Broken BX type cable on machines

Sealtite (brand name) liquid-tight flexible metallic conduit

Another brand popular locally is "Liquatite", called generically "liquatite flex".

Kevin Gallimore

Yes: liquid-tight flexible metallic conduit.

Replace. Can't be fixed. Looks like you have maybe 2-1/2 feet of it? I'm pretty sure I've seen that conduit, and fittings, in the electrical department at Lowe's. Being as you're unfamiliar with the conduit and its fittings, though, the best thing might be to take the whole assembly to an electrical supply house, lay it on the counter, and say "I need to replace this". They'll fix you right up. Should be less than $20.

Carried by Home Despot and better electrical supply houses.

Joe Gwinn

If you wouldn't need all that length, it could be shortened about 1" at each end. Disconnect the power from the machine, of course.

After marking the wires and disconnecting them at one end, slide the liquid-tite off and unscrew the cup-like ferrules at each end, taking care no to get cut by the ends of the armor liner/BX (that's what the ferrules do, protect the wiring from sharp edges of the BX).

After cutting around the plastic covering (cicumference), peel the plastic to the cut, then hacksaw (or Dremel cutting disk) a slit in the spine of the BX (perpendicular to the length of the liquid-tite, but at an angle across the BX spine). With a plier or suitable grabbing tool, bend the BX at the slit, and it breaks away. This should leave a fairly straight end that the ferrule can be screwed back in to.

If the nuts remain in the center, where they are in the pics, you won't need to remember to put them back on.

The ferrules appear to be crushed a bit, they may need a little expanding by tapping a suitable size of socket (or other similar part) into the end, to open them a bit, to enable them to be easily screwed back on the ends of the liquid-tite.

You could add a green earth ground wire to the motor wiring, just for good measure.

As the other replies have suggested, the metal/BX type of flex conduit is available from numerous sources. There is another type in the home stores, that looks very similar, but it's just plastic without the BX armor.

You did a really good job of using pictures to show exactly what the entire situation is.

Hi RWL

If the motor and the junction box remain in the same location during operation, the conduit in question (called Sealtight Flex) can be shortened. Here's how I would do it. (retired electrician )

HTH

Bob rgentry at oz dot net

I'd replace it with some SOOW cord and cord grips that have the oil/water tight rubber gromet.

Wes

-- "Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Liquidtite or Sealtite.

Ive got a shitload of connectors for both 3/8th and 1/2" versins if you need any.

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do something damned nasty to all three of them.

What's SOOW cord?

RWL

Thanks for all the replies guys. Better than politics

RWL

Yall know..that politics will always get discussed, even if you guys ask a hundred questions a day,......right?

Gunner

Whenever a Liberal utters the term "Common Sense approach"....grab your wallet, your ass, and your guns because the sombitch is about to do something damned nasty to all three of them.

If you decide to replace the liquidtite, consider a different choice in fittings. The combination of a 45° and 90° fittings look like lousy routing and extra strain on your liquitite.

Wes

All you really need is to cut it back and redo it as long as your fittings are not broken, and they do not appear to be.

Sealtite. Metallic Liquidtight Flexible Conduit

Myself, It looks like it really doesn't need the armor in a Home Shop

- that's the backside of the machine and it's used indoors. If you aren't Idiot Proofing it in an industrial situation I'd go get a chunk of severe service cord and new cord grips, and wire it up - SOOW or the like.

There are fifty different variations, supply houses only stock a few

- you might have to order. Get a cord selection guide and you can narrow down your Wants and Do Not Wants to pick your perfect cord, some makers have their own twists (like funky sheath codes for Fluorocarbon plastics or extreme high heat silicone and fiberglas) so look at their spec sheets. The basic breakdown:

S- severe service, you want this J - Junior, reduced diameter or lighter service - NO. You want heavy. O - oil resistant, OO very oil resistant, you want at least O W - water resistant T - thermoplastic sheath, for when atmosphere or chemistry would attack natural rubber. But it melts, so welding or grinding slag exposure is out.

Then you want sealing cord grips (they grab the cord with a rubber gasket) to go into the boxes, preferably with the wire-sock strain reliefs to keep the cords from pulling out. They are sized in decimal inch ranges to the cable outer sheath diameter.

If you want to stay with Sealtite, get new connectors with the same style wire sock strain reliefs, so it won't pull out if you snag something.

And you might want to go even longer on the cable or the Sealtite, so there's a big loop hanging down off the back of the machine, looks like that motor has a long vertical track to travel.

Don't try reusing those fittings, the brass ferrules on that style crimp into the Sealtite sheath, The ones with the steel/brass sleeve and separate nylon compression sealing ring work better anyway.

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