Connector and method of sealing electrical wire against fluid leakage

A method of forming an electrical connector constructed to pass wires through a wall of a fluid container having an opening, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing an electrical wire having a plurality of individual wire strands disposed within an outer insulation;
• b) removing a portion of the insulation of the wire to expose a segment of the wire strands;
• c) deforming and bonding together the wire strands in at least a portion of said segment into an essentially solid wire without any continuous leak paths therethrough;
• and
• d) disposing the solid wire in sealed relation within a body adapted to be received within and to seal an opening of the fluid container with the wire passing through the opening and into the fluid container in assembly.

A method of connecting together and sealing at least a pair of wires each having an outer insulation and a plurality of wire strands within the insulation, comprising the steps of:

• a) providing a first wire and removing a portion of its insulation to expose a portion of the wire strands of the first wire;
• b) providing a second wire and removing a portion of its insulation to expose a portion of the wire strands of the second wire;
• and
• c) deforming and bonding together at least a portion of the exposed wire strands of the first wire and of the second wire to join the first wire and the second wire and to define an essentially solid wire segment defined in part in the first wire and the second wire to prevent fluid leakage therethrough.

A fuel system, comprising:

• a fuel tank having an opening and a cover spanning the fuel tank opening, sealed to the fuel tank and having a plurality of openings therethrough;
• a fuel pump disposed within the fuel tank and having an outlet communicating with an opening through the cover to deliver fuel out of the fuel tank under pressure;
• a vapor vent valve disposed in the fuel tank and having an outlet communicating with another opening through the cover and a valve which selectively permits fuel vapor to flow out of the fuel tank through the vapor vent valve outlet and its associated opening through the cover;
• and
• a connector carried by the cover and having a body and a wire passing through the body and an opening of the cover into the fuel tank with a seal between the wire and the body to at least substantially prevent fluid flow therethrough and a seal between the body and the cover to at least substantially prevent fluid flow therethrough, said wire having a plurality of wire strands with the wire strands deformed and bonded together along a segment within the body to define an essentially solid wire segment to at least substantially prevent fluid flow therethrough.