(I put this in the Towing and Trailer topic area first, but think I need to share it here too)


As far as I know, I'm the only one who solders wires this way, and now you'll know the method too. Everyone I have ever shown this to has done a double take and got a huge grin on their face - it really does make your joints stronger and a whole lot easier to do. I do it this way for a lot of reasons, and came up with this method after many years of soldering all sorts of connections.

1) It secures the wires so you don't have to hold them as you solder.
2) It makes the connection a considerable amount stronger.
3) It prevents cold solder joins.
4) It prevents or reduces sharp edges or corners in the joint that might pierce the insulation.
5) It makes a join that is smoother and more precise.
6) The ribs formed by the wire wrap help prevent the shrink fit tubing from slipping off the joint.
7) A smoother join means the shrink fit tubing slides over it easier.
8) It's a big help when you don't have much slack in the wires to work with.
9) You don't need any specialized fixtures to hold the work.
10) You can use scrap wire as a filament source, or even strip back one of the wires you are joining and use one of the filaments of conductor in it - so that the "WRAP" strand is part of one of the wires you are wrapping.

HERE'S HOW:

 

That is no doubt the best way I've seen to connect wires. I like to use heat shrink connectors, but I understand some loss occurs in those connections. And I agree with using a heat gun instead of flame. Scotch locks and wire nuts are horrible, especially in vehicles or trailers. The environment will destroy those connections. I have seen that happen with heat shrink connectors too.

 

This is one of about three videos on wires alone that I wanted to make sure I put on here. I have a short one about wire bundle control that I'll add on in this thread in a little while, and I also wanted to do a harness for a radio that will give me a chance to demonstrate the same method using a strand of center conductor from a wire that is being spliced instead of a donor filament from a completely separate wire.

This is my favorite stuff for bundling wires:

 

This metallurgist's basics are --make a good mechanical joint , then solder it ! Your way goes much to do that. Handling those wires with greasy fingers does not help ! Please wash hands . There is a company out there that makes shrink-fit with stickum inside which makes a nice waterproof joint. Joints under the vehicle require special care.
As a radio HAM I found it's easy to find bad joints as they create intermitant connection or RF problems [static].Vibration typical to vehicles also loosens joints in time.

 

They were clean - but after several hours dealing with a number of things on that project they were stained...

I've heard about that shrink fit, but never tried it out. Since I have to stock up on a few sizes now I'll be sure and get some.

 

Such as Ancor adhesive lined heat shrink-fit available at marine supply such as WestMarine .

 

Good video GW, will come in handy when I wire up this project.

 

I built an "OCTOPUS" yesterday for the radio in my 1300CC Shopping cart, but I did it as in the above.

I still don't have a video put together for the optional "Part of the Wire" method, but I'll do that soon because it's a lot faster and easier in some ways.

You can also pre-solder wire wrap connectors, like spades and slot end connectors, for security and integrity.

*NOTE: With the wire wrap method as opposed to a soldered crimp fit you can see how well the solder has flowed into the joint. In the video above you saw me check it, and re-flow a part of it that I thought wasn't quite the way I wanted it to be - you would never see that under the band of a crimp connection but this way I could find it and make it right...

It's a lot more precise

 

On wire control - if what you want is a clean and color coordinated look, you can use spiral wrap INSIDE colored split wrap, so that the wire bundles are contained, but the split wrap serves as an outer cover purely for cosmetic reasons.

In any case, there is no nasty stickum on the wires making a messy job of it if you have to go back in and add or change anything, which is what you would have if electrical tape was used.

 

Recently talked with some plumbers who cursed the new solders .I don't solder as much as I used to but I stockpiled the old real solder !!

A friend asked for goop for outdoor vehicle use to protect solder joints from corrosion .I gave him some DOW silicone 'electrical insulating compound '
That should do the job !