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Mic cable nics, rubber cement or equivalent recommendation?


B_Van_Deusen

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Hi, I have several mic cables that have recently developed “nics” along the cable that are just on the outside casing. The mics work fine, there are no intermittency or interference issues. I suspect it happened after putting them in some DPA mic cases that were too small, and the edges snipped the cable casing. I’ve had these mics for years without this, and after putting these cases into play I noticed this development pretty quickly.

 

Anyways, many of these “nics” are in the middle of the cable, or near the mic itself. I’m looking for a product to repair the nic, probably a rubber cement, that ideally doesn’t harden or compromise any of the other parts of the cable. I don’t want to use heat shrink because that also often creates a hard edge that can damage the casing from it rubbing against it.

 

Does anyone have a product they recommend or have found a good solution to a similar problem?

 

(To be clear, cutting the resoldering endings is not an option here, the nics are way up the mic line) 

 

best wishes,

 

Brett

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Since resoldering a connector (for heat shrink tubing) is not a option, I would try some plastic epoxy, I do not think rubber cement, contact cement or adhesive calk would be strong enough.

A long time ago I had some heat shrink electrical tape,  I cannot remember much about it or what I used it for.

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You could try Sugru (not sure if that’s still around in your part of the world, in Sweden it’s called Kintsuglue else these days), it’s a sort of rubber cement, like a clay, that dries and turns into a rubber like sturdy lump. But it needa to be quite thick, so it might not be useful anyway

 

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59 minutes ago, Olle Sjostrom said:

You could try Sugru (not sure if that’s still around in your part of the world, in Sweden it’s called Kintsuglue else these days), it’s a sort of rubber cement, like a clay, that dries and turns into a rubber like sturdy lump. But it needa to be quite thick, so it might not be useful anyway

 

+1 for the sugru. It has lots of nice uses and tired cable reinforcements are one of those. it might be a bit thick, but I dont see how to avoid thick results for your problem. It's always useful anyways to have some for your everyday needs. highly recommended.

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A bit of a derail, but the one thing I don’t like about sugru is the way that it comes in these small packs (over here they’re sold in packs of three) but if you open them and take just as much as you need, there’s no way of sealing the bag up again.
So all of the sugru you didn’t use also dries up. But maybe I’m just stupid, I think I’ve tried every way of sealing the pack up again with no result. 

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When we used Sennheiser MKE1 at my work, we always had problems with damaged insulation, and that was solved with rubber grommets, glued at the damaged spot. Just a drop of glue is sufficient, the capillary effect will make sure that the glue is distributed evenly. On the MKE1 the grommets are already there (for protecting the cable at the mic clip), but the grommets can be bought separately. To put on the grommet, you will need a three-pronged (normally) tool, but that is not expensive, at might come in handy with other cable repairs.

https://eshop.wuerth-industrie.com/Produktkategorier/Rubber-grommet-polychloroprene/15435505060201.cyid/1543.cgid/da/DK/EUR/

 

https://www.hellermanntyton.com/dk/produkter/vaerktoj-til-tyller/na1k-3/621-10103

 

The grommets can probably be sourced easily from other suppliers.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks everyone for your input here! Sorry for the delay, i thought i would get notifications for responses.

 

Anyways i like the idea of sugru, I might give that a shot.  A little thick is probably okay, better than just the electrical tape thats around the lavs right now.  The grommets aren't a terrible idea either, but still comes back to glue to attach the grommets, in which case I might try to avoid the extra step this time. Otherwise just from looking at the packaging of Sugru I can see how it is hard to seal, maybe a foodsaver bag + vacuum seal would do it?

 

Last, I also found this product on my search, which does seem to be specifically for rubber, the main thing I'm trying to avoid is a big "hard bit" that makes the seal, I wonder how this would do it, or if it would just act like super glue and harden up: https://www.amazon.com/Adhesive-bonding-Between-Material-Instant-Product/dp/B09CV2PHMT/ref=sr_1_19?hvadid=580938090613&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9004342&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4224231905568358650&hvtargid=kwd-334871272276&hydadcr=4318_13198786&keywords=%2Bsugru&qid=1647957536&s=industrial&sr=1-19

 

Thanks again, great responses!

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1 hour ago, B_Van_Deusen said:

Thanks everyone for your input here! Sorry for the delay, i thought i would get notifications for responses.

 

Anyways i like the idea of sugru, I might give that a shot.  A little thick is probably okay, better than just the electrical tape thats around the lavs right now.  The grommets aren't a terrible idea either, but still comes back to glue to attach the grommets, in which case I might try to avoid the extra step this time. Otherwise just from looking at the packaging of Sugru I can see how it is hard to seal, maybe a foodsaver bag + vacuum seal would do it?

 

Last, I also found this product on my search, which does seem to be specifically for rubber, the main thing I'm trying to avoid is a big "hard bit" that makes the seal, I wonder how this would do it, or if it would just act like super glue and harden up: https://www.amazon.com/Adhesive-bonding-Between-Material-Instant-Product/dp/B09CV2PHMT/ref=sr_1_19?hvadid=580938090613&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9004342&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4224231905568358650&hvtargid=kwd-334871272276&hydadcr=4318_13198786&keywords=%2Bsugru&qid=1647957536&s=industrial&sr=1-19

 

Thanks again, great responses!

That looked promising but looking at the reviews it was mentioned that it drys hard.  What hard means pertaining to rubber could just mean that its not tacky when dry.  Hopefully it will still have some flexibility when cured.

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