I have a couple of solar chargers that no longer have dust caps on the battery side connector. It seems the pigtail holder gets brittle with age and is easy to break. The covers I've seen have a pigtail with 1 or 2 rings for going over the wire, but they would have to be put on by cutting the wire. The pigtail is too thin to drill and zip tie. I could zip tie (reusable type) a baggie over the connector, but kind of a hassle. Any suggestions?

 

I have only a vague idea of what you are trying to do. A picture would help.

 

I've encountered plug bodies that were too big to go through a feed-through hole. I've never seen a plug that you can't remove the pin(s) from the plug body, except for the molded types. Case in point: HID lighting for my truck. Feeding the cable through a feed-through grommet and the body of the plug wouldn't fit. The side of the pin has a locking tab that can be pressed in and releases the pin. You only have to be sure to put the pins back in the correct holes. To fail at putting them back correctly can result in excitement, flashes of light and release of smoke.

But yes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In ANY language.

Here's just one video:

 

This is one type of cap, others have a single ring. I suppose I could zip tie it to the wire using a ring. But I figured somebody here may have a better idea.

 

OK, well, that's a molded connector body. You're not going to pull the pins out of that. The dust cap just prevents the weather and dirt from getting to the pin. Those types of connectors, such as trailer lights and others, are easily purchased. But it means splicing the new connectors in. So why cut your cable when it already has a good connector on it?! So don't cut. Just zip tie the dust cap to the cable. There's no need for fancy trickery. Since you CAN zip tie the lanyard to the cable, try and see if you can stretch one of the two circles over the connector. If not - oh well. You've lost nothing. And if the circle breaks, again, zip tie it. You still lose nothing.

 

This is one type of cap, others have a single ring. I suppose I could zip tie it to the wire using a ring. But I figured somebody here may have a better idea.

Thank you for the pictures.

Considering that you want the protection to be removable on occasion, large heat shrink over one side, assemble, slide heat shrink back and shrink. Another solution that predates heat shrink is to use a larger diameter of soft flexible tubing (e.g, PE or PVC), and do the same thing but tie the ends either with lacing cord or zip ties. The former was used extensively in aircraft before heat shrink. Some mechanics used to keep the tubing in chloroform or carbon tetrachloride to make it expand. Then when applied, it shrunk back to its pre-expanded condition as the chloroform or carbon tetrachloride evaporated.

If you only want to protect one side, I use heat shrink, and while it is hot, I squeeze the open end with forceps. The closed end will fuse.

If you want a more permanent seal, consider self-fusing electrical tape. It is available at most big box and even smaller stores. I prefer 3M brand. Once wrapped on the assembled pair, it self-fuses and provides good weather protection. It is also difficult to remove, but that can be done by cutting it off.

 

Tonyr1084,
That was my original thought, and it does look like the best option.

Thanks guys!