[TowerTalk] 3M Scotcast resin

[John Hensley]

Tony,
3M makes a two part resin casting kit for splicing cables together.  Whiletailored for round cable, it works well with anything.  I've remade rubbermallet heads, made custom feet for heavy amplifiers or power supplies,as well as used it for its intended purpose.  The resin is called ScotchcastBrand 2130 and usually comes in a brown cardboard field kit.  For equipmentor outside use its designed for direct burial and is rated for 1KV to 5KVdepending upon how much copper you are potting.
I repair audio and video snakes and also submersible sonar cables in myspare time and use this resin often.  Done correctly, the joint is strongerthan the cabling.  Cure time is a couple of hours before handling, 24 hoursfor full strength.  The 82-F1 kit handles cable from .25" to .80" and the82-F2 kit can do larger cables in the .8" to 1.2" range.  There are many kitswith many different mold configurations such as Y's and breakouts.
You can Google for instructions, examples, how to use, etc. and you shouldfind plenty of information on it.  3M used to sell a 3 1/2 oz. A/B portapack butI don't know if they still have this.  I do mostly 1/2" cables and use the 7 oz. A/B pack which leaves me 2 oz or so extra which I take and finish off on somepersonal repair or custom mold.  
Anyway, something to keep in mind.  I put a few things up on my web foryou to see.  A "typical" data sheet is at:
http://www.w5jv.com/photos/scotchcast_82-f_data.pdf
Pictures of an actual mold pour and kit are:
http://www.w5jv.com/photos/splice_kit.jpg
http://www.w5jv.com/photos/pouring_a_mold.jpg
Best wishes for the holidays,
John W5JV 		 	   		  
_________________________________________________________________
Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free.
http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/171222985/direct/01/