Waterproofing bike wire to avoid the walk of shame

[NJS]

Silicone sealant will work for a while but will not work like a proper potting compound.

No one was suggesting it was a substitute for potting compound.

Used inside the gland, where the gland has removed the vast majority of flexing; or on the outside of the gland and over-wrapped whilst still wet with self-amalgamating tape or shrink wrap, it'll last months for anything other than full immersion. And its cheap and easily replaced.

Potting's great if you never need to undo it.

 

[cwah]

So what's the best action?
- to remove the box completely because water will go inside the gland whatever I do
- or I put some waterproof silicone gel outside the gland

 

[NJS]

So what's the best action?
- to remove the box completely because water will go inside the gland whatever I do
- or I put some waterproof silicone gel outside the gland

I'd put a little silicon inside the nose of each gland from the inside, and wrap some self-amalgamating tape around the outside; and try it for a while.

At worst it cost you £5 or £6. Don't forget to grease the seal before you close up the box.

 

[Ajax]

Hello


I have problem with my wiring whenever it rains. I tried lots of different techniques to protect the wires:
- Wrap it in tape and food wrap to prevent rain from getting in. It does protect a bit, but also trape water which end up creating shorts
- I've used sealant gel on all wires and it worked a bit but again it can trap water as well as making a pain to fix whenever needed
- I'm leaving the wires on open air (as seen on picture below) but some wires are touching each other and when wet they short...

Any idea what best to do to avoid the walk of shame?

What a mess.
What you need is a water proof container, then have all the wires fitted with bullet crimps so that they all connect up inside the container.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Only seal the top end. The best stuff is butyl bath sealant:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGH-PERFORMANCE-BUTYL-SEALANT-MASTIC-TAPE-8MM-X-6-METERS-LENGTH-GREY/332389805180?epid=2262877658&hash=item4d63f9ec7c:g:HRsAAOSwJwpZx27l
Break off a bit and mould it around the wires where they go in the box. Don't worry if it doesn't look like it's sealed. The butyl has a strange property, where, after some time, it will move into every crevice and stick to everything like ** to a blanket and seal it forever.

 

[spanos]

Only seal the top end. The best stuff is butyl bath sealant:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HIGH-PERFORMANCE-BUTYL-SEALANT-MASTIC-TAPE-8MM-X-6-METERS-LENGTH-GREY/332389805180?epid=2262877658&hash=item4d63f9ec7c:g:HRsAAOSwJwpZx27l
Break off a bit and mould it around the wires where they go in the box. Don't worry if it doesn't look like it's sealed. The butyl has a strange property, where, after some time, it will move into every crevice and stick to everything like ** to a blanket and seal it forever.

Useful, didn't know this. Thanks

 

[Nealh]

The bath sealant above is a good idea.
Like wise I use butyl sealant sometimes however the stuff I use comes in a 300ml tube for use in a std sealant gun, the product itself is very icky and sticks like s**t to a blanket as well but once it has air cured remains pliable and mouldable after wards as well as it never fully sets and is designed to remain slightly flexible. Butyl sealants are much better product then silicone as they are more pliable/flexible after curing and much more able to repel moisture.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I used to work in the caravan industry. I was Quality Manager for Avondale caravans. before I started there, more or less every caravan leaked. We did lots of experiments to determine the best sealants, then changed over to butyl.

As I said, butyl has some interesting properties. If you break a bit off in your hand, it behaves just like plasticine. If you make a small ball, you can roll it around on your desk, but if you leave it there and come back the next day, it's like it melted. You can't get it off. It's like the worst chewing gum , nearly impossible to clean off. What happen is that, over time, the molecules start to adhere to whatever they come in contact with, and they don't like to let go. They creep into every crevice, so it's self-healing as a sealant. It will even seal under water.

As an anecdote, One day I was cruising in my 32ft ketch. I stopped at Ilfracombe, which has drying moorings. While the tide was out, I decided to sort out the speed transducer, which wasn't working. When I opened the access hatch, I noticed that there was a spare tube next to it, but I had never noticed anything else on the underside of the boat, so my curiosity caused me to investigate further. I took the waterproof cap off and looked down the tube, but it was blocked with something. These tubes are about 50mm diameter and are glassed into the hull for various types of transducers. They have a sealed screw-cap to stop water coming in the boat.

I went and got a nice wooden pole (boat-hook) and tapped down through the tube, but nothing happened, so I gave it a big whack, and it cleared. Now I could see through the hole to the sand below the boat. I thought that this spare tube now might be useful, so I climbed down the ladder to have a look at where it was on the underside. To my horror, I'd knocked off a 4" diameter disc of GRP so there was more or less a gap all round the tube where the water could get into the GRP or even into the boat - and the tide was coming in, and my boat would be floating in a couple of hours. Luckily, I had kept a big roll of 2" wide butyl tape from my caravan experiments, so I was able to make a temporary repair, then I went to the chandlers and got a GRP repair kit, which I used when the tide went out gain, and I covered the repair in the butyl tape to keep the water off for a few days while it cured.