Lead scraping on ground - chaffed cable?

[HomerMarge]

We managed to scrape our black lead on the ground whilst towing this week, this was our 3rd trip and the first two were OK so I am not sure what went wrong? We tend to twist the leads (as advised by the caravan showroom)as they are fairly long and I guess maybe we did not twist the black one enough?

What do you do to overcome the problem.

We are through to the inner wires, although it has not broken the insulation on the inner wire...do we need to have the cable replaced or will some insulation tape suffice...This seems to be a common problem as even the van that arrived at the same time as us appeared to be dragging its lead, it was seeing this van that actually made me look at mine, but of course it was too late as the damage had already been done.

 

[jacky3]

i use a bungie hooked around jockey wheel handle then hooked around cables to lift off the floor works fine

 

[BeatBeat]

I use a small dog collar which I jockey wheel handle. It keeps the leads off the floor nicely.

 

[the other tom]

Thanks to all of you i was just about to post exactly the same question and now i have a soloution to my problem. Many thanks Tom

 

[colin(bridgend)]

The method I use is to twist the leads as suggested and then to secure them to the jockey wheel with a stout elastic band. If anything untowards should happen the band will break. Thankfully so far every thing has been great.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

The method I use is to twist the leads as suggested and then to secure them to the jockey wheel with a stout elastic band. If anything untowards should happen the band will break. Thankfully so far every thing has been great.

Depending on the severity of the chaffing I would think good qualirty insulation tape will suffice if the actual insulation on the inner wires is not damaged. I also have a small trailer where this has occurred and the insulation tape has been on this lead for many years.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hi Paul & Ruth,

Having read most of the replies, most suggest using the jockey wheel as an anchor for an elasticated support. I too use such a system. I find a rubber band made from a cut up car tyre inner tube makes some wonderfully supports for all sorts of things, including replacing the elastics on the awning and tent pegs etc.

The insulation on your cable serves several purposes. But mainly it is designed to prevent the metal conductors from shorting to each other or to anything else. It also is there to protect us from electric shock.

Provided the inner coloured insulation has not been damaged, and because it is only carrying 12V then the risk of shorting is not significant. Using a vinyl insulation tape wrapped around the abraded area should be more than sufficient (most car manufactures use this type or wrapping to make their electrical looms).

If the inner coloured insulation has been compromised, then I strongly advise replacement of the cable. Contrary to popular belief that 12V is not dangerous, there is a real danger of fire if 12V circuits can short out.

 

[Lutz]

PVC tape is OK but it has a habit of shrinking with time, often unravelling the ends if they haven't been secured properly. I really professional fix, avoiding fitting a new wiring harness and providing even more protection, is to cover the cable with flexible convoluted plastic conduit, available from any good store that sells material for electrical installations.

 

[VIP2006]

If your cables are to long. put a loose knot in one of the cables, then pass the other cable through the centre of the knot and again tie a loose knot in this cable. this allows each cable to support each other and if anything snags the cable then the knots can tighten and allow the plug to pull out.

Also a piece of bungie elastic tied around the hitch handle can also assist.

 

[Moth_5041363]

My leads used to be to long on my van, so i pushed the cables back under the a frame problem solved.

 

[ProfJohnL]

PVC tape is OK but it has a habit of shrinking with time, often unravelling the ends if they haven't been secured properly. I really professional fix, avoiding fitting a new wiring harness and providing even more protection, is to cover the cable with flexible convoluted plastic conduit, available from any good store that sells material for electrical installations.

You could use a pice of hose pipe!

 

[Paul_5041248]

You can buy self-amalgamating electrical tape - essentially what this does is chemically fuse itself together once it has been wrapped. This should be available from electrical wholesalers - you should have no problem getting served, or from mail order companies such as screwfix (www.screwfix.co.uk). Use this instead of ordinary tape to cover over where the outer cover has worn away

 

[Lutz]

You could use a pice of hose pipe!

OK, but hose pipe may be a bit too stiff depending on whether you have to make a loop.