Splicing Into Existing Loom
Discussion
I'm needing to splice into some existing wires on the loom of the mirth-mobile to effictively make a 'Y' from the 12v outlet to power a hard wired phone charger, I hate Scotchlocks with a passion, so I was going to use some inline splice joints http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinest... strip the insulation off, crimp & solder the required wires in, then apply heatshrink to the outside.
I was wondering if there is a more elegant solution that I hadn't come across?
I was wondering if there is a more elegant solution that I hadn't come across?
Edited by R500POP on Wednesday 14th September 11:14
The best option is inline crimp splices that have a hot glue layer under the heat shrink cover. These are mechanically crimped onto the bare wire core, then using a heat gun the outer cover is shrunk, the hot glue then joins and seals the wires insulation together.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-terminals/0533...
these are industry std in OEM looms for joining wires.
http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-terminals/0533...
these are industry std in OEM looms for joining wires.
If you want to solder, then solder. Just a bit of extra work for you.
IIRC there have been comments that the solder makes where the wire goes into the connector rigid & flexing in use can cause breakage of the wire which is claimed not to be an issue with crimped ones - but then again anyone who has had a Peugeot 306 is likely to know that that happens on the door connectors & the wires aren't soldered. All of ours had one or more wires broken, as did all those at the scrappies when I was looking for good replacements.
I can vouch for the crimps shown by Max Torque, use them on the boat for everything including on a couple of wire joints that spend a lot of time either in or heavily splashed by salt water. Previous owner had used just ordinary crimp ones
which meant it had a few electrical issues when I bought it!
IIRC there have been comments that the solder makes where the wire goes into the connector rigid & flexing in use can cause breakage of the wire which is claimed not to be an issue with crimped ones - but then again anyone who has had a Peugeot 306 is likely to know that that happens on the door connectors & the wires aren't soldered. All of ours had one or more wires broken, as did all those at the scrappies when I was looking for good replacements.
I can vouch for the crimps shown by Max Torque, use them on the boat for everything including on a couple of wire joints that spend a lot of time either in or heavily splashed by salt water. Previous owner had used just ordinary crimp ones
which meant it had a few electrical issues when I bought it!If you want it to work for 5mins, use skotch-locks (or just twist the wires together by hand, the effect is much the same ;-)
If you want it to work for 6months, solder the connections
If you want it to work for ever, use those crimped and glued shrink splices
Although solder produces a strong joint, it leaves the wires very vunerable to fatigue by vibration (because the solder wicks up the wire (under the insulation) and forms a single rigid conductor. Unlike the soft, multidtrand exisiting conductor, this focuses any vibrations into that point, leading to the wire to break right next to the soldered joint. Also, the flux used in many solders is actually corrosive, and will eventually lead to failure of the copper wire near to the joint.
Use those crimps, and you have a perfect mechanical and electrical joint, with enough strength and fatigue resistance to withstand a life of abuse !
(if you insist of using solder, make dam sure you a) use as little as possible and b) support the wire joint a good distance up each wire (i sometimes (if i have no other choice) use the left over tail of a small nylon tie, and slide this under the heat shrink tube, this then supports the wire a decent distance back up the insulation.)
If you want it to work for 6months, solder the connections
If you want it to work for ever, use those crimped and glued shrink splices
Although solder produces a strong joint, it leaves the wires very vunerable to fatigue by vibration (because the solder wicks up the wire (under the insulation) and forms a single rigid conductor. Unlike the soft, multidtrand exisiting conductor, this focuses any vibrations into that point, leading to the wire to break right next to the soldered joint. Also, the flux used in many solders is actually corrosive, and will eventually lead to failure of the copper wire near to the joint.
Use those crimps, and you have a perfect mechanical and electrical joint, with enough strength and fatigue resistance to withstand a life of abuse !
(if you insist of using solder, make dam sure you a) use as little as possible and b) support the wire joint a good distance up each wire (i sometimes (if i have no other choice) use the left over tail of a small nylon tie, and slide this under the heat shrink tube, this then supports the wire a decent distance back up the insulation.)
I was always told that solder was for printed boards and crimping was for wires.
But solder splices are incredibly useful and I regularly use them at work, never had a failed one yet despite using them in some harsh environments.
But by a country mile I'd chose heatshrink insulated crimps, if you do it right first time then you can rely on it indefinitely!
But solder splices are incredibly useful and I regularly use them at work, never had a failed one yet despite using them in some harsh environments.
But by a country mile I'd chose heatshrink insulated crimps, if you do it right first time then you can rely on it indefinitely!
Although despite all of the above....Ive twisted, soldered, crimped and pretty much every variety of joint you could think of bar scotch locks on my car.
The only one Ive ever had issue with was a soldered wire breaking.
So for a phone charger, a simple twist and bit of tape would do rightly lol
Just make sure it is secure, and fused accordingly with the fuse located as close to the source of power as possible.
The only one Ive ever had issue with was a soldered wire breaking.
So for a phone charger, a simple twist and bit of tape would do rightly lol
Just make sure it is secure, and fused accordingly with the fuse located as close to the source of power as possible.
Gassing Station | Engines & Drivetrain | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff