Heat Shrink Tubing Technique?

[Ron M.]

Sound recommendations as is usual on this forum. You can't expect to get a proper crimp with a 10.00 tool from sears. Unfortunately you get what you pay for with any tool and electrical connections is not a place to scrimp - you can burn the damn house,(or boat) down.
I use a # of crimp tools. Cost,(at the time) 20.00 - 60.00 $. A couple of ratcheting types, all sized properly for various terminals and do the job perfectly. As mentioned the ' tug ' test is a must. The proper crimp with solder is impossible to pull apart. I suggest if your not comfortable with this work get someone with knowledge to do it.
Small inverters are inexpensive and will allow the use of ac tools on board.
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Marijuana Strain Index

[Oswego John]

Bob,

I fold aluminum Reynold's Wrap three times (3 ply thick) and bend it in a curved shape. Place the shield above , behind and below around the connector. This contains the flame for safety and shields it from the wind.

Good luck,
O J

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Joe and Marv,

Oh boy, ya got it all wrong. It is a curved shape, not a round shape that's wrapped entirely around the splice like you roast an ear of corn on a grill.

The non combustable aluminum acts like a wind shield and contains the flame. Like I wrote, it goes above, behind and below the joint. You maintain full visability and control. I'm sorry that I wasn't clear on this point.

Hmmm, maybe it's best to stick with the heat gun. (only kidding)

I just wanted to straighten out the record.

Rube G.

[Joe Myerson]

OJ:

Now I understand.

And so, perhaps, I will use foil after all.

--Joe

[Maine Sail]

I worked for AMP for 25 yrs sat thru the 2 month class on crimp theory saw thousands of applications in the field
solder if you can use a minature little torch that I mentioned before

I will both agree with Marv and disagree.

1- If you are a competent solderer than you can both crimp then solder, then heat shrink and this will be a good connection.

Soldering after a crimp has been made is fine provided you:

A) Know what you are doing (most don't).
B) Use a heat sink to prevent solder creep up the wire
C) Use the correct solder.
D) Use proper strain relief/adhesive lined heat shrink.
E) Use the proper crimp terminals for soldering which are different and non-insulated and rarely as robustly built as the insulated ones or heat shrink ones.
F) Use the proper crimp tool for the solder/crimp terminals which most don't own or have if they have been using a crimper designed for insulated crimps.

In short doing crimp then solder requires different tools, proper training and more labor. In my experience working with a marine surveyor and in three boat yards and on commercial and pleasure craft to well over 100 feet I have seen multiples more bad solder connections than crimped connections. The main reason is that most just don't know how to solder or do it right.

The bottom line is that there are billions of crimps in use world wide maybe even trillions. Yes, solder makes a great electrical connection but is very tough to do correctly, is brittle at the solder wire junction, and if resistance becomes an issue it can melt leaving a dangerous hot wire dangling if not also mechanically connected. This is why the ABYC, of which I am a member, recommends a mechanical connection first then solder if you feel the need.

2- If you want to wire your boat to current accepted industry standards such as ABYC then:


"Solder shall not be the sole means of mechanical connection in any circuit.â€

[winthrop fisher]

Win

[marv brinn]

you can safely crimp if you have three things
the tool matched to the terminal
proper use of the tool by operator
wire that is stripped properly
trillions of crimped teminals are on ships and aircraft. In my previous job as a indl salesman
I had the honor of providing a crimp terminal on one of the space shuttles used to illuminate the navigators flight control display!!the engineer who selected my terminal for use on the shuttle asked that I provide about $20,000 worth of test data as to its reliablity.the terminal cost 25cents..there is your $100,000 toilet. So I guess crimp terminals are reliable.....soldering and crimping are not needed.

[Carter Brey]

Another very simple reason to use a heat gun, as opposed to a flame, on heat-shrink tubing is wind. Anyone who has done electrical work outdoors will know the frustration of trying to use a flame on heat-shrink tubing. I was working on a new masthead anchor light this past spring (mast down) and was too lazy to run 100 feet of extension cords. I whipped out a butane cigarette lighter and wasted many minutes and much Anglo-Saxon before bowing to the inevitable and hooking up my heat gun. Job done in a matter of seconds.

[Oswego John]

you can safely crimp if you have three things
the tool matched to the terminal
proper use of the tool by operator
wire that is stripped properly.


trillions of crimped teminals are on ships and aircraft. In my previous job as a indl salesman....

So I guess crimp terminals are reliable.....soldering and crimping are not needed.

I would like to add something else to the three requirements to ensure a perfect crimp that Marv mentions. That being, the crimp must be the correct size to match the size of the conducror being crimped.

On another note (no pun intended, Carter), wind can wreak havoc when trying to heat shrinkwrap. That is the reason that early on in the thread I had mentioned that I had wrapped several plys of aluminum foil almost totally around thewrap to be shrunk. The foil acted as a suitable wind shield when working out in the field under unfavorable conditions.

According to NEC code, all splices and terminations shall be both mechanically and electrically secure. If a crimp is made properly, soldering isn't necessary.

Many years back, I did extensive work with connectors manufactured by the company marv worked for. That was the AMP Company. Well, maybe I didn't make trillions of crimp terminations, but if I said that I made hundreds of thousands of them, my nose wouldn't grow an inch.

I was employed by a company that installed and maintained totalisator equipment for parimutuel wagering at horse racing tracks across the USA and Canada. The system comprised of assembling a computer (x2) which processed the bets, extracted the taxes and profits and then determined the pay-off odds at any given moment.

It is incomprehensible to vision the hundreds of data cables running to every section of every floor of the clubhouse, grandstand as well as the outside tote boards throughout the track. These conductors within the cables carried alpha and numeric data in mind numbing accuracy.

....and every one of those millions of wires had a crimp on each end.

I finally quit the job as I rose in experience and rank. Being away from home in all parts of the continent for extended periods of time wasn't good for a married man with young children.

So shrink and crimp away to your heart's content. I'll understand.

O J