing use, here’s what I do:
Find a piece of adhesive-lined heatshrink just bigger than the diameter of the cable, like this.
Cut it to cover the repaired area + at least an inch on either side - say 6" total.
Slide it onto the cable (first!).
Then, strip the sheath off of the cable, on both ends, exposing 2" of wire on each end. Strip the wires, staggering the splices as recommended above. Slip some small-diamter heat shrink on each splice, and push well back, then solder. I twist the splices together - interleaving them tends to make the (sharp) cut ends of the wires stick out. Shrink the individual splices, then slide the big piece over the connection, and shrink it from the middle out.
This will make a strong, waterproof repair.
Still, the replacement socket is easier…
With regards to the cord breaking again due to strain on the electrical connections:
I like to wrap the strength member around one of the connection posts (in addition to the appropriate wire) of the replacement plug, assuming you’re replacement plug uses screw-down posts and you don’t plan to solder the joints.