Stupidly, I have just cut through my lawn mower cable with edging shears. L uckily I had disconnected it! I need to cut out a short length and rejoin i t. What's the best means of connection? I would like any connector to be fa irly small profile as the cable is stored round an integral reel in the mow er (Flymo).
Cheers Peter
Not a suggested fix. I can remember this issue from when I could see and no matter what I used it seems that water got in and corroded it, it broke apart, or went intermittent. In the end I bought a new cable.
The best of the worst was a kind of rubberised two pin cot nnector with a kind of clip that held the two bits together. it was rather large though. Brian
The most compact repair will be obtained by stripping back the sheath, soldering the conductors and then insulating them with heat shrink, followed by an over-sheathing with heat shrink, preferably the "sticky" type. Or binding with PVC tape for the final repair. Crimps are relatively bulky and need a good tool. You should not need to lose much cable.
The right answer is a cable coupler, which may or may not include a plug and socket. Probably should be waterproof too, as it drags along the lawn.
My mower cable has a join which is crimped back together with insulated crimps (offset to avoid a large bulge) and with overall heatshrink covering which includes a good length of the cable sheath either side of the join.
The other question - do you need the full cable length? If you can manage with just the longer part which is left, then remove the shorter part completely, and reconnect just using the longer cable.
I did the same with the hedge trimmer, and fixed it using:
It was lucky that I sliced the trimmer cable a few feet from the trimmer, since now in effect I just have an extension cable to use with the trimmer, which makes the trimmer easier to store.
(I'm assuming your mower is 2-wire like my trimmer)
How much have you cut off? If not too much, just take off the end connector and re-fit it to the bulk of the cable.
A waterproof inline connector with strain relief.
Waterproof because this will get dragged around dewy grass and might fall into ponds or a puddle.
I'd use self amalgamting tape as the over-sheathing. Long bits of heat shrink are too rigid for use on flex. Also I've yet to see a bit of adhesive lined heat shrink stay bonded to the cable for more than a few months of use.
If the OP has the skills to do the above fairenough but TBH I'd go for a proble "cable repair box" or suitable cable mounted plu/socket, depending on how far from an end the cut is.
I've had a repair like that on my main angle grinder for at least 20 years. OTOH self amalgamating tape doesn't always bond to some plastics IME.
I agree it needs a bit of skill, but repair box seemed to be incompatible with the "spec".
Are the ends of the heat shrink still bonded to the cable? If not and it gets damp/wet capillary action will draw the moisture in.
SA tape doesn't bond it forms a tight soft rubber seal that can move with the flex. Adhesive lined heat shrink fails because it's to stiff to move with the flex.
Replace the cable. Any cable repair you do is going to be under stress and may foul/damage other turns when wound back into the integral reel.
Oh, and make sure you have an RCD cutout in use next time :)
Who said he didn't have one this time?
Yeah, but I.... but.. but...
Out of Excuses error at line 20
Oh missed that bit about integral reel. Agreed replace or live with a shorter cable.
Luckily I had disconnected it! I need to cut out a short length and rejoin it. What's the best means of connection? I would like any connector to be fairly small profile as the cable is stored round an integral reel in the m ower (Flymo).
Just for the record, I did have an RCD plugged in, but I cut through the ca ble after I had unplugged it from the mains. I'm not that stupid! (I think! )
Pete
Luckily I had disconnected it! I need to cut out a short length and rejoin it. What's the best means of connection? I would like any connector to be fairly small profile as the cable is stored round an integral reel in the m ower (Flymo).
Buy a petrol mower - no cables to cut though.
If the cut is near one end then discard the short bit and connect directly to mower/plug. There is really no safe way other than replacing with a new cable.
Or a battery one. Then tell me if they are any good for when my petrol one blows up in a couple of years (est).
I'd really like to do certain gardening maintenance jobs with a laser beam ...
grass, tree pruning, hedge cutting, weeding....
Suppliers?
Might take a while though...
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