Hi Rob,
At 11:09 PM 2/18/2011 -0600, you wrote:
>Hi Mark--
>
>For outdoor permanent installation?
<Snip>
>Do watch to keep out all possible water penetration in the "Y" needed
>to break out to the two mics. Tight electric tape wasn't enough for
>me. You can cover the splice with a silicone filled wire splice
>available at a pro plumbing supply store that sells well pumps. These
>sleeves are about 2-3" long and are used for sealing splices in wires
>dropped into wells to submersible pumps. Requires a heat gun or
>hairdryer. Rob D.
There is a much easier, simpler way to do weather proof splices... The key=
is 3M "Scotch Fil" insulating putty available at most any electrical
contractor supply house...
"ScoitchFil" is incredible stuff, its comes in a 1 1/2" wide tape roll
form, the material is about 1/8" thick, you snip a piece off the roll
about 4" long and split it in half so you have a strip about 3/4"
wide. Easier to handle this way... "Scotch Fil" sticks to itself like
nothing you have ever seen...
The trick is, once you have your electrical connection made, start about 1"=
to 1 1/2" down the jacket of the cable from the splice, pull and stretch
the strip of putty to about 20% of its original thickness and about 1/2 the=
width of the piece of "Scotch Fil" you have cut and wrap it on
overlapping about 1/3 each turn streatching it as you go.
If you break the "Scotch Fil" strip mid splice, or get a void, or simply
run short, just finish the wrap and pull a piece of "Scotch Fil" and press=
it down over the end or over the void, and it self vulcanizes instantly and=
becomes one with the surrounding putty... I do Two layers pulled out thin,=
and finish with a couple layers or more of electrical tape to protect the
putty as it is very soft and cold flows to any other material, especially
plastics, that may get against it...
This stuff cold flows into one homogenous mass and only way to get it apart=
once it has made contact with itself is to carefully slit it open with a
knife. You can not unwrap it once it has stuck to itself!!!
No heat guns needed, quick and simple and lasts forever at least as far as=
my lifetime is concerned!!! Greatest waterproof joints you can
make... (And inexpensive)... I learned this trick going to sea on
oceanographic ships as a scientist where ships time was big money and the
longer they had to wait for a cable to be spliced, the hotter the situation=
became!!! I have dropped 10 meter piston cores into the Atlantic Ocean
bottom at 10,000 to 15,000 feet with cables strapped to the side with
thermistor probes for sediment temperature measurements and never had one
leak... (unless we hit a rock and sheared a cable)... I make all my
outdoor splices this way since learning this trick and as far as I know,
never a one has leaked, not a single one...
Works great on radio communications antenna cables too... Another place
where just a drop of water will destroy a cable.
--
Thanks,
Mitch & Shadow...
http://www.4shared.com/dir/UTASxktL/wildlife.html
Shadow's area: http://www.4shared.com/dir/ecfWjyZb/Shadow.html
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