Electrical Connection Help.....Surely I'm doing something wrong.

[2kwik4u]

So I removed the tower, ran some wires, and moved the battery this weekend. See HERE for the pics/details on that.

In order to run the soundbar wires through the tower, I had to cut off the fuse holder from the 12ga power, and the eyelet from the 12ga ground. Once ran I had to reconnect these ends, which meant a splice.

I purchased THESE solder/heatshrink combo devices, but clearly have no idea how to use them. I took the ends of the wires, stripped them back and pushed them togethor, then "twisted" them with my finger and thumb to get the "wild hairs" laid down. I then hit them with a heat gun until it looked like they were going to catch fire. The solder never melted, and the connection was weak at best. Here's what it looked like


SO, I ripped that apart, and used a standard butt connector, crimpers, heat shrink, and then electrical tape. It looks like hammered dog turds to be honest, and I'm not really happy with it.

This is with just the butt connector. Feels like a strong structural (pull test) connection.


The heat shrink had to be big enough to get over the obscene looking butt connector, so it didn't shrink all the way.


So I wrapped the snot out of it with electrical tape. Hopefully this will make it somewhat water resistant.


I wasn't really happy with that connection, so I dug out the soldering iron, solder, and went to work on the ground wire. It turned out better, but not great (I couldn't find the flux, so it didn't wick worth a crap). I forgot to take a picture of that connection. Overall I'm not really happy with either connection. It's well fused, and it appears to work just fine, but the connections looks bad. Am I over thinking this?

Secondarily, how in the dang heck are those solder filled, heat shrink combo connections supposed to work?

 

[swatski]

I believe @Mainah used those, he posted comments somewhere with some reservations.

(Sometimes liquid tape can help if nothing else to keep the connection from getting too bulky - I know, it’s cheating... )

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[Sbrown]

Those self soldering connectors can be finicky and difficult to use. They work best with a high quality heat gun with digital temperature control. This way you can set the heat high enough to melt the solder, but not so hot that you overheat the shrink part of the connector.

Another good way to do it is take the plastic off the crimp style butt connector so its not as bulky, crimp it onto the wires to make your physical connection, then heat it with a soldering iron and feed some solder into it for the electrical connection, then put your shrink tubing over that. It'll be much more secure and cleaner looking.

If you use rosin core solder, you won't need flux nearly as much and the solder will flow very nicely.
I have used the self soldering connectors to great effectiveness, and they do require some skill to master, but they are still an ugly connection in my opinion.

 

[BrandonG]

It almost looks like your butt connector (yellow) is too big, but if youre using 12 guage wire than its the correct size. I use butt connectors with either a continuous section of heatshrink or 2 that I can overlap and shrink one at a time. have used heat guns and lighters to shrink it but now I use a torch, its so much easier for me .

 

[Mainah]

My first try with those solder filled heat shrinks was with a mini torch and heat tip, came out like dog doo. Second trying was with a full size heat gun, dog doo again. Brought the smd station with digital heat setting to the boat and got it to work perfectly with a narrow tip starting at the solder with low heat and low air very close and worked out. Flux is your friend as well. I like the kind in a syringe. The are the right part for the job in some case when you need a slim water proof connection. For other cases there are crimp style with heat shrink on them. Also bare butt connectors and then sliding heat shirk over works as well. Lastly when you want to go overkill slip a piece of solder inside a crimp connector with the wire, crimp with a ratcheting crimper, heat to melt the solder, then used double walled marine heat shrink over all of that.

 

[Jgorm]

Those connectors are silly. I solder and tape everything. Never had an issue with hundreds and hundreds of connections on boats and cars over 3 decades. Not one. I've replaced many butt connectors that failed. Is heart shrink better than tape? Maybe, but tape is easier, faster, and easier to remove when you need to add another wire to that connection in the future.

 

[2kwik4u]

Sounds like I need to go back to just soldering and heat shrinking the wires down. I don't do a ton of this wiring, but when I do I want it to be a "one and done" type repair/modification.

What do you guys use for larger than 10Ga connections? Do you crimp/solder a "battery" style end, or do you just use screw terminals? I need to add power and ground to the helm at some point for stereo upgrades, and am curious the best way to deal with that as well.

 

[Scottie]

I'm very fond of the connectors from Posi-Lock. Easy to use, removable, and they offer watertight versions if necessary. The negative is that they are relatively expensive compared to other solutions. I've been using them for years however, and I've never had to go back and repair a connection. I'd gladly pay much more for that guarantee if I could have it up front. www.posi-lock.com

 

[BrandonG]

What do you guys use for larger than 10Ga connections? Do you crimp/solder a "battery" style end, or do you just use screw terminals? I need to add power and ground to the helm at some point for stereo upgrades, and am curious the best way to deal with that as well.

For amp connections that just have holes to insert the wire and are held in place with a set screw I have recently discovered wire ferrules which are a billion times better than just jamming a wire in the hole and screwing it in tight. But for battery connections I still use crimp terminals and heat shrink.