r/AskElectronics • u/ThrowRA000011111 • 1d ago

Small wire is frayed out of the plastic coating. Fixable?

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Gallery image

Gallery image

I was attempting to open this plastic cover and it was stuck, so I tried to pry it off. Accidentally hit the wire with the pliers while trying to pry and noticed this pink wire frayed. Is this repairable? And if it is, how?

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14

u/NewRelm 1d ago

It looks like only one strand of wire is broken. If most strands are intact, just repair the insulation. A turn of electrical tape will do, or a dab of RTV silicone.

3

u/1310smf 1d ago edited 1d ago

Looks like you broke one strand of the wire, but most of it's intact, and you haven't (apparently) damaged any other wire's insulation for the bare copper to short to. You can probably ignore the one broken strand, as a full butt-splice repair gets messy here given how tight everything appears to be at this point. If it's not so tight really, cut it, slide some heatshrink on, butt splice it and heatshrink it.

Being automotive, voltage is likely low unless it's part of an electric/hybrid drive system. Being automotive, it's in a poor environment where it's subject to water ingress. So perhaps paint on some "liquid electrical tape" to help seal it up.

Or make your dealer happy and replace the harness for a "proper" repair $$$$.

5

u/sathdo 1d ago

You can cut out the section that was torn apart and splice in a new piece of wire.

1

u/DrRomeoChaire 1d ago

Home Depot and others sell something called "Liquid Electrical Tape" (Star Brite is one brand). I'd brush a few good coats of that and maybe a wrap of normal electrical tape when it dries.