skipmac
Well-known member
Real men don't need no stinkin' tape.Or just twist the two ends together and a little pvc tape
What heat-gun for solder-seal connectors?
- Thread starter KompetentKrew
- Start date
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
So, some bloke on You Tube recommends that you buy some from his link and that makes them what ?
lynallbel
Active member
I tried them and could not get the solder to melt, yet other guys at work use them and reckon they are ace!
Crimp heatshrink for me, fast/easy and reliable, ratchet crimps can be an issue as they do not crimp small enough for the reds, blue you can use the red section, yellows you can use the blue section, but theres nowt smaller than the reds, so I use different pliers.
Crimp heatshrink for me, fast/easy and reliable, ratchet crimps can be an issue as they do not crimp small enough for the reds, blue you can use the red section, yellows you can use the blue section, but theres nowt smaller than the reds, so I use different pliers.
KompetentKrew
Well-known member
Big Clive, whose video I posted in this comment is very well respected.
Rappey
Well-known member
I found two untaped wires near the fuel tank got a bit sparky so had to tape one of them..
Rizzla papers work as a temporary measure ?
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
One twisted the wires together, side by side, then screwed down a small ceramic thingy, about the size of a tire cap with a conical thread inside. They were quite effective.
Edit: I now find that these things are called "wire nuts" and are still A Thing.
Last edited:
Sea-Fever
Active member
It makes them whatever you think Paul, I was careful not to add a personal recommendation as I haven't tried them. I merely added his view to the thread as I've watched a few of his vids and on the engineering side he seems pretty sensible and experienced and specifically recommends these products. I dont think he would make any money from recommending them and if he did I think it it would be about 5p, surely.
I also value your opinion so now I dont know what to think of these connections. Haha, classic forum malfunction.
jamie N
Well-known member
As an ROV pilot, I'm quite sceptical about these, in part as I've never seen or heard of them before.
However, that's not a reason to slag them off, and I could be tempted if I wasn't happy/experienced with crimps/choc blok & soldering.
Old dog; new tricks is appropriate here!
However, that's not a reason to slag them off, and I could be tempted if I wasn't happy/experienced with crimps/choc blok & soldering.
Old dog; new tricks is appropriate here!
Easticks28
Well-known member
What's wrong with that ?Or just twist the two ends together and a little pvc tape
jim.howes
Active member
I have rewired 2 boats and these butt solder connecters have been used in both rewires with great success maybe i was lucky because i found them easy to use. What i did do was dunk the 2 ends of the wires to be used into a pot of flux before inserting the wire into the connecter and applying heat via an iroda gas flame thrower(brilliant tool).
Buck Turgidson
Well-known member
I especially like his cooking with mains powered forks videos. However i'm sure there is an ISO or BS standard for electrical connections in marine environments and i bet it doesn't include the heat shrink butt connectors.
KompetentKrew
Well-known member
Thanks very much, @jim.howes - this was the exact answer I sought.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
Joining wires with butt connectors:
If there is no need for a waterproof connection (vast majority of connections on the average boat):
If there is a need for a waterproof connection:
We saw in the video how to use the low melt solder things, what do they save from the above ? They save the crimp in example two, at the expense of extra time with the heat gun, so nothing really gained. There is plenty of scope for the solder not working properly and a pull test, such as that in the video, isn't reliable if the thing is all stuck together with glue. It's something invented for a problem that doesn't exist, the method above, for waterproof connectors is simple and works.
They key to good connections is to use good quality tools and materials. Ratchet crimps are essential.
If there is no need for a waterproof connection (vast majority of connections on the average boat):
- Cut wires to length and strip insulation back.
- Put one end in an insulated connector and crimp with ratchet crimpers.
- Put the other end in the insulated connector and crimp with ratchet crimpers.
If there is a need for a waterproof connection:
- Cut wires to length and strip insulation back.
- Put one end in an insulated, glue lined connector and crimp with ratchet crimpers.
- Put the other end in the insulated, glue lined connector and crimp with ratchet crimpers.
- Heat the sleeve to make it shrink and for the glue to melt. A hot air paint stripper does a good job if you have access to mains power, or a small blow torch, the sort you might have at home in the kitchen.
We saw in the video how to use the low melt solder things, what do they save from the above ? They save the crimp in example two, at the expense of extra time with the heat gun, so nothing really gained. There is plenty of scope for the solder not working properly and a pull test, such as that in the video, isn't reliable if the thing is all stuck together with glue. It's something invented for a problem that doesn't exist, the method above, for waterproof connectors is simple and works.
They key to good connections is to use good quality tools and materials. Ratchet crimps are essential.
KompetentKrew
Well-known member
I doubt there are many people here whose boats fully conform to such ISO standards, at least not since they left the factory.
You can do a good job just by considering the suitability of the tool for the actual application - I have crimp connectors also, but these are fine for interior lighting or the CD player's speakers (and they're also smaller and cheaper than heat shrink pre-insulated crimp terminals).
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
If worried about size, particularly with small wires, such as speaker wires, proper soldered connections and heatshrink are a good solution.
If you're basing the choice of connections on price, that's a poor decision.
KompetentKrew
Well-known member
Surely one should be trying to prevent the ingress of moisture even when the connection is not likely to be actually dunked in water?
I have plenty of 20-year-old preinsulated crimp connectors where the brass has gone green, even in "dry" places on my boat, so am using heatshrink pre-insulated crimp connectors instead, using a few mm of heat-shrink over the top when actually joining them,
However, if you will permit me to express this opinion without us arguing further, I don't share your view that the wiring to the heads light needs to be crimped if it's not going to be under stress or load.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
There is no need for waterproof connectors in dry areas. No boat builder uses them throughout. If the connections are in damp areas, cockpit lockers etc then they should be waterproof.
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion and equally free to connect your wiring however you see fit. But stress or load is not my concern with these connectors, i would be concerned about making proper, reliable, consistent connections. I will never use these, for that reason.
jim.howes
Active member
I must agree with Kompentkrew regarding moisture and electrics on boats surely it's prudent to prevent the ingress of water/moisture into connections. I (like many others) must have had electrical failures due to(shudder) copper wire parting company with crimps and with the type of crimp you recommend totally out of sight, also which part of your boat stays completely dry during the winter months.
PaulRainbow
Well-known member
If you have a boat where every connection, every terminal, every switch etc etc is waterproof, you have possibly the only one in the World.
No boat builder or marine electrician working on used boats uses 100% waterproof connectors. To suggest otherwise it total bollox. What would be the point, for example, of using glue lined heatshrink spade terminals on all of the wires that go to switches, fuse panels, busbars etc etc (most of which are also not waterproof, unless in especially exposed locations) when those terminals are then going to be pushed onto female spade terminals, the joint of which is then not waterproof ?
What are you going to do, cover everything in sealant ?
If your boat is so wet in the main saloon and sleeping cabins that the wiring needs waterproof connections you might want to attend to the leaks.
Last edited:
JumbleDuck
Well-known member
We should also remember that "standard" doesn't mean "best", it means ... "standard". Houses and boats are wired to standards not because these are the best ways (although good practice clearly influences standards) but so that someone else can come along and know how things have been done.
At a very trivial level, there is absolutely no physical reason not to use brown for neutral and blue for live when wiring a house, but there are very good practical reasons.
The standard specifying M10 threads is not there because M10 threads are the best possible, but so that M10 nuts from one manufacturer will fit M10 bolts from another.