Liquid tape is available in many colors and might be useful for a couple of
coats before wrapping with fusion tape. I have it in blk, wht, red, grn,
and I am sure there are other colors too. Home Depot and Lowes carry it the
last time I looked.

The CoaxSeal product would certainly be a good idea for a moisture barrier,
but again you will still need mechanical protection as described above.

When repairing direct-burial power lines an electrical mastic-type of
material is used, then wrapped with a self-fusing rubber tape, then wrapped
with another tape with strong mechanical properties suitable for direct
burial conditions. This may not be suitable since your application is not
buried, but open to cable motion and mechanical action of all kinds, so
your mileage may vary.

There are also products out there with a built-in layer of hot glue so when
it is shrunk with a heat gun, the epoxy/glue material melts and provides
the moisture barrier needed, all in one step.I have only used this in
heat-shrink tube form, but perhaps there is an equivalent  tape version?
This is usually pretty stiff material in the tube form, so again YMMV.


And if this cable is high-value enough to warrant some detail work to save
it, and if you don't just want to cut it and install a plug/socket pair and
make two cables out if it plugged together, I would probably do this
procedure (but I am only imagining the damage, so you may not want/need to
go to this level if the damage is very minor... in which case leave the
outer jacket untouched and intact and just do steps 2,4,5 and optionally
insert 2b after step 3 instead of before step 3):

1) open up the cable and spread the individual conductors
2) paint the damaged ones with liquid tape, a couple of layers drying
between applications (build a thicker coat)
3) Wrap each damaged wire individually with cloth electrical tape
4) Wrap the entire bundle with cloth electrical tape
5) Wrap the entire bundle with a good quality, thick, wide temperature
range vinyl electrical tape. (no cheap, thin stuff)

2b) If this cable was to be used in wet environments or left outdoors in
all weather, I would wrap the damaged wires with rubber self-fusing tape
before step 3 (you can get this at most ACE hardware stores, and probably
Lowes and Home Depot also).

3b) If the cable will be subject to longitudinal forces (ie pulling on one
end of the cable and expecting the pull to pass through the repair) you may
want to lace the two outer jacket ends to each other as a load-bearing
element to take the force off the actual conductors. Do this before the
outer wrapping so the lacing is buried inside the protective layers. Lots
of ways, including actual lacing tape, but anything non-conductive and
flexible and strong and without sharp edges will work.

This results in a little bulge at the repair but it will last forever. If
done carefully, the bulge will not be really big (but I have often observed
people over-doing it and ending up with a giant blob at the repair... this
is OK, it will work fine but just looks funny).

The basic idea is: seal and insulate, mechanically protect, seal and
insulate the bundle, mechanically support and protect the bundle.

-Doug


On Thu, Aug 7, 2014 at 8:58 AM, Mr Yum <[email protected]> wrote:

> > > Utterly non-artsy and shallow question: is there a way I can re-seal a
> cable
> > > (in this case a 110v 12g extension cord) that's had its insulation
> damaged?
> > > The wiring is still all good, there's just a bit of exposed copper,
> and this
> > > is usually used outdoors.  I would love to be able to get shrink
> tubing over
> > > it but I don't think anything that could pass the extension cord ends
> would
> > > shrink small enough on the middle.  I've often wondered if there's any
> sort
> > > of shrinky product that wraps on like tape, or something, for these
> sorts
> > > of problems.
>
> There is also some liquid electrical tape products.  I've only used it
> for interior lighting wires where a previous resident installed high
> wattage bulbs and cooked the insulation on the old wiring.  I've also only
> seen it in black.  The can I've got comes with a brush applicator built
> into the cap.  Think I bought it at Harbor Freight but I'm sure it's
> available lots of places.
>
> The fusing tape actually sounds pretty good.
>
> Yum
>
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