cold solder 'solder seal' wire splice joints

[GreenV8S]

Normally if I need to join two wires I make a soldered splice joint and seal it with heat shrink sleeving. I discovered these cold solder connectors the other day and I was surprised how well they worked:

Solder Seal Wire Connectors on Amazon

Essentially they're a clear heat shrink sleeve with solder paste and flux in. The idea is that you bare about 1/4" of each wire to be joined, push them into the sleeve so that the exposed strands interleave with each other, and run a cigarette lighter along the sleeve to shrink it down over the wires. At this point the wires aren't joined but they're mechanically held in place so that the rest of the work is very easy, even in a confined space. The joint is made by holding the lighter over the solder section until it melts and flows into the wires - took about 30 seconds for me, and you can see when it's happened because the sleeving is clear. I did find it a bit tricky to get the joint hot enough to melt the solder without burning the heatshrink the first few times. After the solder has cooled down again and set it takes another couple of seconds to melt the glue on both ends to completely seal the joint. Probably not as strong or durable as a conventional solder joint but it makes a nice compact joint relatively quickly and easily, much better than grovelling around upside down with a soldering iron while trying to hold all the wires in place.

I've no relationship with the supplier - just thought others might find them interesting.

[phillpot]

Do you think a hot air gun would set them?

[PositronicRay]

Interesting, any benefit over a crimped joint?

[Penelope Stopit]

If you use a cigarette lighter to do the job, the method is not safe unless you keep the lighter in the safe vertical position
In having room for a cigarette lighter to carry out the above method of joining, there is no point in using this hit and miss method as there is obviously plenty of room around the job to do it properly
Here is a link to the best methods that are fool proof, the above method looks bad, real bad

View my post at the very bottom of the page

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[GreenV8S]

PositronicRay said:

Interesting, any benefit over a crimped joint?

Personally I prefer a solder connection over a crimp joint, and I think the best approach is a conventional soldered splice connection with adhesive heat shrink over it. But the solder seal connectors still do a pretty good job IMO and are massively more convenient if you don't have good access (or don't have soldering equipment to hand).

[blueST]

I use these, as I'm cackling handed with a soldering iron. They seem to make a good joint to me but I'm sure there are many electrical wizards that will cringe at their use. I use a little gas torch with a sort of 1/2 circle heat shield on the end so I can just heat the joint and not the surrounding wires. You can see when they have worked as when the solder melts the heat shrink squeezes it into the joint.

[Penelope Stopit]

GreenV8S said:

PositronicRay said:

Interesting, any benefit over a crimped joint?

Personally I prefer a solder connection over a crimp joint, and I think the best approach is a conventional soldered splice connection with adhesive heat shrink over it. But the solder seal connectors still do a pretty good job IMO and are massively more convenient if you don't have good access (or don't have soldering equipment to hand).

Are you not aware that crimp joints can be soldered if need be?

Naked flames are dangerous
If you dont have the correct tools for the job you shouldnt be doing the job

Edited by Penelope Stopit on Sunday 23 October 17:32

[Penelope Stopit]

blueST said:

I use these, as I'm cackling handed with a soldering iron. They seem to make a good joint to me but I'm sure there are many electrical wizards that will cringe at their use. I use a little gas torch with a sort of 1/2 circle heat shield on the end so I can just heat the joint and not the surrounding wires. You can see when they have worked as when the solder melts the heat shrink squeezes it into the joint.

But you cant see if it is a good joint or a dry joint
These connectors must be the 2nd worst on the market after Scotchlocks and should not be used

[GreenV8S]

Penelope Stopit said:

Are you not aware that crimp joints can be soldered if need be?

Naked flames are dangerous
If you dont have the correct tools for the job you shouldnt be doing the job

I've used a wide variety of connecting and jointing methods over the years and I'm well aware that it's possible to use soldering and crimping in combination. That doesn't mean that either of these are the perfect method separately or together - different methods work best in different situations. These cold solder connectors are a useful addition to my tool kit.

I'm perfectly capable of working out when it's safe to light a cigarette lighter, and I expect other grown-ups are too.

[GreenV8S]

Penelope Stopit said:

But you cant see if it is a good joint or a dry joint

The solder joint is visible through the clear heat shrink. You can see the wires have all been tinned and solder has filled the joint. In that respect it's not really any different to a soldered splice joint made with a conventional soldering iron.

[blueST]

Penelope Stopit said:

blueST said:

I use these, as I'm cackling handed with a soldering iron. They seem to make a good joint to me but I'm sure there are many electrical wizards that will cringe at their use. I use a little gas torch with a sort of 1/2 circle heat shield on the end so I can just heat the joint and not the surrounding wires. You can see when they have worked as when the solder melts the heat shrink squeezes it into the joint.

But you cant see if it is a good joint or a dry joint
These connectors must be the 2nd worst on the market after Scotchlocks and should not be used

3rd worst actually, my attempts at conventional soldering is worse than Scotchlocks

[phillpot]

GreenV8S said:

I'm perfectly capable of working out when it's safe to light a cigarette lighter, and I expect other grown-ups are too.

There are two ways to do a job Peter, Penelope's way or the wrong way

[Mr2Mike]

Penelope Stopit said:

Are you not aware that crimp joints can be soldered if need be?

But shouldn't be.

[Penelope Stopit]

Mr2Mike said:

Penelope Stopit said:

Are you not aware that crimp joints can be soldered if need be?

But shouldn't be.

After The Joy of Sex came The Joy of Crimping And Soldering
When repairing damaged wiring in a confined space, should the occasion arise that the person making repairs is only able to solder 2 or more wires together and then split sleeve that joint before with difficulty taping the repaired area back together as a loom, the person could use a crimp terminal to hold the wires together before soldering, the crimping could be carried out with pointed pliers by applying enough pressure to hold the wires fast, this method is sometimes needed when wires cant be wrapped together for soldering due to no room for 2 hands in the confined space that the damaged wiring is clipped in
Soldering the above repair would satisfy any craftsman that the repair was going to last

The above repair may take several hours

Removing, for example, a complete dash assembly or a complete wiring harness to repair a damaged wire may take several days

Besides the above, when a crimped joint is soldered it then becomes a soldered joint just like any other soldered joint

[PhillipM]

Or just crimp it and save pissing about with a lighter?