Model Boat Mayhem
Technical, Techniques, Hints, and Tips => The "Black Arts!" ( Electrics & Electronics ) => Topic started by: Captain Povey on July 20, 2007, 02:43:07 pm
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I hope this is not a silly question but having just got some small lights for masts etc. I notice that they come with a limited length of wire, typically 20cm. Is there a neat way to extend them to connect to the switch/battery. Thanks Graham. ???
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Graham,
http://www.rapidonline.com/home.aspx or http://www.maplin.co.uk should give you some ideas for miniature connectors.
Barry M
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Graham
If you do not need to disconnect them then individualy solder them together and insulate them with heatshrink sleeving. If you do need to disconnect them and you have the room use a D plug and socket, the type found on the backs of PCs and some flat screen TVs. You can also get, from the sources that Barry M mentioned small plugs and socket you can make up yourself also circular din plugs.
The other Brian
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It depends where the lights are, you can always use wire " bus bars" and solder the ouiginal wires to these.
Bob
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Firstly thanks to you all for the input and links. The problem I had in mind was when wiring up a mast head light and finding that the wires provided only reach as half way down the mast. Soldering the individual wires and shrink wrapping in preference to insulation tape is probably the way and then using a terminal block or other device under the hatch. Cheers Graham.
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If you can get hold of some telephone cable you can split it to give thin insulated wires to extend the existing leads.
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If you run 2 pieces of thin welding wire up the mast you can solder the wires to this, then connect the ends under the deck to the battery.
When painted they hardly show, and look like the propper conduit up the mast.
Bob
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Colin Bishop spoke about telephone cable, if you can not get this, steal an old ethernet cable, used as broadband connection on a PC. Use this it is the same as a telelphone cable (cat 5)
The other Brian
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I use old parallel printer cables and scart cables for a supply of very thin wires in many colors usually each at least 1 meter long.
You can even buy new scart cables at the 'Everything a pound' shop 1.5 mts long and containing 20 separte coloured very thin wires! The differing colours are great for keeping track of which wire goes to which light. ;)
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I use Burglar alarm wire. it is 5 strands all different colour inc red/ white / black which I use for extending servo wires , its soft copper cored so bends and solders easily without breaking and you buy it on a roll, which will last your lifetime and solder the join and cover with heat shrink. It is also just about the same diameter as the original servo cable. You can get it at B+Q ;D
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Good morning alll. Once again thanks for all those suggestions of where to get wire from. My dear wife was not too impressed when I said I was going to cut into the phone and internet broadband cables so a trip to the pound shop might be a god one to follow. Cheers Graham. :)
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Ribbon cable splits down well. Grey from old IDE cable from a dead computer, coloured new from places like Maplin.
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Well it rained so much around here that the cat took to the boat and I took to the shed. As suggested I stripped some wire from on old modem cable and found it to be the same size as the light cable. I am still waiting for the delivery of the heat shrink which is probably sitting in a postman's van in a flood somewhere. So in the meantime I experimented with using the outer sheath from a 3 core cable. With the copper removed and a bit of persuasion the inner bore became the same as the outer diameter of the light cable so a short length was passed on to it prior to soldering on an extension wire. The joint was then covered. The result was ok but I still think it looks a bit bulky so lets hope the heat shrink arrives soon along with some wine that did not arrive either! Cheers Graham
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Hi,
I have made up a soldered joint like this, but used insulation tape to cover the joint.
If done v carefully, the resulting join is thinner than you got with the sleeve method you describe.
As for heatshrink, I scoured work for some (a power station) and the smallest I could get was too big for these cables.
Hope you have more luck.
Ian
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Ideal placed to scour is Maplin. Sadly they want beer vouchers in exchange.
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Hi Ian, I found some 1.6mm id on the RS components site. Cheers Graham
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Thanks for that Capn.
I guess 132kv cable heatshrink is a bit big! ;D ;D
Ian
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Model Power do packs of various size heatshrink. Good quick service, also. Pete M
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Hi By staggering the joints and relying on the separation to stop shorts, you can get less bulky connections that are easier to feed through holes etc. We used this method when splicing new sections into damaged comms. cables. although I wouldn't advise it on medium or high voltage joints. drawing may help (I hope)
cheers Tom
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Thanks Peterm and Tom two god tips there I especially like the idea if the staggered joint. Cheers Graham. :)
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useful idea with the staggered joint, could be useful when i light lil raf
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Well the heat shrink arrived and I made the joint with it but was a bit surprised that the wife's hair dryer was not hot enough to shrink it. I know at work there is a special industrial hot air gun for doing this sort of thing but it was not available so I resorted to using the gas blow lamp! With a bit of care and a quick flick of the wrist it worked. I cannot show the final result as it is all hidden behind the exhaust so here is a picture of it working. Cheers Graham :)