On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 21:50:56 -0600, Gerry Atrick
wrote:


One idea I have is to put some hose over the cord before I make the
splice, then slide the hose over the completed splice and pump the
hose full of pure silicone caulk around the cord, which will extend
several inches on both sides of the splice.

Anyone want to buy a stupid mule?

The mice in my house seem to like similar things. Especially the thin
cords for lightweight headsets, and sometimes 110volt electric cords,
and microcassettes, like used in phone machines and dictaphones.

If you can't find the undwater splice that rbm mentions, you could
also try shrink tape or silicone tape it is also called. HD has it
weba order only for about 4 dollars a roll PLUS 4 dollars shipping.

I also got some at a hamfest pretty cheap, but I go to lots of those
things and this is the first that had any.

You stretch the tape a lot while wrapping it on, and it grabs to
itself when you lay it on, and after a few days it is like one big
blob of rubber, incuding the cord it is wrapped to. I haven't tested
but I would think it is waterproof.

The best would be a new cord, but clearly the heater is meant to water
proof. I wonder if it is possible to open it up and close it in a
waterproof manner. You could get a good idea by opening up one of the
old ones. It's good that you saved them, for this, and that once you
get the hang of fixing them, you'll fix them all.

On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 23:24:07 -0600, Gerry Atrick
wrote:


You stretch the tape a lot while wrapping it on, and it grabs to
itself when you lay it on, and after a few days it is like one big
blob of rubber, incuding the cord it is wrapped to. I haven't tested
but I would think it is waterproof.
...
They sell rubber tape at electrical supply stores that is made for
waterproofing the split bolt connections on overhead service entrance
connections. That stuff works about the same way. It stretches and
makes a tight connection. That is what I planned to use before
applying something else over it. I am thinking that might be the same
thing. It's just sold as "rubber tape" and comes in a roll that looks

I'm 99% sure it's not the same thing. When I was looking for the
tape, I went to an electrical supply store and asked what they had,
and looked at something that might have been called rubber tape, and
afaict from teh outside, it wasn't the same.

In addition we had a pretty long thread here on this stuff, and no one
said that silcone tape was the same as rubber tape. Also HD sells the
rubber tape I think, has it in their stores, in addition to the
silicone tape they sell via the web.

I was also led to believe that this was a new product.

Maybe someone here knows for sure if it is the same stuff.

I bought two 1" rolls of the stuff from some mail order company about
5 or 6 years ago, and I couldn't find either of them. That's why I was
shopping. But while cleaning the house, I found both, plus these two
inch rolls I bought at the hamfest. So I'm good for several years. I
didn't want to pay 8 dollars for a one inch roll when I had two rolls
already, that I knew I would find some day. But if you see it at a
reasonable price, I would buy some, even if it is not still needed for
this purpose.

like common electrical tape except it has a plastic ribbon that has to
be peeled off as it's used. (the ribbon is normally red). I have used

The other layer on this stuff was black in the one inch rolls, and
darkish blue in the 2 inch rolls.

The black rolls had a white plastic center, unlike the usual cardboard
center on most tape.

that on service entrances many times, then apply friction tape over it
to hold it tight, and finish with a few wraps of plastic electrical
tape to hold everything together. That is how i was taught to cover
those split bolts. However, getting rained on is not as "saturating"
as being submerged in water.

True.

As I said in another reply, the cords are embedded in some sort of
epoxy or whatever it is. They can not be removed from the heater. I
know that sump pump cords normally go into a special tight rubber
fitting and the cover can be removed by taking out some screws which
has a gasket. But these heaters just embed the cord in this plastic
like stuff.

I figured they did something if it ran underwater. And if you hadn't
fixed the earlier ones.

There must be something available. This is not a new problem.

Yes, if I can fix this one, I'll fix all of them. They all still
worked.....

Gerry