solder question

is it safe or ok to solder houssehold wires? my dog chewed thru the wires on the window fan. is safe, recomended or just a bad idea?

thanks chris

Soldering is generally the best method for connecting copper wires; and use shrink wrap for insulation. It makes for a nice clean joint.

thank you

NYG95GA wrote: Soldering is generally the best method for connecting copper wires; and use shrink wrap for insulation. It makes for a nice clean joint.

shrink wrap each wire then shrink wrap the whole thing...

Was it plugged in when Sparky gnawed on it?

Good thing eh?

In reply to 914Driver:

We had a terrier who gnawed through every single cord (most still plugged in) in the house. Never seemed to suffer an ill effects.

keethrax wrote: In reply to 914Driver: We had a terrier who gnawed through every single cord (most still plugged in) in the house. Never seemed to suffer an ill effects.

Except for the possible brain damage that made him chew cords that were plugged in.

To reply to the OP, Solder works just fine for cord repairs. Just make sure you heat shrink it good. If that makes you nervous, you can also buy replacement cords.

Toyman01 wrote:

keethrax wrote: In reply to 914Driver: We had a terrier who gnawed through every single cord (most still plugged in) in the house. Never seemed to suffer an ill effects.

Except for the possible brain damage that made him chew cords that were plugged in. To reply to the OP, Solder works just fine for cord repairs. Just make sure you heat shrink it good. If that makes you nervous, you can also buy replacement cords.

Thus the word seemed in my post. He was never the smartest dog. It'd be hard to tell. He was however the most destructive ball of energy I've ever seen. In addition to the cords he completely destroyed an airline crate form the inside, chewed completely though a table leg (this was a 18-20 pound dog...) Though he was eventually trainable he was the hardest dog I've ever had to train by a large margin..

I had/have one like that. She ate every piece of rubber off a 10kw diesel generator I had just finished building, including the $50 flat cogged belt. If it was rubber or plastic she would eat it. Including a quart container of Ospho. Countless pieces of PVC pipe. She wouldn't eat wood though, just plastic and rubber. Several times I was temped to give her a terminal case of lead poisoning. Lucky for me she finally out grew that phase.

Sorry for the jack, back to your regularly scheduled post....

Neat tip: if you need to get shrink wrap around a wire that's still connected, i.e. not in two separate pieces, cut the wrap length wise, put over the joint, use super glue to reconnect the sides of the wrap, shrink the wrap as normal. It works.

Solder and shrinkwrap are fine. Just make sure there's no loose strands poking out, I got bit once by a single bare strand. Startled the hell out of me.

Slightly OT: We had a golden retriever which ate EVERYTHING. Got some of that sour apple spray and some of that super bitter stuff as well, might as well have rubbed bacon on everything.

Hmmm, Bacon

Still OT: my folks had a dog that liked to chew on wood furniture and trim (like baseboards - awesome). A liberal dousing of hot sauce on his favorite spots seemed to cure him of the habit.