Electronic – How to “cap” a wire so it doesn’t short or electrocute someone

safetyshort-circuitwire

I'm repurposing a PSU that I recently replaced. I'm using it in a project that needs high current supplied. I don't need all the wires (as you could imagine), but I don't know how to seal them off safely.

I was thinking about trimming them shorter and then adding a bit of electrical tape over the end and doing a little bit of shrink wrap to hold that in place. Is this a good idea? I generally like to stay away from electrical tape, but I can't see any alternatives, and the shrink tubing would hold it in place. Ideally, I would desolder the wires from the PSU, but I'd rather not mess around with it and all the warnings about capacitors. How should I do this?

Best Answer

I would cut the wires to a convenient length, and then use shrink tube over the ends. If you cut 1" of shrink tube, and cover 1/2" of the wire (leaving 1/2" of empty tube), it would offer a lot of protection.The empty section of the tube would neck down nicely...

RJR had a good idea: if you bend over the last cm of wire before heatshrinking the end, and put the heatshrink over the doubled-up wire, then the swelling at the end will keep the heatshrink tubing from slipping.

Is this PSU from a desktop computer? If so, no need to worry about shocking somebody with the output. All the voltages are too low. Do be safe with the incoming AC wires, through!

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