On Mon, 1 Dec 2003 18:23:49 -0500, "Leanne" wrote:

For electrical connection I stand by my earlier recommendations
to purchase
the connectors that have a heavy adhesive shrink sleeving..
They are
expensive but for mast wiring the OP is only going to need a
half dozen.

Has anyone tried Liquid Tape? We have used it in Sat TV work and
it has
worked well in painting the connections and connectors.

I've used it for all sorts of jobs around the boat. Works great.

Steve

Thanks, Rick. I'm an electrical contractor at the moment and your product
list is very familiar to me wrt underground splices. Soils have similar
pernicious chemical liabilities to electrical lines that seawater does, it
seems. I wondered if Scotchkote was a common marine solution.

Padeen


"Rick" wrote in message
hlink.net...
padeen wrote:

Sooo..... What DID you use as a sealant ...?

Well, it was a multistep process that started with soldered butt
splices, covered with heatshrink. The stepped splices were then wrapped
with a well stretched layer of self-vulcanizing tape and the whole was
filled with a 3M product called ScotchFil, a soft, thick, rubbery tape
that filled all the voids between the conductors. Next, the smoothed
Scotchfil was wrapped with another couple of wraps of self vulcanizing
tape until the splice was smooth and solid. Final wraps of a vinyl tape
like Scotch 33 overlapped the entire length and then that was secured
with cable wrapping thread and finally the entire splice was coated with
Scotchkote, a rubber glue type of sealant.

These splices were almost guaranteed to work to 10,000 feet. Note the
almost ...

Rick

Thanks, Rick. I'm an electrical contractor at the moment and your product
list is very familiar to me wrt underground splices. Soils have similar
pernicious chemical liabilities to electrical lines that seawater does, it
seems. I wondered if Scotchkote was a common marine solution.

Padeen


"Rick" wrote in message
hlink.net...
padeen wrote:

Sooo..... What DID you use as a sealant ...?

Well, it was a multistep process that started with soldered butt
splices, covered with heatshrink. The stepped splices were then wrapped
with a well stretched layer of self-vulcanizing tape and the whole was
filled with a 3M product called ScotchFil, a soft, thick, rubbery tape
that filled all the voids between the conductors. Next, the smoothed
Scotchfil was wrapped with another couple of wraps of self vulcanizing
tape until the splice was smooth and solid. Final wraps of a vinyl tape
like Scotch 33 overlapped the entire length and then that was secured
with cable wrapping thread and finally the entire splice was coated with
Scotchkote, a rubber glue type of sealant.

These splices were almost guaranteed to work to 10,000 feet. Note the
almost ...

Rick

padeen wrote:

Thanks, Rick. I'm an electrical contractor at the moment and your product
list is very familiar to me wrt underground splices. Soils have similar
pernicious chemical liabilities to electrical lines that seawater does, it
seems. I wondered if Scotchkote was a common marine solution.

It should. We borrowed the techniques and materials from you guys to
begin with. 8-)

I love Scothchkote, it is one of those "electrician in a can" products
that really is worth its weight.

We tried all the prepackaged urethane and epoxy splice kits but never
had a lot of success with them since unless they were prepared in a
vacuum chamber like we did with the shop terminated cables, they were
susceptible to bubbles that would collapse under pressure and create
problems or even fracture the epoxy potted splices.

It was actually faster and usually more successful to hand splice
onboard ship.

Rick

padeen wrote:

Thanks, Rick. I'm an electrical contractor at the moment and your product
list is very familiar to me wrt underground splices. Soils have similar
pernicious chemical liabilities to electrical lines that seawater does, it
seems. I wondered if Scotchkote was a common marine solution.

It should. We borrowed the techniques and materials from you guys to
begin with. 8-)

I love Scothchkote, it is one of those "electrician in a can" products
that really is worth its weight.

We tried all the prepackaged urethane and epoxy splice kits but never
had a lot of success with them since unless they were prepared in a
vacuum chamber like we did with the shop terminated cables, they were
susceptible to bubbles that would collapse under pressure and create
problems or even fracture the epoxy potted splices.

It was actually faster and usually more successful to hand splice
onboard ship.

Rick

Ron Thornton wrote:
I suspect it is a cheaper product, good enough
to chalk your house but not to be used on electrical stuff.

Caution about house caulking silicon, I use some on an electrical
device only to find out that the silicon caulking compount is
electrically conductive. Fortunately I was able to peel away the
silicon. I had installed resistors and LEDs to indicate open fuses on
an old VW fusebox, and wondered why connecting 12v to one LED, caused
multiple LEDs to illuminate.

