Beginner repair of pool robot cable

[rthorntn]

Hi All,

My robot is kaput, the "tension" point where the cable enters the robot is shorting and I don't want to spend $200 on a new cable.

First question has anyone seen the connector (attached) for sale, a reverse image search doesn't give me anything and I can't see any part numbers on it, maybe its proprietary?

If I can't get a new connector I was thinking about chopping the bad piece out and soldering the wires together right next to the connector, heatshrinking it, is that how you would do it?

Thanks.
Richard

[james_s]

I don't recognize the connector but there are a zillion different connectors out there.

Your idea sounds reasonable, I think it's what I'd do. It seems unlikely that the cable is shorting though, an open circuit due to fatigue is much more likely. In either case once you are sure the fault is in that location you can snip it off and splice the wires.

[rthorntn]

Thanks, maybe my terminology is wrong, a continuity check on either the red wire or the black wire causes a beep:

Probe A robot end / probe B PSU end / result

Red wire / red wire / beep
Black wire / black wire / beep
Black wire / red wire / beep
Red wire / black wire / beep

[james_s]

Hm that does sound like a short, one wire to another wire with nothing plugged into either end shouldn't result in a beep. Maybe the insulation on the inner wires has crumbled to dust.

[rthorntn]

Thanks, I found the issue, the insulation has just sheared, see attached (for a good reason why you shouldn't pull the robot out of the pool by it's cord).  I should add that the robot is 10 years old.

[james_s]

Yeah, that'll do it. Looks like ordinary wire too, not the sort of fine strand high flexibility stuff with silicone insulation that a quality cable would use.

[rthorntn]

Planned obsolescence...

[james_s]

I don't think it's planned obsolescence, it's simply cost cutting. Making the cable higher quality would make it cost considerably more, and it lasted a decade as it is, that's probably longer than the expected life of the unit.

[pcprogrammer]

When repairing it with solder and heat shrink, I would consider something like this

The glue rings seal the wires in case moisture does seep in somehow it will not reach the solder.

[max.wwwang]

Mission accomplished. Congrats! 

[tooki]

I don't think it's planned obsolescence, it's simply cost cutting. Making the cable higher quality would make it cost considerably more, and it lasted a decade as it is, that's probably longer than the expected life of the unit.

Thank you for stating that. I hate how people routinely cry “planned obsolescence” when in fact it’s nearly always simply cost-cutting. I guess the distinction between the two is lost on many people. Or they reject the distinction because it doesn’t play into their narrative that companies are always evil.