The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Recommended way to splice wires

So what's the best way to splice wires? The old way of crimping them together with those little tube things that you crunch with the cheapy KD tool is not working any more (allows too much moisture in and eventually works loose). So what do the pros recommend?

Signed,
"Frustrated In Maryland"

After I crimp I solder the connection and use heat shrink tubing whenever possible to keep out moisture. If you Google "how to splice wires" it will give options that don't require crimping.

I use the old "Western Union" splice. Strip about 1" or slightly more insulation off both wires, cross them, and wrap one wire VERY tightly over the other with a pair of pliers. Repeat in the opposite direction with the tag end of the other wire, then solder the connection and insulate it with a piece of heat shrink tubing that extends beyond the splice about 1/2" in both directions. You end up with a virtually zero resistance connection that is only slightly bigger than the diameter of the insulation and lasts about three days past forever. Just be sure to use flux core solder, not acid core to prevent corrosion. BTW- - - -don't forget to slip a piece of heat shrink over one of the wires BEFORE making the splice!

Here's a tutorial with pictures:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-proper-Western-Union-solder-joint/

If one of my students had ever made a twisted connection that sloppy, I would have been tempted to "B-slap" him clear across the classroom!

Hmmmm- - - - -looks like the pictures didn't reproduce for some reason- - - - -trust me, the guy's twist connection is terrible! Here's a little history and some illustrations:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union_splice

Jerry

That particular malady is what keeps me humble. I remember to put the heat shrink on the wire first about 50 % of the time.
Another 25% of the time, I get the soldering heat too close to the heat shrink and melt it to an unusable state.
That leaves me at a 25% chance of getting it right.

Humble Carl

Jerry I do like your way and often does it like this. The only thing I can think to add to the good Technic is: make sure not to have any strand of wire or pointy sticking out that may come through the shirk tube and cause a short or a breach in the insulation.
On an other note, while talking about wire, do not pick through the wire with the test light, always test at connections, SPECIALLY if you live in the salt belt. I've seen more than my share of trouble cause by shade tree mechanics causing more problems to electrical wiring than I can care for.

J. F.

Better idea- - - - -choose to live somewhere that the only salt that's needed is on your morning "over-medium" eggs! LOL!
Jerry

If you forget to put the sleeve on first, you can use liquid electrical tape.

If you want the "nuclear option", do what Jerry said and use irradiated polyolefin meltable inner wall heat shrink tubing. Literally designed for nuclear power station penetrator assemblies. Adhesive melts inside and fills and seals. I worked on TVA and APS projects/electrical penetrator assemblies. To get power in and out of a reactor building without leaks. Developed by Raychem for this purpose. Sometimes called cross linked heat shrink tubing. You must size it carefully. Some are 2:1 and some are 4:1 shrink ratio. Too big, it won't shrink tight, too small, it will split when heat cycled in your truck. 2X wire OD or 4X wire OD...... +/- a little. The type I mention is, and has been, available for general use.

Even with heat shrink, I sometimes use liquid tape over it all if it's out of sight or in a loom.

After having this occur a couple of times, I now put a wrap the splice with electrical tape before using the shrink tube.

The headlight conversion on the Harley is complete - - - - -both relays fit inside the chrome housing, and I added a LED high beam indicator to the upper top of the housing. The only wiring that's visible is the 12 gauge power and ground wires, and two 18 gauge signal leads from the high/low beam switch on the handlebars. The system is self contained, and most likely MUCH brighter than the original circuit could provide. There's no such thing as having a bike that's too well lit!
Jerry

Although the western union splice is the best practice, it can be difficult to do in tight spots with short wires. Most of the time with small wire low voltage spices, I simply strip back about 3/8ths on each wire, twist together in a pigtail, solder, fold it over, and slip on the heat shrink. Quick, easy, and much better than crimped splice links.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...plice.jpg/440px-Western_Union_splice.jpg


http://www.motorcycle.com/how-to/mo-wrenching-how-to-properly-splice-wires

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2007/11/22/quick-tech-splice-wires/

https://www.wikihow.com/Splice-Wire

BUTT ! ! DON'T USE A HANDI TAP / ' T ' TAP OR OTHER SUCH CHEAP EASY THINGS