# Any electricians? Nicked wire...



## JoshH (Feb 13, 2008)

I disassembled a double 54w T5 setup for cleaning and nicked one of the wires going into the endcaps. The nick is a tiny clean cut that reached the copper wire but did damage it. The nick closes up when you straighten the wire out, and is less then a 1/16th long.

Is it safe to wrap the nick in a thick layer of 3M electrical tape, or would a splice be better? Or is there some kind of paint on glue type wire repair that will insulate it?

There is no slack in the wiring so if I cut it then the whole wiring will need to be replaced. If its the only really safe solution then thats what I will do. 

Thanks!


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## Eric Walker (Aug 22, 2009)

Im no electrician but I have wired up plenty of things from cars and sport bikes to hacking up extention cords to wire my own flexwat heat tape for my ball python rack

did you mean did NOT damage the wire?

If that is the case...

I would just make sure to tape it well with electrical tape and all should be fine.


Edit: if you did sever some of the wire I would clip it all the way through and use some sort of but end connector or something similar


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## melas (Oct 24, 2007)

Should be "okay" to tape it. I don't know that it would be to code but I would be comfortable with it in my own house . . .


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## ilovejaden (Jan 6, 2011)

Grab some electrical tape and wrap it good and you'll be fine.


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

If it were me I'd remove the endcap, restrip the wires, cut off the damaged area and reinsert them into the endcap. If the wire isn't whole, you could increase the risk that it will shock you when the appliance is being used or start a fire by melting the exterior plastic. It's a bit risky.


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

you could also remove the cap and slide a heat shrink sleeve over the cut. heat the tube until it conforms to the wire with a lighter, small torch or heat gun and reassemble

james


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## JoshH (Feb 13, 2008)

Thanks, I meant to say that I did not damage the copper.

Susan ~ Thats what I wanted to do but there is not enough wiring to do so. I'd have to open the ballast and endcaps to completely replace all wire in that case. The wire on the fixture is exactly enough to reach the endcaps, but no more. 

I may try the heat shrink method and wrap it with tape. What is the chance that it would melt through eventually, and what could cause it to fail like that?


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

if you heat shrink the wire (the single side of the wire) it will need no other tape or anything and you would be quite safe.

james


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## earthfrog (May 18, 2008)

JoshH said:


> Thanks, I meant to say that I did not damage the copper.
> 
> Susan ~ Thats what I wanted to do but there is not enough wiring to do so. I'd have to open the ballast and endcaps to completely replace all wire in that case. The wire on the fixture is exactly enough to reach the endcaps, but no more.
> 
> I may try the heat shrink method and wrap it with tape. What is the chance that it would melt through eventually, and what could cause it to fail like that?


If you did not actually damage the wire, I see no reason to do all that then. But if the wire itself is cut, it will not evenly distribute the current which might cause the cord to overheat in that spot (based on my limited electrical knowledge).


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## sean823 (Oct 21, 2008)

I agree with James, I would use heat shrink. I would not use tape inside of the fixture, ime the adhesive tends to break down over time when exposed to heat. 

Sean


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## pl259 (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm an electrical engineer so maybe that counts, enough to make me dangerous anyway.

You want to cover the knick to insulate it electrically, to prevent the copper wire from touching something it shouldn't. Aside from tape and heat shrink, there's liquid electrical tape, or brush on. Google it. Auto parts places and boating places should have it.


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## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

As long as you didn't damage the copper portion of the wire, 3 half lapped layers of electrical tape will be fine as a fix. You want to stretch the tape good as you wrap it, as this causes the tape to bond to itself. If you damaged the copper portion, estimate based on looking what percentage of the copper conductor was damaged. Any more than 20 percent damaged and you want to go ahead and cut the cord where its damaged, and splice it back together. Try to get solid aluminum butt connectors rather than the colored ones (plastic out layer ones), the solid ones are more durable. I also recommend using heat shrink if you need to splice, but use two portions of heat shrink. Apply one section of heat shrink, heat it up, then apply another section and heat it up.


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