Repair a cut power cord – here’s how

You take your eyes off the ball for one minute and that’s when it happens. I’m talking about a power cord, that was cut through accidentally! That sort of thing tends to happen while mowing the lawn, working with a hedge trimmer or drilling machine. But how can you repair a cut power cord? That’s what I‘m going to tell you in this blog post!

On a chilled Friday afternoon, I had retreated to the home workshop at my brother’s place to tinker around for a bit. For my latest DIY project, I needed to work with a panel saw. To provide the saw with electric power, I had laid an extension cord across the lawn in front of the workshop. You’re probably already guessing what happens next.

My nephew regularly mows the lawn at my brother’s house. He always has fun sitting on the little ride-on mower and getting started. On said Friday afternoon, however, he didn’t just trim the lawn, but unfortunately, also my extension cord. The RCD switch tripped and the sounds of the saw fell silent immediately. The power cord had fallen victim to the sharp blades of the lawnmower. Luckily, nothing worse happened!

But how can you repair a cut power cord? After all, that’s the question that led you all here, isn’t it? In order to get the cut power cord to function again, you need to reassemble the power plug.

With the right tools, the repair is done fairly quickly. But please always keep one thing in mind: working with electric power is not entirely harmless! It should go without saying that first of all, you need to disconnect the cable from power. That’s the only way you can work safely and protect yourself from a dangerous electric shock! If you don’t feel you’re up for repairing the cut power cord yourself, you should rather ask an expert for help.

If you want to repair a cut power cord, you need the right tools. I used the following WEICON TOOLS:

• Cable Scissors No. 35
• Wire Stripper No. 5
• Round Cable Stripper No. 13
• Duo-Crimp No. 300

In addition, you need wire end ferrules in order to protect the stripped ends of the single wires and to connect them without damage. For the final assembly, you also need a screwdriver.

With the Cable Scissors No. 35, first you shorten the entire power cord with a clean cut. The scissors have a high cutting power and thus easily cut even cables with larger diameters.

Then you remove the outer sheath of the power cord with the Round Cable Stripper No. 13. Its ergonomic handle shape enables non-slip and safe cable stripping.

Now, strip the exposed wires with the automatic Wire Stripper No. 5. The tool is especially easy to use and features a smooth-running mechanism. You can find more information on this WEICON TOOLS bestseller here. As an alternative, you can also use the multifunctional stripper Duo-Crimp No. 300.

Then, the wire end ferrules come into play. Crimp these by using the Duo-Crimp No. 300 and cut off the protruding single wires with the Cable Scissors.

In the next step, push the cable clamp at the rear end of the socket (which is white in our example) onto the cable. Now you can connect and screw the newly crimped wires to the socket. Pay close attention to the right colour coding by keeping the colours of the old conductors in mind.

With the two black phases, you need to try out which one goes where. I had first connected them the wrong way around, so the panel turned anticlockwise instead of clockwise. But that problem could be easily fixed.

In the end, you just need to screw the cover back onto the socket.

And that is how easily a cut through power cord can be fixed! Ultimately, my extension cord is now about a metre shorter than it was before. But at least, the rather simple repair can prevent an expensive replacement.

The conductors of a power cord don’t have different colours merely for decorative purposes. Each colour of the different conductors reveals their individual function.

… ensures that dangerous touch voltage is led into the earth along the conductive metal housing.

… is the return wire, which ensures current flow by completing the circuit back to the source.

is the live wire, which brings in the current to the electrical load

Would you like to learn more about the WEICON TOOLS? Then follow us on Instagram @weicontools! Here, my colleagues and I provide you with various pieces of information on the wide range of stripping tools – for example, on the function, production and their many areas of use!

Written by guest author Gerold Specking – employee WEICON TOOLS