I was attacking the ivy on the side of my garage with a spade and accidentally bashed a cable that goes from the house to the garage.
The outer sheath has a nick where it bends into the wall. Do I need to worry about it? It is proper underground cable installed by the house builder in 1988. Armoured with earthed wires.
Do I need to patch the sheath?
I would, otherwise the armour will rust eventually.
What would you use? Heat-shrink (which would require disconnecting one end temporarily, & possibly dragging the sleeve quite a long way), self-amalgamating tape, etc.?
(I haven't done this, but I do have SWA running along a fence just above ground, & would like to know just in case.)
Isn't the armoured layer typically galvanised mild steel?
I'd be inclined to seal the nick anyway on a nice dry summers day after shielding it from rain for a while.
Self amalgamating tape or butyl pond liner offcuts and suitable glue.
A blob of hot melt glue might also be "good enough".
Avoid things that emit acetic acid when they cure.
SA tape would probably do. You can get adhesive lined heatshrink - so you could probably slit that along the length and then apply it as a patch.
You can also get purpose made sleeves for repairing damaged SWA etc. E.g:
Yup, usually. Depending on where the knick is, you might get water track along inside the cable up to a termination where the cut ends of the armour are, and are more vulnerable to corrosion.
Yup sounds like a plan. A small knick you can just apply something to it that will set. If you have sliced off a length of outer jacket with a spade, then a sleeve of some kind might be easier.
The armouring is at risk of rusting now. But it's fully fixable:
Self amalgamating electrical tape. Dry everything, wrap several layers
*tightly* (this is key - the tape should stretch as you go - leave no air gaps).Work from one end, an inch past the nick, then over an inch past the other way, then back and forth.
Me: I'd make 3 passes. It'll weld into a solid mass, is fully weather proof.
The used to use this to complete underground cable joints decades ago.
eg:
Self-amalgamating tape may be waterproof amalgamated to itself, but will it stick watertightly to PVC sheathing to prevent moisture creeping in?
I think some form of adhesive would be required for certainty
Owain
In practise, well enough to stop the armour wires from rusting :)
John Rumm snipped-for-privacy@nowhere.null wrote in news:jL- snipped-for-privacy@brightview.co.uk:
I was out first thing before seeing most of the replies. I put some Superglue into the nick then a coating of LS-X. The nick is only about 1/4 inch from the wall where the cable goes through. There is no slack for doing much. I guess it will "see me out"
Yes it does and very well too. We use it for covering aerial connectors for pro radio and broadcast, some thats been up 20 odd years or more when cut open the connectors look mint:).
You can if burying it use Denso tape that is excellent for that type of job....
:-)
My first choice would be bitumen in solvent.
NT
creeping in?
You could use one of the clip on, resin filled swa junction boxes, just without any actual junction ...
e.g.
Superglue is a bit too nearly water soluble for my liking. For a small nick I'd probably use bitumen paint after getting it good and dry.
Yes. It is basically an adhesive tape with a propensity to dissolve itself and bond into a solid mass when stretched slightly. It will stick to PVC sheath, PE sheath and miscellaneous metals.
The tape already has an adhesive on one side.
Spray first with WD40 or similar, wipe off but still leave some 'oiliness', and wrap tightly with the aforementioned self-amalgamating tape.
>
I can't imagine why you'd want to stop it sealing.
Self-amalgamating tape only sticks to itself. When tightly wrapped (with the tape well-stretched), a slightly oily surface (ie cleaned - but not too enthusiastically) doesn't stop it sealing out moisture - in fact, it probably helps.
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