Good way to protect wires from screws?

I have some test boxes that have screws in the wiring area. Not a good situation, but that is life. I want to protect the wiring from abrasion against the screws, and so far I have two alternatives - heat shrink that may be very difficult to remove if needed, or some sort of non-corrosive caulk that would be easy to peel off if the screws need to be removed. Does anyone have any experience with this situation and have some suggestions and brand names?

Thanks, Dave

Reply to
Dave Boland
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Can you help us visualize this? Is the problem that you have a long threaded portion running through an area that's full of flying leads? If so, why can't you run that screw through a standoff, a drinking straw, anything cylindrical and smooth?

Reply to
larwe

Plastic spacers??

These sort of things;

Reply to
Aly

No experience, just an idea that comes to mind. One of my hobbies is model making and I often use liquid latex for masking off areas prior to painting. That sticks quite well to whatever you paint it on and peels off easily enough when needed. It is viscous enough to easily absorb a machine screw thread (self tappers or woodscrews would need a thicker coat if simply removing the sharpness of the thread wasn't enough). The only downside I can think of is drying time - while 15-30 minutes isn't that slow it may be too long for a production environment.

Should be available easily enough from _good_ model shops or pretty much any general arts & crafts shop. Failing that, a Google for "liquid latex" reveals plenty of suppliers.

As other posters have mentioned, I think sleeving the screws in some matter would generally be a better idea, although I can see situations where that wouldn't be practical.

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Andrew Smallshaw
andrews@sdf.lonestar.org
Reply to
Andrew Smallshaw

I am not sure I understand either. Are you talking about the pointy end of a sheet metal screw or are you concerned that long term rubbing on the head of a screw will wear off the insulation?

Either way, I would fix it not by putting anything on the wires, but by putting some silicon adhesive on the screws. It will dry non- sticky in a few hours and should not cause any problem with any of the wires.

I don't know of a brand name, but it is often called "Silcon Seal" which may be a brand name.

Reply to
rickman

Google seems to be having some trouble today. I posted a message several hours ago and got the confirmation, but it has never shown up. I offered a similar idea to Andrew.

I am not sure I understand the concern, but it sounds like you have sharp points of screws or you are concerned about long term abrasion of the wire insulation. Either way I would put silicone sealant on the metal parts I was concerned about. This stuff is very common, it dries quickly (a couple of hours) and is not too hard to remove, but sticks very well. This is a lot thicker than liquid latex so it would be applied from a tube rather than being brushed on.

Reply to
rickman

Google is having some real trouble today. This is the third time I am posting this message and it just will not show up.

I would recommend something similar to what Andrew has suggested. I would use silicone seal to cover any sharp metal parts that you were worried would cause abrasion on the wires. It is thicker than liquid latex so it would be applied from a tube. It dries reasonably fast and is very tough. It is just a matter of what fits the particulars of your application.

Reply to
rickman

A few of the plastic stick on tie down blocks. Loom the wires and tie them to the blocks.

Put the wires in rubberised wiring clamps/clips.

Spacers over the screws.

Wrap the screws with a rubberised tape, something like scotch70 which is self sealing so won't leave a sticky mess.

Or depending on the length/size of the screw, screw on a wine cork or small block of foam. If you don't have a cork, well you better go get and have a bottle of red with dinner.

Alex

Reply to
Alex Gibson

Yet all three have appeared here, at time 6:15, 8:17, and 8:27 pm. (which is EDT - add 3 hrs for your origination).

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Reply to
CBFalconer

Sorry my posting lacked detail. The concern is that wires could rub up against the exposed threads that protrude beyond the nut.

I looked at nylon spacers, but felt that they may come loose eventually because they are only screwed on. I also looked at silicone formulations, but they take a long time to cure. What I ended up doing was to wrap the threads with electrical tape since the tape is adhesive it should say on if applied well (which I didn't the first time). The I used a self adhesive wire hanger stuck to the case so the wires won't contact the screws.

What I was thinking of was something like the anti-sabotage compound that would coat the threads so there are no sharp edges, but could easily be removed. I wasn't able to find such a product at Loctite though.

Thanks for the ideas.

Dave,

Reply to
Dave Boland

If you obtain some "P" clips the wiring could be retained by them away from the screw threads with the "P" clip held in place by the offending screws. There are usually several suitable types at Maplins, RS, Farnell or any other electrical/electronics outlet.

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Paul E. Bennett ....................
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Reply to
Paul E. Bennett

-snip-

Maybe a glue gun would work, if you don't want spacers. The glue drops hardens in seconds, but can be removed if needed.

/Rolf

Reply to
Rolf Blom

Teflon sleeves are vitually frictionless and held in place over the threads with silicone rubber binding them to the nut or to the board.

But unless there's a good bit of vibration I'd just use shrink-fit sleeving.

Regards, Ken

Reply to
Ken Asbury

I have had intermittant trouble with posts not appearing from time to time. After the third message did not show up I started browsing the groups and noticed that even after 9 PM none of the groups I visit and typically have several messages per hour, had not received a single post after about 5:15 or so. Andrew's post, which is time marked a couple hours earlier than my first, was not apparent when I made my first post, but was there for the rest. Then on top of all that, only the first of the three are showing up today! BTW, I am also EDT. Not sure why you thought I was Pacific.

So, I would say Google Groups did not have a good day yesterday.

Reply to
rickman

Your posts are dated -0700.

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Reply to
CBFalconer

Dome nuts or sleeving + dome nuts

Reply to
Robbo

Very odd. Settings in Google Groups is -0500, I don't know if they account for DST or not, but I don't know why it is showing as -0700. Maybe they are having problems beyond taking 4 hours for posts to show up.

Reply to
rickman

Dave,

Who says the heat-shrink sleeve has to be shrunk? Or use nylon tubing over the threads or over the wires, as you prefer.

Reply to
Richard H.

More to the point, what's wrong with tying the wires into neat bundles and using sticky mounting pads or screw down mountings to hold them in place. It saves a bucketload of trouble with vibration damage, trapping shorting etc.

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Clint Sharp
Reply to
Clint Sharp

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