Orphek cables too short? Here is a fix!

[NitroJoe]

We are in a hobby that demands the finest aesthetics, yet we have light cords too short to allow hiding of ballasts in electrical dedicated boxes! Rubbish I say! Knowing Orphek sells extensions which are almost impossible to find, I began thinking the lights would tolerate an extension… so here is what I did:

For my Orphek 48” blue bars, to the out-going wired from the ballast, I spliced 2 pole, 0.75mm2 wire (https://a.co/d/26n9mK1), soldered, wrapped and used shrink fittings (https://a.co/d/b3wBbNA). Works like a charm.

For my Orphek iCon lights I did the same thing with all copper 18 gauge 2-pole wiring (https://a.co/d/aMko9WU) in the exact same way.

I am attaching a few photos for reference. Hope this proves helpful for someone!

 

[KrisReef]

Does this void the warranty?

Thanks for sharing the solution for having a short chord. The manufacturers really should provide stock solutions for people like me who don’t have the patience to make a nice splice.

 

[NitroJoe]

Does this void the warranty?

Thanks for sharing the solution for having a short chord. The manufacturers really should provide stock solutions for people like me who don’t have the patience to make a nice splice.

I would imagine it would but I have used the lights long enough they are likely to be fine. I put so little stock in manufacturer warranties anyway.

 

[Tavero]

Jesus Christ...
That's not how you splice cables.
That's how you do it


Also please find a better spot for soldering than your carpet stairs next time.
110/220 mains voltage can be dangerous. Stay safe guys.

 

[snorklr]

ok i cant figure out any way you could have done your splices like that without the bare soldered parts potentially touching inside the shrink wrap,,,each splice should be inline and covered with its own piece of shrink wrap before the whole thing is covered with a larger piece...making one wire longer than the other can offset the splices so they're not right next to each other, additionally minimizing chances for a short...marine rated shrink wrap has a temp sensitive glue inside so you get additional waterproofing over normal shrink wrap....you can actually get a 42 piece marine shrink wrap assortment at Harbor Freight for 6 bucks

 

[NitroJoe]

Ok ok ok. First of all. I did not post with the intent that I am an expert electrician or anything, but that splicing an extra 3 feet simply works. The ballasts are not getting hotter and my PAR is the same. Constructive feedback that may benefit readers is helpful but the condescending tone “Jesus Christ” and “I just can’t figure out why…”, simply is not nice. I was proud of my little DIY and it works great. Second, regarding the comments, this is filamentous wiring and that NASA technique is intended for solid copper wire that may be under significant tension. Pre-tinning filamentous wire would make splicing untenable. There are dozens of techniques out there. Each electrician will give you a slightly different take. A wire nut would work but is hard to seal and make look less than obnoxious, so tightly twisting the wire with pliers like a wire nut to make good contact before soldering on the tile floor on a large cutting board (not on the carpet - the pictures look like I did on the stairs). The shrink is water tight as it has the glue adhesive that responds and molds with heat. My setup runs the electric components separated from the water areas. This works well for my setup, but admittedly I had no knowledge of marine cable shrinks. That is nice for someone else considering to do a splice. As for avoiding an internal short, the wires are not touching but are separated by electrical tape which is further held in place by the shrink. Honestly, I regret posting this now and if I could delete it, I would.

 

[Tavero]

Ok ok ok. First of all. I did not post with the intent that I am an expert electrician or anything, but that splicing an extra 3 feet simply works. The ballasts are not getting hotter and my PAR is the same. Constructive feedback that may benefit readers is helpful but the condescending tone “Jesus Christ” and “I just can’t figure out why…”, simply is not nice. I was proud of my little DIY and it works great. Second, regarding the comments, this is filamentous wiring and that NASA technique is intended for solid copper wire that may be under significant tension. Pre-tinning filamentous wire would make splicing untenable. There are dozens of techniques out there. Each electrician will give you a slightly different take. A wire nut would work but is hard to seal and make look less than obnoxious, so tightly twisting the wire with pliers like a wire nut to make good contact before soldering on the tile floor on a large cutting board (not on the carpet - the pictures look like I did on the stairs). The shrink is water tight as it has the glue adhesive that responds and molds with heat. My setup runs the electric components separated from the water areas. This works well for my setup, but admittedly I had no knowledge of marine cable shrinks. That is nice for someone else considering to do a splice. As for avoiding an internal short, the wires are not touching but are separated by electrical tape which is further held in place by the shrink. Honestly, I regret posting this now and if I could delete it, I would.

Well good then, because it wasn't my intention to "be nice".
If people mess around with 12v DC it's fairly harmless, but this is mains voltage you are dealing with. So you should at least inform yourself how to do it properly. You only have one life.
I posted a video how to connect and solder the wires properly. SnorkIr told you to use shrink wrap instead of electrical tape for each wire. I would consider this constructive criticism but what you're doing with this information is up to you.

 

[NitroJoe]

Being kind is never bad.

I showed our licensed electrician what I did prefaced with I will redo it if he said it needs to be done, and he said, “I don't have any problem with it since it's low voltage. Technically anything line voltage should be spliced in a box. Looks like you made really good splices to me.”

With that said, thanks for the input. Had I known those techniques, I would have spliced the wires differently. Hopefully this will help someone reading this thread in the future. If I need to splice again I will incorporate the Lineman splice technique without the pre-tinning and then shrink each individual 18 gauge wire, but for now “The proof is in the pudding!”

 

[Tavero]

Being kind is never bad.

I showed our licensed electrician what I did prefaced with I will redo it if he said it needs to be done, and he said, “I don't have any problem with it since it's low voltage. Technically anything line voltage should be spliced in a box. Looks like you made really good splices to me.”

With that said, thanks for the input. Had I known those techniques, I would have spliced the wires differently. Hopefully this will help someone reading this thread in the future. If I need to splice again I will incorporate the Lineman splice technique without the pre-tinning and then shrink each individual 18 gauge wire, but for now “The proof is in the pudding!”

Just because 110V is low voltage (compared to 1000V HV) doesn't mean it can't kill you.
"Technically anything line voltage should be spliced in a box" only if you are using a pigtail splice. Because you are redirecting the wire 180 degrees you need a strain control and protection for it's isolation.
Also, electrical tape is only considered a temporary isolation (exception self vulcanizing tape). It doesn't stick if it's too cold and start oozing glue if it's too hot.
Pigtail splices have absolutely no mechanical resistance. Even a tinned splice can often be pulled apart with one moderate strong yank. Especially if lead free tin is used.