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Corroded electrical joints


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Corroded joints can be a real pain, the most common presentation is when side lights & turn lights all start misbehaving. This is most usually to due a grotty joint where mud, water & salt has precipitated the corrosion between dissimilar metals at the earth point.

 

You clean it all up & fit a new earth tag but know that it will all happen again. Painting the joint isn't always a great solution as the paint tends to provide only a thin layer of protection. Or you cover it with underseal gunge but this is messy & doesn't lend itself to areas where there is a joint in a cable either with crimp connector or twisted wires covered with insulating tape that gradually unpeels itself.

 

The answer is "liquid insulating tape" I have only recently started using it. But was particularly useful where cable was coming out of large connectors. Normal tape couldn't stretch well over the sudden change in diameters & it was too steep a change for any heat shrink tube to form a seal. Self-amalgamating tape can be useful for this but not in a confined space where you are trying to unwind the reel yet keep it stretched as you wrap it around.

 

This is the answer & I am so annoyed I hadn't caught onto it earlier.

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Performix-Liquid-Electrical-Insulating-Tape-118ml-4-oz-Black-/272263238133?hash=item3f642751f5:g:n9EAAOSwQupXUeZu

 

I was just happening to peruse youtube & saw this:

 

 

Although he doesn't quite finish the job you can see the idea. I am sure some of you have been using it for years, but it has evaded me until now. It looks very like the sealant applied on some waterproofed turnlight switches I have but never knew that the stuff was readily available.

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Thanks Clive, I hadn't seen that before. The only thing that worries me is getting a decent seal on the panel the lug is attached to. Perhaps a coat of paint first, then use the liquid tape as a protective cover for it?

 

Andy

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I don't think you need use paint first Andy, they recommend you use two layers of the stuff. It sets quite quickly provided you haven't daubed on too much the first time, besides paint will take a bit longer to dry that slows up the process of making a joint.

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On Aircraft the electrical grounds are protected with sealant a thick heavy duty two part mix then it is painted blue to identify a earth point.

 

If you use a silicon based sealant it must be one that does not give off acetic acid as it cures.the acid corrodes the joint.

 

You can tell because you can smell vinegar.

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I have used this liquid tape a number of years back, think it may have come from Frosts. When I used it up, I could not find anymore. It is good especially as Clive says, where it is difficult to heat shrink or tape a joint. Will have get some more now it has been mentioned. It is not hard like resin.

 

cheers Richard

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Pete yes that would seem to be a good application. I'm glad people are finding it of interest, I was afraid perhaps I was the only person not using it & that be highlighted by a succession of posts from people who have been using it for years.

 

I have only used it twice so far. I have joined some ethernet cables for the CCTV cameras with waterproof connectors but I was suspicious that the cable entry to the connectors may not be absolutely tight. It was too great a change in diameters for normal tape so blobbed on this liquid stuff.

 

The other place I thought it might help is at the edge of rubber door seals on a Land Rover if water seeps in or tiny trace where a windscreen rubber is not sealing properly.

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It reminds me of the black rubbery resin that gets used to cover integrated circuits applied directly onto circuit boards (the black dot in cheap digital watches and calculators). That's called "potting compound".

 

This stuff is flexible, so I wonder if it's actually any different from Liquid Latex, which is readily available in a number of colours.

 

Andy

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