Solderstick

[RitcheyRch]

Been seeing a lot of advertisements for these waterproof soldersticks. Anyone use them and if so, what are your thoughts?

Waterproof Wire Connectors Kit | SolderStick

Durable waterproof wire connectors for safe, watertight connections. Ideal for electrical applications. Shop SolderStick connectors now.

solderstick.com

 

[Backlash]

I've actually ordered some and used them for simple "Non-essential" connections. You have to be careful with the heat as it tends to melt through when you're trying to heat the solder up inside the sleeves. For small jobs, they work.

 

[RitcheyRch]

I've actually ordered some and used them for simple "Non-essential" connections. You have to be careful with the heat as it tends to melt through when you're trying to heat the solder up inside the sleeves. For small jobs, they work.

Kind of what I thought and thanks for confirming.

 

[Taboma]

Been seeing a lot of advertisements for these waterproof soldersticks. Anyone use them and if so, what are your thoughts?

Waterproof Wire Connectors Kit | SolderStick

Durable waterproof wire connectors for safe, watertight connections. Ideal for electrical applications. Shop SolderStick connectors now.

solderstick.com

I've never used one, or seen one in person. If the shrink tube provides strain relief beyond the soldered portion so the wire remains flexible and not prone to breaking, that's a plus. Especially convenient for making a harness on a bench, could be less desirable with certain physical space constraints.

 

[yz450mm]

I've actually ordered some and used them for simple "Non-essential" connections. You have to be careful with the heat as it tends to melt through when you're trying to heat the solder up inside the sleeves. For small jobs, they work.

X2

 

[rivermobster]

I've actually ordered some and used them for simple "Non-essential" connections. You have to be careful with the heat as it tends to melt through when you're trying to heat the solder up inside the sleeves. For small jobs, they work.

Were you using a heat gun, or a flame?

The look pretty handy for a quick, non essential, repair!

 

[Racey]

Been seeing a lot of advertisements for these waterproof soldersticks. Anyone use them and if so, what are your thoughts?

Waterproof Wire Connectors Kit | SolderStick

Durable waterproof wire connectors for safe, watertight connections. Ideal for electrical applications. Shop SolderStick connectors now.

solderstick.com

These are a chinese knock off of a raychem solder butt connector. Im not sure what the exact name or part number is but they have been around for decades. The only difference is the Raychem system uses a special heat lamp gun that works in a very specific temperature range, and the quality control of the material in the butt splice itself is a very high standard. They are not cheap per piece. One of their uses is to bond the shielding jacket on certain analog or digital TTL wires, they make a special joint that has a drain wire exiting the connection.

DaveH would know, he has one of the old raychem guns, it looks like something from The Jetsons

 

[Yoshiro]

I've used them. I did it with a heat gun on the high setting. It does take some practice, the first couple attempts I burned through the plastic sleeve. They seem to work good though.

 

[Rajobigguy]

I use them all the time. Yes it takes a little practice but once you have it down they are quick and pretty bullet proof, pretty good step up from crimp connectors.

 

[DaveH]

These are a chinese knock off of a raychem solder butt connector. Im not sure what the exact name or part number is but they have been around for decades. The only difference is the Raychem system uses a special heat lamp gun that works in a very specific temperature range, and the quality control of the material in the butt splice itself is a very high standard. They are not cheap per piece. One of their uses is to bond the shielding jacket on certain analog or digital TTL wires, they make a special joint that has a drain wire exiting the connection.

DaveH would know, he has one of the old raychem guns, it looks like something from The Jetsons

yes Raychem solder sleeves are widely used in the aviation world. I use them all the time.

however, thats not what these were designed for.

the intended use is for a connection point for a shielded cable. when using shielded cable, you strip the insulation off exposing the shield. The solder sleeve is then shrunk down with an additional wire to terminate the shield. this allows you to keep connectivity of the shield through a bulkhead connector or final termination f the shield. in the motorsports harnesses i build these are used in certain applications for this very thing

the use of these for solder butt connectors has NO place in any high performance wiring system, nor does any sort of butt connector.

 

[Kbach]

Honda (and other OEMs I believe) use them for harness repairs outside the vehicle all of the time. Places like tail light assys that are damaged in accidents use them. They work great but spend the money on quality ones, not the crappy Amazon ones…

 

[Thing One]

I'm using them on a current build, they seem to work pretty cool. I am still heat shrinking over these, just assume the solder joint is better than a crimp?

 

[DaveH]

I'm using them on a current build, they seem to work pretty cool. I am still heat shrinking over these, just assume the solder joint is better than a crimp?

absolutely not.

if you must splice, a crimp in an automotive/marine environment is almost always preferable.....assuming yu have the correct crimper for the type of terminal or splice you are working with. then raychem ATUM heatshrink over the crimp.

