How do I shrink heatshrink in an explosion proof room? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)

submitted 3 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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So I'm not sure what the right community for this is but I'm hoping yall can help. I'm a refrigeration service tech and recently I was tasked with replacing a sensor in a room used to store ethanol drums. Due to the nature of the room every device in it had to be rated explosion proof and I couldn't use any tools that could pose any risk of ignition (no heat gun, basically nothing with an electric motor, and definitely no open flames) while working in there. Normally when I splice wires I use heatshrink to cover the splice simply because it looks far more professional than electrical tape and it holds up better over time. However in this case I could not figure out any way of shrinking said heatshrink without posing a potential ignition hazard so I was stuck just wrapping the splice in tape. We do a lot of work for this company so I'm hoping to find a better solution for the next time I am in a similar situation.

So do any of you know any way to shrink heatshrink without posing an ignition hazard or am I stuck just using tape in those situations?

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[-] [email protected] 8 points 3 months ago

Some PVC tubing will start to shrink around 70°C. Can you get boiling water to it fast enough before it cools?

[-] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

A thermos might work!

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

This is what I would think...

Wear heat resistant gloves, boil two spoons in something (an electric kettle perhaps), take the spoons into the room, spoon them over the heat shrink.

... failing that there's always automotive electrical tape.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

That's one very roundabout way to transfer heat when one can just bring it in with water.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

That's a good point... As long as it's not going to effect anything else around, and exploding or hot water isn't a risk factor.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

There's an idea. As long as I'm using boiling water there will never be an ignition hazard because it will never go much above 100C. I could probably do something with a bit of water and quicklime to have an instant ignition free hotplate.

I'd need to figure out specifics and test it elsewhere of course but that is probably workable. The real question is if it's practical in the field. Either way it's something I'll probably try out at home just for fun.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

Maybe some air-activated hand warmers? This page says they can get up to 70°C, although they average 57°C. Maybe that would be enough, using several?

this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2025

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