Repairing Electrical Cord

2510Paul

Well-known Member
Does anyone have a good suggestion on repairing an Floor Sander electrical cord?
115 Volt.
Base wires around the copper conductor seem ok including the base insulation. The cord jacket has been sanded away.
Will liquid tape flex enough, what brand?
Is there an electrical tape that will not soften and unravel?
Other suggestions?
Thanks. This cord will now be used in my tractor shop.
Paul
 
Can you post a picture? I don't understand what you mean by "base wires" also I hadn't heard of "liquid tape" - can you explain that? Rather than using tape on the outside you could try heat shrink tubing - maybe more than one layer for extra protection.
 
One idea would be to replace the existing cord by wiring in a cutoff end of an extension cord of equal wire gauge. Can find both 2-wire and 3-wire cords, and is often cheaper getting a whole cord than getting a specific "power tool cord".

I like the heat shrink tubing idea as well. You could wrap standard electrical tape over the areas that have been sanded away, then use heat shrink tubing over entire cord. Do not know how stiff that would make the cord, but multiple layers would each add protection.

Not sure about liquid rubber. That would all depend on how well the new liquid layer could bond (and hold) to the existing sheathing.
 
If the outer covering is sanded, and the conductors are covered with original insulation that is not harmed, 3 thin coats of liquid tape is fine, covered with a single spiral layre of vinyl tape. NAPA has good liquid tape. Jim
 
I won't get involved in this repair, but it reminded me of one time at work a 50' extension cord got cut off about 5" from the outlet end.

This bonehead who worked for me used crimp connectors and spliced the wires. When he got done, he had a big ball of connectors and electrical tape right next to the outlet connector. I would have just reattached the connector and had a 49 1/2' extension cord. Whatever. He was kind of "different" in other ways. And I didn't hire him, I inherited him when I took the job.
 

You can brand new generic replacement tool cords for a few bucks at Lowes. Why would you even think of fixing the old one?
 
Tape and or liquid tape is not a proper way to fix any cord.
You can replace the whole cord, cut it off at the cut and put a new cord end on at that point, or use a piece of shrink tube to cover the cut.
 
Unless you need a speedy repair to finish a project I?d say do what you need to. Replacement cords are readily available and the safest way to go.
 
Thanks for your comments. I don?t know why I didn?t think of the shrink wrap. One end does not have a plug on yet.

Someone asked for pictures. They are directly from my cell phone so I don?t know if they will be rotated correctly.

Paul
 
Pic.
cvphoto38421.jpg


cvphoto38422.jpg
 
Follow what several others have given as advice . Looking at your photo that Green wire is the ground. You are very lucky. As others have said just tape things up for now. Any other color would have been a problem but the green is a good color. Safe.
 
The safety Nazi's don't like any repair on a cord. I repair mine using cloth friction tape. It seems to stick better than the vinyl tape.
 
If you have to live with safety inspections you must replace the cord. No splices,no plug repairs just replace.
 
(quoted from post at 02:35:37 10/08/19) If you have to live with safety inspections you must replace the cord. No splices,no plug repairs just replace.
Actually repairs are OK as long as the repair puts the cord back to original spec. Tape of any sort will not work but according to the last OSHA training I had, heat shrink is OK.
 

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