UKC

Am I risking something happening if i've used a few (approx 5) wraps of Gaffa Tape inside the plug at the mains for my digital radio?

5 wraps around each wire which goes into the plug that is. There's no copper showing anywhere at all.

In reply to Timmd:

The wrath of UKC electrical police?

In reply to Timmd:

A neater solution which will cost you just a few more pennies and a minute or two of your time would be to cut the plug off and replace it (assuming it's a moulded plug that's looking worse for wear), or rewire it (assuming it's not a moulded plug).

In reply to woolsack:

I figured that much, and any insurance maybe, is a temporary measure, and that kind of thing has worked on my trainset as a kid, but I thought I might as well check.

Seem to remember there being sparkies on here..

In reply to tehmarks:

It's a moulded plug and i've just trod on the wire going into it and pulled it out of the plug.

With a sharp knife and some gaffa tape it's fixed again, but have thoughts to do with heat or something like that lurking in the back of my mind.

It's a Pure DAB digital radio.

In reply to Timmd:

Your call, but I'd cut the plug off and replace it. Then again, I have spare plugs lying around and make a living from making electrical things continue to work in demanding environments.

In reply to tehmarks:Is there something about Gaffa Tape which makes this a bad idea?

In reply to Timmd: Is this a normal type plug or a transformer type plug? A transformer <mobile chargers etc> plug only carries a very small voltage from the plug to the device. If this is the case and hence why you can't just replace the plug then the best way to repair it <presuming you can't open it up to rewire> is to thread some heatshrink on each strand of wire and then join the wires with solder. Slide over the heatshrink and heat it over a boiling kettle to shrink it and protect/insulate the join

In reply to blanchie14c:

It's a trasnformer plug, I found I could open the plug up with a sharp knife, and cut back the cable outers and twist the wires together again, and then wrap with gaffa tape.

Transformer plug is currently held together firmly with more gaffa tape.

Might invest in some heatshrinks and solder and heat shrink the wiring and use superglue or something to seal the plug back together.

In reply to Timmd:

Ah - ignore me in that case. I assumed it was a bog standard moulded 13A plug.

If it works it works. You're hardly likely to die from a 12V (or whatever comes out of it) shock...

In reply to Timmd: Yea, those trasformer plugs only output a small voltage, it'll prob say what on the plug - 5v or similar, touching a car battery prob more dangerous. I wouldn't lose sleep but if the plug/wire ends in a male plug that you plug into the DAB then a replacement is prob easier overall. A couple of Volts either way shouldn't hurt either, I have a screwdriver charger running my external HDD!

In reply to Timmd:

Once upon a time paper was considered as adequate insulation. Can’t see why gaffa tape wouldn’t be OK for low voltage (i.e. mains) so long as you have covered the conductors. Personally I think 5 wraps is overkill, one/two wraps would do. (prospective member of the UKC electrical police)

Our pre radio is 9v transformer. Whatever you do, don't cut this off and replace with a normal plug!

I would probably do something similar, except I've got some insulation tape that I would have used.