 

[Mototrig]

I've used them for years, mostly use a heat gun. They work well

 

[rivermobster]

Solder breaks/cracks.

Ford leaned this back in the late 70's.

There was a solderd ground splice point *inside* a wire harness, that would self destruct after a few years.

That was fun to diagnose.

NOT!

 

[rrrr]

absolutely not.

if you must splice, a crimp in an automotive/marine environment is almost always preferable.....assuming yu have the correct crimper for the type of terminal or splice you are working with. then raychem ATUM heatshrink over the crimp.

I use Ancor connectors that have adhesive heat shrink insulation, and crimp them with a Greenlee 45500.

 

[Thing One]

absolutely not.

if you must splice, a crimp in an automotive/marine environment is almost always preferable.....assuming yu have the correct crimper for the type of terminal or splice you are working with. then raychem ATUM heatshrink over the crimp.

Great info, Thank you. Luckily, I just started, good time for correction.

 

[bilz]

Very cumbersome in tight places.
I ran out of talent and burned some plastic sheeting. Splice came out great and still holding.

 

[Jay Dub]

I also use the butt connectors with heat shrink and a Greenlee 45500 ratcheting crimper. Easy stuff. battery chargers, stereo, trailer wiring

 

[callbob]

Baller status. What ever happened to twisting wires together and using electrical tape hmmm? Poor people have poor ways.

 

[rivermobster]

Baller status. What ever happened to twisting wires together and using electrical tape hmmm? Poor people have poor ways.

You forgot about wire nuts. WTF??

 

[DaveH]

I've used them for years, mostly use a heat gun. They work well

a trailer guys use scotch locks and would say the same thing.

"working well" is meaningless when you never see your work again.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Seeing them more and more in newer trailer builds. If the temp is set right, they seem to work well. I've used them on splice repairs on equipment, so far, so good.

 

[rrrr]

a trailer guys use scotch locks and would say the same thing.

"working well" is meaningless when you never see your work again.

Ahhh, yes. The insulation displacement connector. They're totally worthless.

 

[lbhsbz]

They will create a connection, but not a real good one.

Copper is much better conductor than solder. Mechanically joining the ends of 2 wires will result in the best conductor. If you cut open a correctly executed crimp connection on stranded wire, you'll find that the strands have been "forged" together in a manner which makes them nearly a single solid conductor....this will result in the best connection with the highest load capacity (notice I did not say lowest resistance).

Solder is not preferred for mobile wiring where vibration is a concern....solder tends to wick back into the wires are a bit away from the connection creating a brittle wire, and they break...maybe not all the strands in the beginning, but some of them that are harder than the others because they've drawn more solder and are a stiff conductor right next to flexible ones. This will result in poor performance under load, but will still ohm out just fine.

If you look at OEM automotive wire terminations....very few, if any, are solders...they're all crimped. The only soldered connections are on PCBs, because you can't really crimp those...and in high vibration situations (GM ABS modules)...the solder connections break all the time.

The best I've found is Anchor (or other premium brand) adhesive lined crimp connectors, used along with the "correct" crimper.

I have about 10 different crimp tools for these types of connectors...most of the them are garbage. I did some tests a while back and out of my stash, found only 2 tools that resulted in crimps that I could not pull apart...even though all were designed for this type of connector.

 

[27Daytona]

I find that for me it’s faster to just twist the wires together and solder, then heat shrink tube the connection area. For off-roading I can’t see these Solderstick connections lasting very long. The last thing you want to have happen when you’re out in the middle of nowhere is to start having electrical failures!

 

[wet hull]

I would steer away from the cheap stuff. When I did my new gauges last year on the boat I used them. Gauges just would never work consistently. Finally sent to the shop. 1st thing they did was a voltage check. We were losing 3 volts from engine bay to dash. Removed the connectors and now at a .8 voltage drop. Final gauge work is today snd can report back if that was the only culprit. When I did them I used my heat gun with multiple settings to make sure solder melted in and shrink wrap performed. Low heat and time is what it takes.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Ahhh, yes. The insulation displacement connector. They're totally worthless.

In high school, I worked at an equipment rental yard. (The place was a massive OSHA and labor law violation, but that's where I learned to operate midsized equipment...)

The place rented trailers too. The wires were bear, no plug end. We were tought to tap into tail light wiring and use Scotchloc connectors! I was 15-16, so I didn't know any better. Looking back at it, with what I do now, I screwed up a lot of people's cars. Corrosion and naked wires on some, at the time, pretty new cars

 

[Backlash]

In high school, I worked at an equipment rental yard. (The place was a massive OSHA and labor law violation, but that's where I learned to operate midsized equipment...)

