Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Any luck with GB heat shrink kit?

Hey all,

My fountain pump died recently. It was a home-made unit with a submersible pump attached directly to the fountain head wired directly to an outlet box at the base of my service pole

Rather than lay out $$$$ for a new fountain pump with a 100' cord, has anyone had luck using something like this..

GB Splicing Kit

...to splice wires in the water? OR...would I be better off to disconnect the lead wire from the pump itself and wire it directly, and use watertight fittings & some silicon?

Thanks,
Steve

Conejo, I have not used this product "directly" in water, i used it to bury wires underground. I have however used the type sold by lowes. Its made for protecting wires in submersable well pumps. The product is an off/clear color similar to diluted milk and the product has fairly thick side walls. Use direct flame to cause the shrink to start then wait till the sides close up and start to bubble so you know it seals. Try not to catch it on fire but if you do just blow it out asap and keep on putting the flame to it. Run the flame back and forth pretty fast. This product i know is designed to be in water. The item number is #116261 and model #PPSK400 the name is pro plumber 4 wire heat shrink kit. The one i used was not black in color like this but mine also stated it was used for sbumersable well wire splicing. Hope this helps.

Thanks rc, didn't check out my local lowes yet, but that should work just
fine for me.

Any time, glad to be of some help.

SUCCESS!

Used the above GB kit ($10 something at Menard's,) and some liquid electrical tape ($5 something,) to be sure I had it good and waterproof-ed. Tested in 700 gal holding tank with some goldfish, they were swimming all over the leads, so I think it's safe.

Only hitch was wire on pump lead was only 18 AWG, and the minimum size for the GB splice is 14. I doubled over stripped ends, and works fine....so far.

Was able to get 1600 gph submersible 1/4 horse for $45 with 2 yr warranty, so was all in for around $60, as opposed to lord knows how much more for a real "foutain" pump.

Good news!!

Awesome!