New 2 me wiring trick...

[galladanb]

Lately, I have been in wiring hell...

By that I mean stressing BIGGTIME over "what to do", "how to do it", and "will it be OK?" kinda issues...

Up front, I don't know JACK about anything SPARKIE related, so there!!!

But I had a late night epiphany about one particular issue I was having.

I have this charger / inverter that needs some of that really FAT, like me, PHATT, wires, or double ought, or 2/0...
Whatever you call it, it is hell to work with. Or at least it is to me, cause I dont know Jack...

You know that wire just fans out like a mushroom when you pull off the jacket, right?

Then, you play hell trying to get it all into the hole, with out it looking like a curly headed stepchild in a thunderstorm.
Right?

Anyway, here is what I came up with.

Take a plain ol bread tie and flatten it out as much as possible.
Pull a little bit of the jacket away, and put the bread tie in the gap, like this...


Then slowly ease the jacket away, but not completely off yet.
Ease the bread tie along with it, like this...


Continue easing it away, until the jacket comes completely off.
Then ease the bread tie along until it's almost off, but not quite...


Go ahead and begin inserting the cable into the hole, and push it firmly into its final resting place,


Then, remove the tie after the cable is seated, and the retainer is almost fully tightened
Then remove the bread tie...
Works like a charm!!!

 

[ZoNiE]

Nice

 

[galladanb]

Oh, and here is my third attempt at inserting the cable into those freaking holes on the charger / inverter...

I had almost given up on trying to get that PHATT cable in there... No Joke!!!

Like I said, a curly haired stepchild in a crazy blowing thunderstorm...

 

[highdesertranger]

that's cool, a true epiphany. highdesertranger

 

[John61CT]

nice contribution

 

[BradKW]

 

[reflex439]

[emoji106][emoji106][emoji106]

 

[TMG51]

Hmmm... I always cut the insulation, then give the cut piece of insulation a good firm twist 'round while still on the cable. It will twist the stands up enough to hold their shape when you take that bit of cut insulation off.

 

[Ticklebellly]

Great idea, brownie points for sharing.

If you don't have a bread tie, you can also slip the insulation forward and cut it short to produce a small collar. The bread tie can also be insurance in case you do slip the insulation all the way off.

 

[galladanb]

Hmmm... I always cut the insulation, then give the cut piece of insulation a good firm twist 'round while still on the cable. It will twist the stands up enough to hold their shape when you take that bit of cut insulation off.

Yep, been there, tried that... The problem is really two fold...
The wires fan out a bit, and the twisting action helps with that, although not so much with the
2/0 welding cable.

But the real troubles come when ya try to poke all that loose wiring into the hole or socket.
That's when the strands start to fly out all willie nellie...

At least that's how it was for me. Of course, YMMV!

 

[vtwinkicker]

I like it!

 

[SternWake]

Welding wire does tend to 'fluff' when some insulation is removed.


I've done something similar, but used copper stranding from a different wire.  Never though of the twist tie but will keep it in mine the next time the wire fluffs.

I despise the crush stranded wire under screw type of terminals though.  When no other options exist, I try and tin the ends of the wire and file the solder to the shape of the bottom of the terminal.

If that is too much effort, and it usually is. Some DeOxit shield will prevent the copper turning from shiny to brown, but that does not stop the requirement that the screw is regularly retightened.