jdc1
Rescue, Ca
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Mike134 wrote:jdc1 wrote:Do it right....solder them together, then use the heat shrink.
Solder is good but a good crimp is just as reliable. How can I say for certain? I have yet to see a building I wired the past 40 years using crimps burn down.
How often do you drive those buildings down a pothole mired freeway at 55mph? LOL. Yea, I get the push-in outlet thing (42 years as a general contractor), but moving vehicles are not the same as a stationary building.
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jdc1
Rescue, Ca
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These look really nice.
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Skibane
San Antonio, TX
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LittleBill wrote:
care to explain why?
When the solder cooled back to its solid state, it never gave a mechanical connection strong enough to resist even a little bit of tugging.
A good hand-soldered connection requires quite a bit of solder and heat to really wick into the wires.
In these heat-shrink solder butt splices, there just isn't enough solder (or heat) present to accomplish that.
Instead, the solder just forms a small crusty blob around the outside of the wires.
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JimK-NY
NY
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The OP asked about joining 10 and 12 gauge wire. With 12 volt RV wiring we often face even bigger challenges. I rewired a small NovaKool compressor refrigerator. The wiring run was pretty big so I needed 6 gauge. I just finished replacing my old Elixir charger/converter. I needed to work with 8 gauge wiring. I could not find any suitable connectors at my local Lowes or Home Depot so I ended up using gigantic wiring nuts which were marginal for joining single strand to multistrand.
I suppose now would be a good time to look on Amazon or elsewhere for better connectors. I could redo some of my past work and be ready for the next project or repair.
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LittleBill
Scranton, PA USA
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Skibane wrote:LittleBill wrote:
care to explain why?
When the solder cooled back to its solid state, it never gave a mechanical connection strong enough to resist even a little bit of tugging.
A good hand-soldered connection requires quite a bit of solder and heat to really wick into the wires.
In these heat-shrink solder butt splices, there just isn't enough solder (or heat) present to accomplish that.
Instead, the solder just forms a small crusty blob around the outside of the wires.
Guess I am extremely bored today, made you a special video buddy!
I could not break the wire period and that's with 2 sets of pliers. and using a lighter is not recommended at all, but i figure if your on the road, your only going to have a lighter available.
youtube video link.
Demonstration Video.
![[image]](https://i.imgur.com/SVWOZc1.png)
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theoldwizard1
SE MI
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Skibane wrote:
I bought an assortment of shrink butt splices, just to see how well they work - Never could get a really solid connection out of them, no matter how much heat I applied.
Buy QUALITY uninsulated splices, like TE Solisrand, and use marine/dual wall heat shrink.
TE does sell their Solistrand slices and terminals in small quantities, if you can figure out their part numbering system !
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tomman58
Southeast Michigan
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jdc1 wrote:Do it right....solder them together, then use the heat shrink. be the last one on the planet
to do that, LOl
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Mike134
Elgin, IL
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jdc1 wrote:Mike134 wrote:jdc1 wrote:Do it right....solder them together, then use the heat shrink.
Solder is good but a good crimp is just as reliable. How can I say for certain? I have yet to see a building I wired the past 40 years using crimps burn down.
How often do you drive those buildings down a pothole mired freeway at 55mph? LOL. (42 years as a general Yea, I get the push-in outlet thing contractor),, but moving vehicles are not the same as a stationary building.
Those are just garbage. No good Union electrician would ever rely on that type of connection. But the point was a crimp connection is just as good and even better than solder when solder is done wrong. IE to much heat not enough heat, wrong flux, wrong solder.
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profdant139
Southern California
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LittleBill, thanks for that video -- very clear and persuasive!
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Our trips -- pix and text
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ktmrfs
Portland, Oregon
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Mike134 wrote:jdc1 wrote:Mike134 wrote:jdc1 wrote:Do it right....solder them together, then use the heat shrink.
Solder is good but a good crimp is just as reliable. How can I say for certain? I have yet to see a building I wired the past 40 years using crimps burn down.
How often do you drive those buildings down a pothole mired freeway at 55mph? LOL. (42 years as a general Yea, I get the push-in outlet thing contractor),, but moving vehicles are not the same as a stationary building.
Those are just garbage. No good Union electrician would ever rely on that type of connection. But the point was a crimp connection is just as good and even better than solder when solder is done wrong. IE to much heat not enough heat, wrong flux, wrong solder.
at one time our company (high tech electronics equipment) looking at field failures started looking at connector failures. What we found was that even with a great deal of training, proper equipment, inspection the failure rate of soldered connectors was higher than crimped connectors. Problem with solder is it is a very hard process to control and train. to much solder= solder wicking up wire, causing failures from flex in the wire, on and on. Field failures went down with crimped connectors. Now
1) there are LOTS of crappy crimp tools around, use them and your failure prone. And good crimp tools are not inexpensive and you need a set of jaws for every type of connector. I've probably spent $400 or more on crimp tools and jaws.
2) if you have been trained in soldering, know the connector and don't have a good crimp tool, solder is a way to go.
So, look at your skills, your tools see what you have. If you DON'T have the tools or the skill, look for some help.
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