Joining Wires - solder pot/bath or another best method?

[TheExcession]

Reet definately in the 'stuff' category...

We have a small project going on which requires joining two wires together, nothing special just say a typical automotive cable join.

It needs to be secure, strong, safe, water resistant and look fairly professional

At the moment I am soldering each connection and then putting some heatshrink cover over the join.

Not too big a deal but over the next few months I've got thousands of these to do and I want to speed it up, the task list goes a bit like this:

pick up strippers
pick up cable 1
add heat shrink sleeving
strip cable 1 to a length of 20mm
Put down cable 1
pick up cable 2
strip cable 2 to a length of 20mm
Put down strippers
pick up cable 1 and align both cables
twist cable ends together
put cables down
pick up soldering iron
pick up solder
apply heat and solder to joint
wait for solder to run
apply more solder over length of joint
Run iron under joint
put down iron
put down solder
set aside for heat shrinking
start next...

You get the jist.. it's ok for a few but when you want to do hundreds of these it's way too slow.

I'm thinking of buying a solder bath - idea being that it's the soldering that is taking over 75% of the time for this job - and yes it's a pretty good soldering station that I'm using.

I think I could just twist the stripped ends together, dip them into a solder bath and the joint would be made?

Any one got any other ideas experience? I also thought about using a crimp connector but was worried that when the heatshrink is used it might split over the ends of the connector when shrunk. I'm also concerned that should the cable take a yank it might fail at that join?

So, anyone know where to buy a solder pot/bath - so far my best find is at RS for about £80 - not too unreasonable when spread over several thousand connections but a cheaper one would be nice.

Or any better ways of jointing two cables like this.

cheers
Ex

[Plotloss]

Crimp?

Theres some smart crimping solutions out there.

[TheExcession]

Plotloss said:

Crimp? Theres some smart crimping solutions out there.

Yup... happy to go for a crimp - still needs to be water tight, but we're already using a heatshrink cover.

Any pointers?

A crimp that goes through the insulation on the wire would be even better - saves us stripping.

[Plotloss]

I've got a flyer here somewhere, I'll admit that paper organisation isnt a strong point, it is here somewhere though...

[TheExcession]

Plotloss said:

I've got a flyer here somewhere, I'll admit that paper organisation isnt a strong point, it is here somewhere though...

Cheers Matt, if you can find it

[TheExcession]

Woo look

You ca neven take a course on it

www.signet-solutions.com/Cable_Jointing.htm

[BliarOut]

Any good ?

[GreenV8S]

You can probably reduce the amount of work considerably using the same basic technique. If you strip and tin the wire ends as a batch you should be able to do it in a fraction on the time. Then hold all the wires from one 'half' of the join in a clamp/vice of some sort, fan the ends and add the heat shrink sleeve, then work through them one at a time holding the other wire against it and touch the iron on long enough to make the join. I wouldn't bother with twisting the wires together, if they're both tinned and the join is heated with a big iron you should get a good join with them just side by side. Then pull the heat shrink covers over and wave you heat gun over the whole lot. I imagine you could probably do a dozen wires at a time without any trouble and it might only take you a minute or so once you are into it. Not a fun job but I think could could get it down to hours rather than days.

[TheExcession]

BliarOut said:

Any good ?

Not sure Rob, these look a little like those schott connectors you used to get with a £25 stereo at Halfrauds to connect to your existing speaker wires.

Scenario here (probably shoulda mentioned it in my 1st post) is joining a blade fuse holder (which has flying leads) to a cable, cable spec is 14 strand 0.3mm^2 howver the lead on the blade fuse holder is much thicker.

I remember seeing some lucar style crimps that are like a little tube, I guess it might be possible to push both cables into each end of one of these and then crimp and cover with heatshrink. Else where in the loom we are using yellow lucar crimp fittings.

[Parrot of Doom]

Solder pot would be bloody smelly, you'd need a fume extractor You'd also need a pot of flux.

[BliarOut]

So what you really want is a crimp on fuse holder?

[TheExcession]

BliarOut said:

So what you really want is a crimp on fuse holder?

You see now you are jumping to conclusions....

My customer is already providing the fuse holders that they want to use - I'm merely the monkey that has to join them onto a cable... (along with a whole load of other bits and pieces that I may or may not choose to reveal to you....)

:tongueoutsmiley:

[TheExcession]

Parrot of Doom said:

Solder pot would be bloody smelly, you'd need a fume extractor You'd also need a pot of flux.

No prob... flux is cheap and there is a hood over the cooker hob....

In fact now you mention it.... I'm off to heat up some solder in a mug on the stove....

Now, if only we were on gas..... hmm... camping stove could be cheap alternative?

[jmorgan]

Is the heatshrink glue filled? I find it very good. If its not glue filled then I certainly over wrap with a suitable tape if its to be used outside or going to get wet. But then thats cable joints on van roofs etc.

[Paul Drawmer]

If it has to be waterproof, then use glued type heatshrink.
If it has to be reliable, forget crimping.

If you are doing a lot, then prepare work in batches.
Now this sounds crude, but once you get some practice, it's very quick. Forget the soldering iron and use a small (as in small) flame from a gas torch. It takes a bit of practice, but it is quicker than an iron.

Place heatshrink on wire.
Strip (use an auto stripper which will go through the insulation and grab it off in one go)
Twist together
support join (so you hold the flame and the solder)
heat n' solder
let cool
position heatshrink
play with flame again
job done.

[TheExcession]

jmorgan said:

Is the heatshrink glue filled? I find it very good. If its not glue filled then I certainly over wrap with a suitable tape if its to be used outside or going to get wet. But then thats cable joints on van roofs etc.

Yup it is glue filled heatshrink

[TheExcession]

Paul Drawmer said:

If it has to be waterproof, then use glued type heatshrink. If it has to be reliable, forget crimping. If you are doing a lot, then prepare work in batches. Now this sounds crude, but once you get some practice, it's very quick. Forget the soldering iron and use a small (as in small) flame from a gas torch. It takes a bit of practice, but it is quicker than an iron. Place heatshrink on wire. Strip (use an auto stripper which will go through the insulation and grab it off in one go) Twist together support join (so you hold the flame and the solder) heat n' solder let cool position heatshrink play with flame again job done.

We are batching as many of the jobs as best we can, and are using the best tools we can buy, e.g. wire strippers that as you say remove the insulation too.

I might try preparing a work board where I can line up say ten joints at once that are ready for soldering, I think using a flame torch might work and be alot quicker.

It's when you really analyse repetitive tasks like this that you discover you spend around 25% of the time just picking up and putting down tools!

Might be time to invest in a robotic arm

[BliarOut]

I know you're already subbing, but what about sub-subbing just the soldering? Actually, what about a small ad and get someone in for the day to do just the soldering? Can you schedule the work so you can fill a day or a half day for one person?