Re: Slightly OT: Joining cables to be used under water....

["Andy Whitfield" <andywhitfield2002@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Once you've got a good solder joint between the wires, file the
solder joint until it is smooth.
Also make sure the insulation near the joint is clean and dry.
Then use adhesive backed heatshrink.  This is quite thick heatshrink
and bonds really well to the cables.
Use long bits of heatshrink to get a good seal.  And perhaps use 2
layers.
The reason the solder joint must be smooth is so it doesn't split
the heatshrink.
Andy

--- In ukha_d@xxxxxxx, Vargster <vargster@...> wrote:
>
> I've got to join two cables to make a watertight seal... how?
>
> To explain, I've installed a 1500 litre tank in the garden to
collect
> rainwater to be used to flush the toilets in the house.
> There is a small pump in the bottom of this tank, to pump the
water up to a
> new header tank in the loft, before it comes down again to the
toilets.
>
> The problem is that the pump comes with a 1 metre lead power. It's
a
> lightweight flexible mains cable, but it only carries 12V, I've
got to
> extend this to get power to the pump outside the tank.
> The real problem is that the tank is 1.8 metres deep, meaning that
a lot of
> the time the joint will be under water...
>
> I've tried soldering the cables together, then giving it a couple
of thick
> coats of silicone sealant, which seems to work, but on further
inspection
> the sealant does bond too well to the cables outer sheath. Sanding
the
> sheath to rough finish doesn't help either.
>
> Keeping the pump at the bottom of the tank seems the best plan as
it will
> generally be away from any ice that may form in the tank, though
to be fair
> I haven't seen any ice in there, even on days when my "control
bucket" of
> rainwater has 1/2" of ice on it.
>
> I've thought about floating the pump on a styrofoam pontoon on the
surface
> of the water in the tank, but the pump is the size of a coke can,
and weighs
> nothing, which causes a problem of what to do with the 15mm+ of
fairly rigid
> hose that takes the water out the pump and out of the tank...
>
> Any ideas, solutions, thoughts, etc gratefully accepted...
> Lee
>
> PS. Bringing it right back on topic, of course it's going to be
controlled
> by the HA server...