Anyone tried these? Solder Seal Heat Shrink Butt Connectors

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I'm going through various bits of my wiring loom ATM, replacing bullet connectors, new bullets and spade connectors etc and noticed these type of thing

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Connector-Connectors-Term...

I thought they'd make a decent replacement for bullet connectors in exposed places or where they rarely, if ever, need to be disconnected. Also just for new joints, repairs etc.

Dom

[ColdoRS]

I can vouch for these;
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/crimp-butt-splice-t...

Use them all the time, brilliant.

[595Heaven]

There’s a YouTuber I loosely follow who reviews all sorts of things (anything from dodgy eBay electricals to military MRE ration packs!) who reviewed these earlier this week

https://youtu.be/unxEdyW8RP8

[TwinKam]

595Heaven said:

There’s a YouTuber I loosely follow who reviews all sorts of things (anything from dodgy eBay electricals to military MRE ration packs!) who reviewed these earlier this week

https://youtu.be/unxEdyW8RP8

Interesting, I think he's right about insufficient solder though.
So, when is he going to review the 'Stop n grow' type products?...

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Thanks all.

I'll get some of the self soldering type and experiment. I'll also get some of the crimp type as I'm not sure I'll be able to get enough heat into the connector to melt the solder in some places.

Soldering iron and heat shrink I'll save for the high current stuff.

[Penelope Stopit]

Those connectors are useless and the above linked video shows why

The other thing to bear in mind is that there is little chance of gaining a good joint of old oxidised or dirty copper cable no matter what you decide to use

Often the case that good clean copper is found by cutting cables back by a length of 30 cms or more

Probably best to buy some new lengths of cable, cut cables back in a staggered fashion so that joints aren't going to end up in the same place making the loom bulky and possibly shorting together, extend cables with new lengths by using solder and adhesive heat-shrink

Solder can be clearly seen to run through joints

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The video isn't exactly an endorsement I agree but I'm going to give them a try on higher gauge wire anyway. I'll post pics.

Where the wire is oxidised I have needed to let in some extra wire (mostly black in TVR style), which leaves me with 2 bullet connectors . I doubt I have the patience to solder all of these unfortunately.

[steveo3002]

agree they dont have enough solder

any reason you cant just get a soldering iron and some glue lined heatshrink , all cheap enough and respectable way of fixing it

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No reason other than I was looking to save some time and effort. I'd like to actually drive my car one day

[Penelope Stopit]

Solder and adhesive heat-shrunk joints will very likely be achieved quicker than joining with those connectors, less temperature over less time

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I suspect you're probably right. I'll post an update.

[steveo3002]

id always be wondering if its one of those playing up everytime theres an issue

soldering it isnt hard to learn , and the glue lined heatshrink makes them watertight and neat

[Moto]

+1 for standard glue filled heat shrink tubing covering all joins.

Moto

[Astacus]

When I bought my car the loom had been cut up into chunks to get it out. I have used these things simply to re assemble the loom for use as a pattern. I wouldn't trust them for a proper joint on a real loom.

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Just to close this one off.

I've been playing aroud with these things and they are indeed a bit rubbish and become more so the larger the cable diameter. I can however make a "get you home" joint using a cigarette lighter at a pinch, so I'll be keeping a few in the car for emergencies only. Will probably come in handy for trying out modifications too.

I've been practicing and now have a 3mm tip for my 48w iron, and for cables of 17A and above I dug out an old 100W soldering gun and replaced the tip with some large diameter copper mains cable wire (the old tips refused to tin). This is all workig well, but I'm now having the problem of solder wicking down under the insulation which I'm taking as read is to be avoided if more than a couple of mm. A bit more practice needed.

Thanks everyone for your input.

Dom

[steveo3002]

cheap ebay forceps either side of the join stop wicking ....or pliers /grips etc

are you working outdoors? a small iron should be hot enough to quickly solder the joint before it gets chance to wick down the wire too bad , think mines around 45w and plenty hotenough out of the wind

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I've been indoors. I think it's just me not paying enough attention when feeding the solder in TBH. The iron is working nicely but I do have to replace all of the alternator wires, so I set up the gun for this as it's still a bit slow getting the joint hot enough using the iron on these cables. Probably more to do with my skill level than anything else.

[steveo3002]

yeah bit more practice maybe

do look at some sort of metal grips either side as a heat sink though....horrible when its wicked down and made the wire hard

[Penelope Stopit]

Are you keeping the cable in a horizontal position? If cable isn't horizontal the solder will run downwards

Doesn't matter about a run of solder inside the sleeving, as long as the heat-shrink length is longer than the soldered length

The only problem with a long run of solder is if the soldered length is at a bend in the loom as it obviously won't easily bend into shape and could break

Hotter the iron the better, they soon cool a little on contact with the conductors

[startStop]

I'll fix something up to act as a heat sinks. I have stuff that should work well.

I m soldering horizontally - discovered that early on

Good to know it's not too much of a problem as long as the heat shrink is covering it. Will do my best to avoid it though.

Thanks