ac adaptor

i noticed my AC adaptor cable is split a little and it is exposing a silver cable within. is this fixable with tape? foolishly the first thing i did was to touch it and luckily nothing happened to me! but exactly how dangerous is it?

 

Make sure you use some insulation tape but yeh fine.

 

any type of electrical tape should work

 

yup any kind i suggested black it matchs :>

 

cheers dudes. so it isnt unsafe?

 

well it is an exposed wire, thats not safe, but if you put electrical tape on it; its safe.

 

Procedure to follow:

1. If the break is on the AC side (where the mains power comes in) treat with respect. It can kill you. Take to an authorised repair person or company. Let them fix it for you. Don't mess with it.

2. If the break is on the DC side (where the power comes out) you should be O.K. Insulation against shocks is very high here.

Treat with caution.

 

that silver wire you can see is the screen protecting the two cables inside, its not ideal to have a damaged cable but it should be safe enough to use some insulating tape on it to cover the damage. Also its only low voltage and poses no harm to anyone as long as it doesn't short out.

 

Thank's. I just want to make sure nobody on the forum does anything that could harm them.

 

Even if the break is on the line side of the adapter (120/240volts) a few wraps of black electrical tape will take care of it. Granted that only one of the wires are exposed, if both are then get it replaced, too much of a risk of shorting the circuit.

Cheap tape is rated at 300 volts per wrap, good 3M electrical tape is rated at 600 volts per wrap. And just because it's low voltage on the DC side doesn't mean it's safe. It takes only mili-amps to cause damage to the heart. Granted, at such low voltage on DC side, one needs to be completed grounded, soaking wet, and probably have the DC wires tied dierctly across the heart to do any damage...just saying that DC can be as deadly as AC.

I'd wrap it with electrical tape only (if only one wire exposed, either AC or DC side), and check it every once and awhile.

Just make sure its unpluged (AC & DC) as you do the repairs (just saying, because you'd be shocked with what people do...)

Skibums = electrician > 25 yrs

 

Minor word of caution: on the DC side, they often use braided cable to reduce resistance. It looks a screen but isn't...

 

It is a screen , i have seen the cables shredded to pieces

 

I can assure you that in some cases the "screen" is actually one of the conductors.

 

True, it can be the negative lead.