Whoops! i mowed over my lawnmower cable! can i fix it?
Question:to fix my cable can i just re-attach each end after using wire strippers?
Answers:
use one of these (or anything very similar).
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?modu...
The pointy-out bits go on the mower end...
Pauline
You need the crimp-on connectors. A whole kit of them only cost $20 and it includes the crimping tool. Use the straight connectors and then tape them so they don't catch on things.
i am sooooooo sorry cos when i saw the question i cracked up laughing , i hope you are ok . i always worry about doing that when i cut the grass. i reckon you could attach the ends together but you will need some of those proper connectors and some insulating tape, and try to check where the lead is in future.
I regularly chop through my hedge trimmer cable.
I disconnect the shortest cut wire and rewire whats left. When the cable gets too short I'll buy new length of cable. I don't tend to join the broken bits of wire together although it is possible.
NO best you turn the power off first and if you are serious about splicing the cut leads try using a 35mm film pot lid on one lead pot on the other join the cables using a proper chocolate block connector and to be extra sure fill the pot with silicon sealer ( like round the edge of the bath ) then close the cap tight this will give it better insulation and lower the risk of damp getting in but you should take the lead from the mower into a 2 pin connector socket and fit the corresponding two pin plug on the main lead these joint connectors can be obtained at your DIY store but only do this if the cable is twin core not 3 core
Go and buy a pair of connectors (one plug and one socket - in line type) and fit them to each of the broken ends, ensuring that the one with the pins sticking out is connected to the mower.
Use the connectors that Pauline recommends.
I have had this happen to me and I repaired it by stripping back this wires and twisting each one together and soldering them. Before twisting and soldering I slipped a piece of heat shrink tubing over each wire making sure no heat from the soldering iron doesn't get to the heat shrink. You can buy heat shrink from most electronic components store. It comes in different diameters and shrinks when heated with a match or lighter. You will need two different diameters. One for the size of the wire and one for the diameter of the complete cord. Heat shrink will shrink down to 50% of it's original diameter if allowed so you will get a good tight seal. The one you put on the complete cord, make sure it's at least an inch or so either side of the repair and you will find it shouldn't the outer case retreating exposing the two or three wires inside.
Insulating tape is ok but you are for ever having to replace it over time.
It sounds odd that you cut the cable of the mower by running over it. Every mower I've had only a 12 inch cord that had a plug on the end (probably to prevent the cutting accident). The extension cord 25,50, 100 or 200 feet would be what gets cut. The same solution goes anyway. You can splice it (carefully) following the safe way;
1- Make sure nothing is connected to power.
2- Each wire is a different color (don't mix any).
3- Do one at a time (Crimp Splices are easiest) with the right tools (not expensive).
4- Tape each splice individually then tape the whole section.
5- Quickest way is to put a plug on one end and a socket on the other.
Good Luck (and don't cut the grass in the rain) ! ! !
Please don't take electrical advice from Americans, no matter how much experience they have. The voltage in British electrical systems is twice as high and twice as deadly as theirs. If you need to repair a cable, use a proper pair of connectors - made by Duraplug or similar. And ALWAYS use a safety plug or adaptor - often called an RCCD. Its not cutting the cable that kills you, its picking up the broken ends and saying - "Look what I did" - that kills you.
I agree with Norman. If you have cut through a long cable, with a plug for the mains at one end and and a socket fitting onto the mower, or onto a short length of cable attached to the mower, at the other, then you may be able to remove the socket from the bit you have chopped through and reattach it to the greater length of cable. But if that will leave insufficient cable to reach all of your rolling acres, you would do best to get a new long cable. I repaired one I cut through by stripping back the outer cover, and cutting back the inner brown and blue cables to different lengths so that my joints on the conductors would be a couple of centimetres apart. I then stripped the ends of the "inners" to expose 1cm of conductor, soldered, wound each soldered joint with self-amalgamating tape*, and then wrapped the whole thing with more of the same, allowing a good overlap over the outer conductor at each end. I made sure I never forgot to use my RCD breaker afterwards, just in case.
* A rubber tape whose layers merge to form a waterproof seal. Maplin Electronics sell it, but it's about £6.50.
I have done this before, you need electrical tape though and make sure you have a good , tight connection or it will come apart if it gets pulled.
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