Waterproof seal for dynamo connector

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Low Gear Guy

Veteran
Location
Surrey
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What is the CC view on protecting a dynamo connector against water ingress. There is a small gap where the wire enters the top of the connector. Is sealing this with PVC tape sufficient or should I try some form of adhesive?

Or am I paranoid about water damage?

This is an SP connector but I think the Shimano is similar.
 
Location
Loch side.
View attachment 461449 What is the CC view on protecting a dynamo connector against water ingress. There is a small gap where the wire enters the top of the connector. Is sealing this with PVC tape sufficient or should I try some form of adhesive?

Or am I paranoid about water damage?

This is an SP connector but I think the Shimano is similar.
They are all similar. Mine's a Shimano and exactly the same. Yes, water ingress is a problem because mine is rusted and sometimes makes a poor connection and I have to clean it up again. I wish they would make the tabs from brass rather than plated steel and, design some sort of seal and sophistication into the damn thing.
 

glasgowcyclist

Charming but somewhat feckless
Location
Scotland
My Shimano connector is the same and has not given me any problems in four years' use in rainy Glasgow.
(I do give it a spray with WD40 every now and then.)

If you have enough slack in the cable you could rotate the hub until the connector is at, say, 5 o'clock so that any water drops of the loop of cable where it will now bend upwards to the plug. Or smear the gaps with grease/vaseline.
 

si_c

Guru
Location
Wirral
I've not bothered trying to seal mine, I just take it off now and again and use some contact cleaner on them. If I was going to do it I'd probably use some hot glue to seal the holes once the wires are all in place.
 
OP
OP
Low Gear Guy

Low Gear Guy

Veteran
Location
Surrey
Thanks for the hints everyone. I installed it with the connector at the top as this is specified in the installation instructions.

I will try to seal the top of the connector better. Maybe heatshrink to increase the wire diameter will work. If not I will try some form of grease.
 
Location
España
Thanks for the hints everyone. I installed it with the connector at the top as this is specified in the installation instructions.

I will try to seal the top of the connector better. Maybe heatshrink to increase the wire diameter will work. If not I will try some form of grease.

I find the SON fittings used with shrink wrap to be far superior to the Shimano plastic connectors.
My Shimano connector got a bang and cracked so water was getting in.
Something like this is what I mean... https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/lightin...mm-female-with-piggyback-connector-pack-of-2/
 

Heltor Chasca

Out-riding the Black Dog
I run the Shimano as you have and the Son which is shrink wrapped. Both suffer from oxidisation. Whether that’s humidity, my proximity to the coast or water ingress I don’t know.

What I do know is that I have to redo both connections due to the above and general wear and tear roughly every two years regardless. So leave spare cable available. I wrap the cable round a screwdriver, nice and neatly and then have a ‘spring’ of cable leading from the headset area to the component. In a crash the spring saves any further damage to expensive bits.
 

silva

Über Member
Location
Belgium
If the cable is long enough, mount it so that just before the connector it makes a turn downwards before going back up abit higher than the connector and back down to it..
Then all the water that flows down along the cable, doesn't go into the connector.
That already makes a big difference (avoiding corrosion of the copper).
Then some plastic tape from under connector to above.
And over that last cable turn downwards to the connector, another plastic tape, abit like an umbrella/cover with a part of it sticked over the connector and the upwards tape.
The lower tape protects the connector against mud/dirt from below.
The upper tape prevents rain from getting on the connector and the glue of the tapes itself.

That's how I did it to deal with the tiny copper wires oxidizing away / becoming brittle / break.
 
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