General wiring

It depends on what is being spliced and where, but for like hooking up a stereo system or speakers I use crimped butt connectors with heat shrink. A more critical application I probably would solder and shrink.

 

Crimp butt connectors. usually with heat shrink.

 

Everything I do is a crimped connector with adhesive lining. For more secure connections might use a ring terminal onto a terminal strip. Amazon has assortments from Wirefly that are excellent quality and inexpensive.

Also, you need a good ratcheting crimp tool properly adjusted, and a heat gun.

My understanding, soldering not recommended in marine applications.

 

The best way for the marine environment is butt/terminal connectors that self seal with heat. Everything I do is done that way and also use terminal strips if more then one connection is required. As Dave mentioned you need to get a heat gun for the terminals and if possible use Ancor connectors and tinned marine wire.

Using solder and shrink tubing is not recommended because the flux in the solder will corrode the wire in a marine environment. Over a short period of time the wire will break inside the shrink tube but the connection will look fine and nothing will work.

 

For me it depends upon what the connection is and where it is. The most challenging location IMO are things like the bilge pump wiring. There I use Anchor heat shrink crimp butt connectors with another layer of adhesive lined heat shrink over. Other applications are Anchor heat shrink crimp connectors. With that said all of the wiring is tin coated marine rated. On screw/clamp terminals it's either crimp ring terminals or ferrels depending upon the type of connection.
I have used soldered battery lugs in the past; they haven't given me problems but now that I have a quality hydraulic crimper everything is crimped. I've tried a lot of different (Amazon cheap) crimp connectors to save a few bucks but keep coming back to the Anchor products.

 

Not like the photo below!!!! This thread brought me back to when I bought my boat in 2018. The prior owner used electrical tape (only) when he replaced the pumps/switches in the shower sumps. He also located the splices such that they sat in the water.

It was nice to know that my forward emergency bilge works like a champ though...

 

It's odd this comes up as the Subwoofer in the cockpit just quit working. I've been troubleshooting it for a couple of days finding both the amplifier good and the speaker good. It ended up being the spade terminal corroded through at the speaker connection. Actually the terminal was still good but the copper (not tinned) wire corroded and failed under the heat shrink. That Sub is in the transom locker - it is wet in there a lot. That wire is the cheap clear 14 gauge wire and all of the copper in it looks bad. I just purchased 200 feet of marine grade tinned speaker wire - guess what my next project is.... actually after I finish the rebuilding of the Marquipt Davit project.

 

That's the issue with water tight shrink tube, it is great until it isn't. The dam water proofing is like glue and you can't find bad connections. Drives me crazy. I've been converting the speaker wire(s) over to 12/2 Ancor tinned wire. So far so good.

 

When you push on those spade connections onto the speaker give it a little shot of CorrosionX or Boeshield.

 

I have been using dielectric grease, but yeah, I love CorrosionX. They have great products.

 

I have been using these from WireFly from Amazon. Tinned copper, and the heat shrink is excellent. They are about as close to the Ancor products as I can find. YMMV. My only screw up is I should have gone with the 1080 pc kit as I seem to run out of something just as I'm about to make the last connection.

 

Adhesive lined shrink/butt connectors and you're good for decades (typically).

Another issue with soldering is that it is required to mechanically secure the connection within X number of inches of the solder joint. The reason for this is because of the excessive vibration that a boat endures. The spot where the solder stops flowing can create a localized pivot point, so to say. Normally the wire can flex over it's entire length, but now that flex is concentrated at one specific spot. Just like when you want to break a piece of softer plastic, you keep bending it back and forth at the same spot.

Here's another "never ever ever":

 

That was hammered into me during my A&P training and it appears I didn't learn the first time, as I had to relearn it with motorcycles after creating some broken wires from the vibration. As a few have already noted, best to stay away from soldering wires.

 

On critical connections, I solder, apply the grease described below then heatshrink. Non critical, then it's 50/50 that I solder or crimp (always use adhesive heat shrink), depending on where it is and mood. Butt connectors I use are bare / un-insulated ones and have no sleeve on them and always get adhesive heatshrink applied.

Used NO-OX-ID made by Sanchem Inc. in Chicago. It is amazing terminal grease used on all connections on the Telecom and Data Center power plants and UPS plants we built and maintained (up to 10,000 amp -48 vdc buss and some of the higher voltage DC systems. Plus all UPS plant battery and electrical connections). Terminals, cables ends, connections, everything. We needed absolute protection for cabling, as we had to guarantee they would be reliable 99.999% (yup, five 9's) of the time and had severe financial penalties if not. Can be ordered from here: https://www.txmstore.com/rg19-grease-no-ox-id-2-oz-can/

I have some in my garage and apply it to the wire before inserting it in the butt splice or terminal connector and then crimp and heatshrink. Also smear on all terminal ring and spade connections, then make up the connection. Haven't had a connector corrode on a boat or trailer in 20 years using the stuff.

 

Has anybody use this type of a connector ( Solder and seal wire connectors ) , Are they Good or bad.
I was going to use these on a harness that I am making to install a remote LED screen with start and stop and codes for my generator.
Any suggestions for this as it is mostly communications.

 

I have that set and tried them. Not impressed with holding ability and / or the quality of the connection of the wires. Probably OK on non-critical light duty connections.

 

For a boat, the crimp/adhesive lined stuff is cheap and easy and works. No solder iron/gun required, but I do pull out the heat gun. However, in a pinch a butane lighter will get the job done. The biggest driver of a good connection is selecting the right size connector and using a good crimping tool.


A lot of engineers have received their PhD's after writing their thesis on how to best crimp wires. The electrical component guys all have lengthy specifications on how to do a crimp connection, which becomes critical when mass producing wire harnesses in automated factories. Get close on a one-off on the boat and you'll be good.

Here's one from AMP that has a best practices section. We all have a bunch of these connectors all over our boats.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.fscables.com/sites/admi...fscables/other pdf/cablecraft_crimp_guide.pdf

 

Pretty much all wiring in spacecraft is crimped and pull tested. Tooling obviously is specific and calibrated. I recall some of the shielding is silver soldered but that is about it. Many of the connectors are potted after crimping and testing. Potting is a rubber-like compound that the connector is filled with and sets up to the consistency of a automobile tire.

 

"up the owner is quite ok to buy some and then transfer me again tomorrow. 2595748934 Consulting" Shut up, dude!