Wet Stage Cable
- Thread starterlaserboy171
- Start date
shiben
Well-Known Member
Its probably fine. Just make sure its all dry. In fact, if its well dried out, you probably dont need to lop off the ends. The SOOW designation implies that its water resistant along its length, and you can dry out the ends by just removing the tops on the connectors, and let it dry out. Just make sure its all dried out.
bishopthomas
Well-Known Member
The only thing I would worry about is corrosion from the undoubtedly dirty basement water. Just let them dry and check the connections. You might spray some cleaner (can't remember the name of the appropriate contact cleaner, I'm sure someone will chime in) on the pins, but other than that the cables should be fine to use.
Cutting off the connectors is the safest way to go, if you're comfortable with replacing them.
I believe Caig Deox-IT is the cleaner suggested earlier.
If you don't want to cut the ends off some of the cleaner sprayed on the pins and screws should work well enough.
I believe Caig Deox-IT is the cleaner suggested earlier.
If you don't want to cut the ends off some of the cleaner sprayed on the pins and screws should work well enough.
gcpsoundlight
Active Member
CRC Contact Cleaner is the stuff I use.....
meatpopsicle
Active Member
Just dry it out.
TheHilltopper
Member
I would just put all new 3-Pin Connectors on it. Its a cheap move that could save you a fire or electrocution....
The water resistant designation in SOOW applies to the outer jacket. If the ends are submerged, water can wick up into the cord via the filler and seperation paper. The proper thing to do would be to scrap them, and replace with new. Second to that, locate an electrician with a 'Megger' and have him test the cords.
Do not use any solvent type cleaner (such as CRC contact cleaner) on the connectors without first verifying with the connector manufacturer that the plastic the connectors are made out of is compatible with the solvent. If there is any doubt about the connectors, just replace them. Were talking about $50 worth of connectors here, its not like you had a few dozen pieces of socapex underwater....
Do not use any solvent type cleaner (such as CRC contact cleaner) on the connectors without first verifying with the connector manufacturer that the plastic the connectors are made out of is compatible with the solvent. If there is any doubt about the connectors, just replace them. Were talking about $50 worth of connectors here, its not like you had a few dozen pieces of socapex underwater....
Dry them out... they'll be fine. The connectors might have to be replaced if they rust/corrode. I'd suggest you take the tops off of the connectors and drying the insides out as well as you can. Let it dry for a while.
If you are confident doing it you could cut the ends a foot or so in and make sure the inside of the cable isn't wet, then put the ends back on if they are okay, or if not replace. However I'd say this is completely unnecessary, SOOW is water resistant afterall...
The 14/3 is a bit odd though... it should be 12/3 or 10/3.
If you are confident doing it you could cut the ends a foot or so in and make sure the inside of the cable isn't wet, then put the ends back on if they are okay, or if not replace. However I'd say this is completely unnecessary, SOOW is water resistant afterall...
The 14/3 is a bit odd though... it should be 12/3 or 10/3.
not when the ends were underwater. see my previous post.
shiben
Well-Known Member
Scrapping them is way overkill, 600ft of SOOW aint cheap, especially for a school program. If your really nervous about water wicking up in there, take your handy multimeter, set it to continuity, and then do a continuity check on each pin to every pin. If they only respond to the pin your contacting, your in the clear (I really doubt that this is an issue at all, but if your super concerned, go for it). The cleaner mentioned is safe, it says so on the website and a 5 second googling got me that information: CRC Industries Product Detail . Realistically, the chance of it having issues after being thoroughly dried out is slim to none, unless it was submurged for weeks or something.
I don't think there's a need to replace the connectors so long as they aren't already corroded.
Let them sit for a while, slice a little off of the ends to check if the paper between the conductors is wet. Even if it is, I don't know that it creates a problem unless the conductors have punctures in their insulation. Just the paper being wet won't cause anything to short out. It might give you problems with the flexibility of the cables and how long they'll last, but there shouldn't be any conductivity problems.
Let them sit for a while, slice a little off of the ends to check if the paper between the conductors is wet. Even if it is, I don't know that it creates a problem unless the conductors have punctures in their insulation. Just the paper being wet won't cause anything to short out. It might give you problems with the flexibility of the cables and how long they'll last, but there shouldn't be any conductivity problems.
shiben
Well-Known Member
And if that stuff is at all new it has nylon instead of paper in there. Along with plastic jackets over each wire inside the rubber insulation inside yet more rubber insulation... yeah, i doubt there is an issue.
ah ok on the cleaner. I was thinking of a different one which wasnt ok with all plastics.
As far as the cable, a multimeter isnt going to help you at all. It should be tested with a Megger.
No. Several manufacturers still use paper both in the filler and as a seperation layer between the jacket and conductors.
The insulation on the wires is still rubber and/or plastic, both of which are waterproof...
A megger is an insulation resistance tester, which uses a high voltage to measure insulation resistance in megaohms. A multimeter will not detect faults in a cable due to its low operating voltage.
Here's one of Fluke's offerings Fluke 1507/1503 Insulation Resistance Testers
I do not believe the insulation on the inner conductors is waterproof. I will be talking to someone at a cable manufacturer tomorrow on an unrelated matter. I will ask about SOOW cable where the ends had been submerged and get us an authoritative answer.
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