can this be repaired?

[bowlofturtle]

My massage chair plug split on me a while back.

Looking at it i thought to myself this should be a easy repair. 2 wires, one should be power and one should be ground. It plugs into a wall outlet via 2 prong. So i thought i would just strip and connect them to see if they work and it didn't, fliped them over and tried again no go.

So either 2 things now, either i fried everything the first time i connected it because it was backwards OR i'm doing it wrong. I know nothing but the most basic concepts.

Here are the pictures... what did i do wrong?

 

[shotgunfatcat]

How did it split? you could have fried the electronics in the chair if it was pinched while plugged in. does the plug have a fatter prong on it?

 

[APEowner]

It's ac so in most cases it'll work either way. It might not be safe but it'll work. I wonder if you kicked the circuit breaker on the outlet when the wire was cut originally. Are you just twisting the wires together? It's possible that it draws enough power that you need a real connection.

 

[bowlofturtle]

how it split....

since its a long cord, i wraped it around the base of the computer chair to a decent length. from daily use it would bind up about once a week and i would unwind it back. People use the chair a lot. Once day i saw the end laying on the ground.. kinda suprized not shocking people.

What do you mean by FATTER prong? the prong going into the outlet is a 2 prong in the picture, the other end goes directly into the massage cushion.

I didn't kick the circuit breaker on the outlet because there was other things in use and i used other outlets as well thinking i fried that outlet.

I am twisting the wires as you can tell from the pictures, if it works i'll just solder and heat shrink it back together.

 

[supertooljunkie]

Do you have a multimeter? If so, check continuity in the wire to make sure they are not broken internally. Do this from each plug prong to the broken wire. Then do the same on the other side. This will tell you if you have power going from the plug to the chair. If, so and it still doesn't work you have a problem with the motor. Not real hard to do.
Another point, if the wires are polarity sensitive the continuity test should be able to help trace that back also. Good luck

 

[Ford12508]

I would say try and solder it, if that doesn't work, you will be out 2 inches of wire which isn't bad at all. One of the prongs on the plug might be larger than the other prong, which would indicate which wire is hot and which is the neutral.

 

[supertooljunkie]

By fatter prong, the neutral prong is wider than the prong for the positive wire. The plug will only fit in the socket one way. This is for polarity sensitive equipment. There should be a mark of some type on the cord jacket that would ID the neutral wire. Look at the cord jacket and see, or just "ohm" the cord out to find the neutral and hook like to like wire.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

In the picture it looks like there is writing on only one of the two wires.....

 

[bowlofturtle]

i had some time and took things apart.

I pluged it in and shocked myself... nicely trying to hold the wires apart


I took it apart the back rest.

The outlet wires go directly into this box

there is a 5A fuse soldered on the board and it looks to still be good.

 

[supertooljunkie]

shotgunfatcat, I'm old and can't see that closeup, but if that is true hook like wires up with a wire nut and try it. If it doesn't work there might be other breaks in the wire. If it does work, then I would solder and put heat shrink tubing on the repair. I would not leave wire nutted connections in a high traffic area.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

shotgunfatcat, I'm old and can't see that closeup, but if that is true hook like wires up with a wire nut and try it. If it doesn't work there might be other breaks in the wire. If it does work, then I would solder and put heat shrink tubing on the repair. I would not leave wire nutted connections in a high traffic area.

This was just a general comment, nothing against old man eyes.
I didn't see it the first time.

 

[shotgunfatcat]

You could try plugging the cut end from the chair directly into the wall, it is a little bit of a "rigged" setup, but it would make sure there is no break in that section if the chair worked. and watch those wires

 

[bowlofturtle]

markings on the smaller prong just states

" UL SPT-2 E306568 2x0.824mm ^2 18AWG VW-1 105*C 300V LONG CROWN


It was pluged in when it separated but it was not on. There isn't a short in the end that goes into the wall since i shocked myself.


I do have a volt/ohm meter but its in the car that is not at home right now.

 

[oleguy]

the wire with writeing is hot.no writeing is neutral.the wide prong is neutral.also the neutral always has some ribbes on the wire.look at any 2 wire lamp,appliance cord and you will see them.slip some heat shrink tubeing over each wire,solder,slide heatshrink over solder joint and heat to shrink.OH,slide a larger heat shrinh over both wires.after shrinking each wire,slide larger heat shrink over both and shrink it.gives more protection...

 

[shotgunfatcat]

I guess what I am trying to say is the writing on the chord is only on one of the wires. So make sure they are not crossed that way. make sure it is a good connection (wire nuts, solderless connectors). when the car gets home that has your meter check the wires where they go into the board, if it isn't ohming out or doesn't have 115v then there is a short somewhere in the wire. If it does ohm out or has 115v turn the chair on. If the chair doesn't turn on, well then there is something wrong after chord. If the fuse looks good, well then digging into the board and checking each resistor, capacitor, control and what not is an option.

 

[mrb]

how it split....

since its a long cord, i wraped it around the base of the computer chair to a decent length. from daily use it would bind up about once a week and i would unwind it back. People use the chair a lot. Once day i saw the end laying on the ground.. kinda suprized not shocking people.

and this is why we have to install AFCI breakers now..

glad you didnt have a fire or anything. be more careful with cords please.

 

[kbs2244]

Pull the fuse off the PCB and test it.
Do not try and test it in place.
I would expect that it blew when the 2 wires shorted to each other.
If it is good do a check from the ragged end of the wires to the PCB borad ends.
You may have an open (burned out) wire there.

It looks like pretty light weight wire.
Think about getting aan extension cord and cutting off the female end so you are new all the way and without any patches.

 

[bowlofturtle]

ok back to this... the fuse is soldered on.

I got my meter back. So i measured the wires from the 2 plug outlet end to the were the wire broken. All is good about 3.4 ohms on both power wire and ground.

I ohmed the fuse out and that is good.

I did however run into a issue. The remaining wire that goes into the board. The one with the wiring on it, which you guys told me is the power wire. goes into the board and its marked "J1" that reads .2 ohms. I checked the other wiring on the board marked " AC 120V' and it has .88 k ohms. I checked the negative wire and it showed up nothing on either ends... The wire is a straight wire then it goes into this little block and then on to the board.

what is that block? can i jump it with power to see if it works.

 

[mrb]

are you sure the cord isnt also broken in another place? i mean youve been running over it with a chair for how long? Do you have another cord, or can you get one and simply replace this entire cord?

the black block on the cord is the strain relief, its just a block of pvc molded onto the cord.

 

[ddawg16]

Massage Chair? To me, chairs and electicity just do not seem to go together...

 

[bowlofturtle]

from the part where it broke off and into the wall outlet that part is 100%

the other part broken off part to the chair on the other hand does look good according the ohm readings. As something is broken as the ground end has no resistance what so ever. Looking at the wire its good. The block was the only thing in its way. I was going to try and jump it and see what goes.