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Insulation Tape
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
The wires on my iron are exposed slightly in one place, will taping it over with insulation tape make it safe or do I need to buy a new iron? I don't want to get electrocuted!
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Comments
How deep is the cut? Is the copper exposed or just the flex covering?
Before taping it up, you need to think about the condition of the wire you can't see... there's no point bundling it up if exposed strands are present, as you may well end up pushing them together and actually creating a short...
If the wires are not exposed then it isnt a problem, if the wires are exposed I would recomend binning it and buying a new iron.
As long as there's no more than one core damaged you shoudl be fine to insualte it. Best way of insulation is using heat shrink tubing to cover the area. Failing that use electrical tape instead.
Take off plug. Slide down shrink wrap (which costs pennies). Heat shrink wrap. Put plug back on... DONE
Worth the cost of even a cheap iron.
This costs £6. More expensive than electrical tape, but a lot safer if you don't know what you're doing.
I'd hope everybody that uses this site knows how to wire a plug safely - it's not technical. Maplins sell heat shrink - worth having around. And you can shrink it with a lighter if you don't have a soldering iron.
Agreed, it's not rocket science.
I learnt it in Year 8 and 10, and that was only 3 years ago, but tbh I'd be so scared of electrocuting myself I'd make friends with an electrician.
Gx
So? Do plugs never get damaged anymore, do you not find you still have to run power cable through tight spaces. These are relatively commone things when installing electricla appliances such as fridges, freeezers, washing machines etc
I think you'd be surprised at how many washers and fridges these days are already moulded.
They all are. Electrical appliance have to have moulded plugs by law. BUT it's not uncommon for you to have to cut the plug to thread the cable through a narrow or a hole before you can plug it in. In whioch case you need to rewire.
I probably wire up several plugs at work a week because my job involves installing electrical appliance in bars. But a couple of times a year I'll have to do it at home aswell.
Even if somebody's never done it, it's a simple. Buy any plug from the hardware store and you get a carboad diagram that fits nicely over the pins telling you what goes where. And unless you have some seriously old appliance the colours of the cores are universal. If you can use a screw driver you can wire a plug.