Got a short length of cable replace tomorrow, victim of a nail going through it. Is self amalgating tape allowed instead of heatshrink? I haven't got any heatshrink quite big enough. D'oh!
- posted
7 years ago
Got a short length of cable replace tomorrow, victim of a nail going through it. Is self amalgating tape allowed instead of heatshrink? I haven't got any heatshrink quite big enough. D'oh!
Should be OK if the surface is dust free. SA tape is not very sticky other than to itself and even a little dust makes starting it off a problem.
It'll end up in a dusty hole (probably, depends where I join it!) but I can keep it clean while doing it. I've usually only found getting the first wrap to stick to itself while getting started a problem - but I think that's a surplus amount of thumbs!
I just wanted to check it was allowed by the regs - although it's thicker, and seems tougher, than heatshrink.
Ordinary heat shrink doesn't stick at all. But you can buy it glue lined.
Scott M expressed precisely :
It degrades rapidely when exposed to any UV, so black tape over the top might be needed.
We never had any problems using it outdoors - but we were using the RS product.
Does it? The stuff around the connectors on satellite dishes seems to last many years.
Interesting. I put some up on some LV catenary wiring in the summer so I shall see how that holds up.
Not a promble in this instance tho. Deep in the depths of a dark building and probably going to end up in a hole deep in some stonework!
I've got some that has been exposed to the weather and sun for over 20 years with no degradation. On the other hand the black tape someone else used on a co-axial cable has long fallen apart.
Short answer: No.
Long answer: I had some around N-type aerial connectors on a roof, exposed to sunlight for > 10 years. When I came to remove the aerials, the SA tape was in excellent condition and the connectors as good as they were when installed.
Just taken some other joints out of service after about 4 years lying on the slates of a south facing roof. Again no degredation and connectors as installed.
Eh? One of the most common uses is out doors by aerial fitters.
Black PVC tape is likely to give up long before SA tape.
Self Amalgamating tape is PIB, Polyisobutylene, and is used in cable jointing for its resistance to things including UV, posh version
Self Fusing tape is more recent silicone based, again resistant to everything , but including water pressure as well, costs a bit more
I used heat-shrink on the ends of cut-down laces. It was a close-ish fit, so I put a drop of superglue on the end then applied heat. It's still on there, but I haven't tried a destructive test. Probably no good on PVC, though.
Well, it used to be if its dry and out of the way. However, its a sod if you ever want to get at it again. Brian
Damn. And I've been taping over self-amalgamating tape with ordinary electrical tape for years.
on 29/01/2017, charles supposed :
I have quite a bit of it outdoors and noticed all of mine deteriorated. On doing a bit of research I found it was commonly reported to degrade in UV. I have only ever used the 3M version and now always cover with black tape - no issues since.
Now that will give way if used outdoors. Like say to tape an aerial cable to a mast. Might take a few years, though.
Use cable ties for that. I used SA tape on antenna plugs/sockets. Layer of SA tape, layer of black insulation tape, coat of car underseal. When I took my amateur radio aerials down after 20 years, the connectors were still dry, bright & shiny.
Huge submitted this idea :
+1
Put the start of the tape on the cable just slightly out of line compared to the direction of wrapping. Hold the (resulting) protruding corner down with a finger and do one overlapping wrap whilst applying tension.
Bill
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