The place rented trailers too. The wires were bear, no plug end. We were tought to tap into tail light wiring and use Scotchloc connectors! I was 15-16, so I didn't know any better. Looking back at it, with what I do now, I screwed up a lot of people's cars. Corrosion and naked wires on some, at the time, pretty new cars

You mean like this??

Previous owner did a kickass job adding in his version of a 4 prong trailer connector. I found this bare wire yesterday.

 

[monkeyswrench]

You mean like this??

View attachment 1334954

Previous owner did a kickass job adding in his version of a 4 prong trailer connector. I found this bare wire yesterday.

Yes...not proud of it, but yes

 

[rrrr]

When I purchased my '01 Excursion in 2008, I spent almost $10K on the installation of a kickass stereo system and an advanced alarm system. About five years ago, the auto start feature of the alarm quit working.

Some basic checks of the wiring were needed, and I discovered this pile of crap where the alarm was wired into the ignition system connector on the steering column. About ¾" of the insulation on the factory wiring had been stripped, another wire was twisted around the exposed conductor, solder was applied, and lastly a section of Jap wrap tape was boogered onto the connections..

It was so bad I decided to tear out the entire alarm unit and all of its wiring.

After almost two hours, all of the garbage had been removed and repairs were made.

All of the stereo wiring had been done in the same manner. I spent a few more hours removing the interior door panels to correct all of the speaker connections.

 

[Backlash]

When I purchased my '01 Excursion in 2008, I spent almost $10K on the installation of a kickass stereo system and an advanced alarm system. About five years ago, the auto start feature of the alarm quit working.

Some basic checks of the wiring were needed, and I discovered this pile of crap where the alarm was wired into the ignition system connector on the steering column. About ¾" of the insulation on the factory wiring had been stripped, another wire was twisted around the exposed conductor, solder was applied, and lastly a section of Jap wrap tape was boogered onto the connections..

View attachment 1335030

It was so bad I decided to tear out the entire alarm unit and all of its wiring.

View attachment 1335031

After almost two hours, all of the garbage had been removed and repairs were made.

View attachment 1335032

All of the stereo wiring had been done in the same manner. I spent a few more hours removing the interior door panels to correct all of the speaker connections.

And here I thought you were snapping pictures of the wiring on my truck!

My problem is I've been spoiled by my other trucks which have been well taken care of.... I'm finding little things here and there on this newer purchase that leaves me scratching my head.

 

[monkeyswrench]

When I purchased my '01 Excursion in 2008, I spent almost $10K on the installation of a kickass stereo system and an advanced alarm system. About five years ago, the auto start feature of the alarm quit working.

Some basic checks of the wiring were needed, and I discovered this pile of crap where the alarm was wired into the ignition system connector on the steering column. About ¾" of the insulation on the factory wiring had been stripped, another wire was twisted around the exposed conductor, solder was applied, and lastly a section of Jap wrap tape was boogered onto the connections..

View attachment 1335030

It was so bad I decided to tear out the entire alarm unit and all of its wiring.

View attachment 1335031

After almost two hours, all of the garbage had been removed and repairs were made.

View attachment 1335032

All of the stereo wiring had been done in the same manner. I spent a few more hours removing the interior door panels to correct all of the speaker connections.

Last year sometime I ran into a head scratcher POS (not of the Prius variety). 05 or 06 Chevy 1500. Intermittent no crank. PO had tied in alarm and remote start, this that and the other. Bypassed all of it, did great for 3 weeks, then returned, same deal

All fuses were good, but found something real fun. Where the main harness plug into the bottom of the fuse block, one terminal was smoked. Apparently the circuit was for a KO+, which had been tapped into in various ways under the dash. The load was not enough to pop the fuse, but must have maintained a current Amp draw near the limit. The result was a loose and charred connection which would make intermittent contact. The circuit they tied into was for the BCM, which pretty much controls everything

 

[TimeBandit]

Auto electrical 101.

Look for areas of modification.

 

[OCMerrill]

First use the special crimp, then slip over the solder butt connector, then three layers of adhesive shrink tube with each layer longer than the previous. Then coat the entire thing with liquid electrical tape, then spray it with flex seal white or black depending on your preference, then finish off with some electrical tape. Color of electrical tape should match the trailer best as possible.

Then your trailer lights will work perfectly for at least three river trips. Fingers will remain sticky for approx 3 weeks.

Or...

Twist the wires together (YouTube university) and use some decent adhesive shrink tubing. Done.
Key to this is the word Adhesive. Not all heat shrink has adhesive, make sure its at least an inch in length each direction of the joint, and the correct size.
Tough and will hold up way better than you think. Wire should be of the same material. Tying dissimilar metals together is a bad idea.