Mike.

Ron Thornton wrote:
I suspect it is a cheaper product, good enough
to chalk your house but not to be used on electrical stuff.

Caution about house caulking silicon, I use some on an electrical
device only to find out that the silicon caulking compount is
electrically conductive. Fortunately I was able to peel away the
silicon. I had installed resistors and LEDs to indicate open fuses on
an old VW fusebox, and wondered why connecting 12v to one LED, caused
multiple LEDs to illuminate.

Mike.

Steve wrote:

I recommend you purchase some good marine connectors. Their a little more
expensive but certainly much more reliable for something that is "up the
mast"..

Get the kind that have a shrink sleeve over the outside. You just crimp them
on using a good crimping tool. Then you heat shrink the sleeve down onto the
finished connection.

The real good connectors have a adhesive inside that seals the job.

The moto here is "don't go on the cheap" with anything up the mast.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

When I lower my mast, I unplug the automotive ball connectors at
the spreader and tabernacle so I can stow the rig compactly. I
haven't bothered with gobs of silicone grease in the rubber
boots, I sail in fresh mostly and simply disconnecting and
reconnecting them each year keeps them clean. The cabin overhead
connector is an empty shell, with only push connector wire ends
and a silicone rubber seal on the top of the mast tail shell
half. The connectors at the spreader are there so I could unplug
the spreader light assembly to lower or replace it easily if
riding the bosun. The spaced out connectors at the tabernacle
won't fit the bung all at once, and doing them staggered in
series keeps them organised. The wiring festoons the head
bulkhead join in plastic cable clamps with 2 screws each, one to
retain the mounting and one to release the wire bundle. The
connections to the mast can be seen belowdecks, and tested
easily. 5 years, no probs. The 'marine' plug connector fell
apart the first year.

Ewwww!

Terry K
--
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specifically denied for mass mailing and unrequested
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SofDevCo

Steve wrote:

I recommend you purchase some good marine connectors. Their a little more
expensive but certainly much more reliable for something that is "up the
mast"..

Get the kind that have a shrink sleeve over the outside. You just crimp them
on using a good crimping tool. Then you heat shrink the sleeve down onto the
finished connection.

The real good connectors have a adhesive inside that seals the job.

The moto here is "don't go on the cheap" with anything up the mast.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

When I lower my mast, I unplug the automotive ball connectors at
the spreader and tabernacle so I can stow the rig compactly. I
haven't bothered with gobs of silicone grease in the rubber
boots, I sail in fresh mostly and simply disconnecting and
reconnecting them each year keeps them clean. The cabin overhead
connector is an empty shell, with only push connector wire ends
and a silicone rubber seal on the top of the mast tail shell
half. The connectors at the spreader are there so I could unplug
the spreader light assembly to lower or replace it easily if
riding the bosun. The spaced out connectors at the tabernacle
won't fit the bung all at once, and doing them staggered in
series keeps them organised. The wiring festoons the head
bulkhead join in plastic cable clamps with 2 screws each, one to
retain the mounting and one to release the wire bundle. The
connections to the mast can be seen belowdecks, and tested
easily. 5 years, no probs. The 'marine' plug connector fell
apart the first year.

Ewwww!

Terry K
--
Terry K - My email address is MY PROPERTY, and is protected by
copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce it is
specifically denied for mass mailing and unrequested
solicitations. Reproduction or conveyance for any unauthorised
purpose is THEFT and PLAGIARISM. Abuse is Invasion of privacy
and harassment. Abusers may be prosecuted. -This notice footer
released to public domain. Spamspoof salad by spamchock -
SofDevCo

Rick :

Greg wrote:

As a guess, you have no direct experience using it? If so, tell about
what
you actually did?

Guessed wrong. 8-)

Worked with building, maintaining, and operating manned deep
submersibles to 2000 meters, plus ROV operations and surface marine
industry for over 30 years with a break to go airline flying for a few
years between seagoing endeavors. Am still sailing in the merchant
marine and teach propulsion and sometimes electrical classes at a
maritime academy.

We made up many of our own cables for submersible work and repaired
those that we had commercially built. When I spliced a DC power cable
that supplied my life-support system a mile underwater I did not even
consider using a silicone sealant anywhere on the splice.

The only place we would use those sealants was to seal rubber gaskets in
on devices that were not subject to more than minor pressure differentials.

First, I don't call the forces that get water into your wiring in a
submersible 'wicking' I call it pressure injection.

Second, a boater who has to worry about if his wiring will work 10,000 feet
down has other problems more important than some silly wires.

Earl Colby Pottinger

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