spring connectors

[CalgaryPT]

Kind of hard to see here under the kapton tape but what I do is over extend the heat shrink from the (in this case) 2 wires, maybe 10mm, use the heat gun to shrink as normal, but before it cools squeeze the excess shrink with flat pliers. The shrink adhesive is already activated so it sticks pretty good to itself. The odd time (under very hot environment) I have re-sealed joints that may have opened up with a bit of CA glue (crazy glue) in the gap & just pinch them for a sec, it bonds instantly. I have also seen the odd 'industrial' example similar to your vehicle what looks like plastic or silicon plug of the same wire gauge. Just assumed they just heat shrunk over a dummy ended something-er-other so they could get access to the lead end if necessary?

The pliers trick sounds good.

 

[PeterT]

I didn't know this until recently but you can get (or make) tips for hot glue guns. Maybe depending on the gun itself but the one I have came with a single copper looking tube. I always figured they would cool off & plug at the tip but I guess if the gun has enough heat & metal conducts it well enough. Not sure how many applications its suitable for but some shop trivia to store away.

 

[CalgaryPT]

Just thought I would update this thread. Not sure why this issue was bugging me so much, probably because I've had so many small wire issues to deal with these past months.

Anyways, the guy who used to live down the street from me is an electrician and he also was a DND contractor in the USA for a while. Clever fellow. I ran into him this AM and asked about this trick Ford uses. He said that for larger wire you can buy cored glue pins. They are basically shaped like a grain of rice, but larger. You stick them in the end of the heat shrink and melt them that way. But he didn't know if they made them in small sizes (I doubt it). He'd only used them on 6 or 4 gauge that he recalls. What he did do was tell me another trick he used.

After sizing the wire to the tubing, you strip off a piece of the wire about 1/2". You SAVE the insulation. Then you trim off the wire you just striped so none of it is showing. Next insert the wire into the tubing, but in the end of it you stuff the piece of installation you just saved. Now you heat shrink it all and what you end up with is a temporary capped wire for future use. The insulation colour codes the wires, but even if it touches something metal there won't be a ESD as the first 1/2" of the tubing is just inert insulation you cut off the wire. It works better with double wall tubing obviously, but I tried it on single wall and it works just fine (see last two pics).

I also tried the pliers trick but on double walled tubing. I like this the best actually (first pic).

Happy chassis wiring.

 

[PeterT]

I just had an idea if you really want the plugged off end concept. You can get O-rings in a wide range of cross section diameters & material types, silicone, viton, buna... You could just snip off say 1/2" length, then use 1" of heat shrink so half was bonded on the wire & half to the O-ring stock. It would probably adhere really well to the O-ring material just like the wire coating. When it comes time to access the wire, just splice off the heat shrink as normal. If you were going to do many, you can buy O-ring cord.

 

[CalgaryPT]

I just had an idea if you really want the plugged off end concept. You can get O-rings in a wide range of cross section diameters & material types, silicone, viton, buna... You could just snip off say 1/2" length, then use 1" of heat shrink so half was bonded on the wire & half to the O-ring stock. It would probably adhere really well to the O-ring material just like the wire coating. When it comes time to access the wire, just splice off the heat shrink as normal. If you were going to do many, you can buy O-ring cord.

Agreed. O-ring material is great for many uses. Thanks again.

 

[Chicken lights]

Have you ever seen the non-insulated butt connectors for wiring?

 

[CalgaryPT]

Have you ever seen the non-insulated butt connectors for wiring?

No I haven't. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose though? Isn't the idea of a butt connector to connect two wires and be able to disconnect at some point?

 

[CalgaryPT]

No I haven't. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose though? Isn't the idea of a butt connector to connect two wires and be able to disconnect at some point?

Ah wait, I see your point. I was thinking BULLET connectors. Too many B's.

 

[Chicken lights]

Ah wait, I see your point. I was thinking BULLET connectors. Too many B's.

I find it really quick and seems to work well. Strip, crimp, heatshrink, done.
They come in a variety of sizes.

Just another way of doing things

 

[John Conroy]

I use those too. That kind of wire repair meets most automotive OEM specs with one added step. Strip, crimp, solder, sealing heat shrink.

 

[Chicken lights]

I like using weatherpack fittings, if I need to unplug things or take it apart later. It’s a bit fiddly to do but they work great, a lot better than bullet connectors if it’s outside

 

[CalgaryPT]

Hey I'm liking those. Do they need a proprietary crimper? Can you solder them?

 

[Chicken lights]

Hey I'm liking those. Do they need a proprietary crimper? Can you solder them?

Yes, the blue handled pliers are for that purpose.
Sure, you could crimp then solder after.

 

[CalgaryPT]

Thanks. I'm going to look into these. Should have known Kyle Voss did a vid on vid on them already:

 

[Chicken lights]

One trick I learned is to pre-crimp the part that goes on the insulation. Then use the blue pliers to crimp everything.
You end up with a rubber gasket on the wire, and a rubber gasket on the plug itself

 

[CalgaryPT]

And just when I thought I had every crimper out there....

 

[Chicken lights]

And just when I thought I had every crimper out there....

Nope haha

You need a nut-sert rivet tool, too, if you don’t already have one

 

[CalgaryPT]

Nope haha

You need a nut-sert rivet tool, too, if you don’t already have one

Oh I have a couple of those, as well as two air riveters. But I have to behave for a while, I smuggled this into the shop this week...

 

[Marc Moreau]

On a similar topic, does anyone know how car companies do this trick to terminate wires temporarily (see pic below)? I have a F250 and it has a series of pass-through wires that go from under the dash through the firewall and terminate under the hood. They are either connected to upfitter switches, or in some cases just orphaned so you can get juice back and forth as needed. (Or as @PeterT calls it, "sparky stuff." Love that.)

I like the way these are terminated. Seems cheap, effective and neat. I've been trying to replicate for years. Clearly it is heat shrink tubing with I think either hot melt glue or silicon shot in the tip. The hot glue would make sense as it immediately would shrink the tubing. However, it is impossible to replicate this method except on the largest of wires and tubing. Trying to squirt the glue in means the tip of the gun melts the tubing right away. How do they do this? Do they use a magic hot glue syringe thingy or something? Or is it a special fast setting and expanding glue? I asked the Ford mechanic on my street and he doesn't know either.

J'adore la technique et j'aimerais l'utiliser pour un tas de trucs. À mesure que je vieillis, j'essaie de planifier plus à l'avance et de toujours utiliser des câbles supplémentaires à des fins futures. Je ne peux pas comprendre comment ils obtiennent la colle là-dedans. Et maintenant, c'est un mystère que je dois résoudre.

View attachment 7289[/CITATION]
On appelle ça du (shrink tube bean ) lorsque tu chauffe avec un petit chalumeau ou un briquet il rapetisse et la colle sort du bout pour faire certain que l'eau ne s'infiltre pas . C'est (the best )

 

[Marc Moreau]

[QUOTE = "Chicken lights, post: 19322, membre: 1016"] https://www.grote.com/sub-family/dual-wall-31-heat-shrink-tubing/

Habituellement, la double paroi contient déjà de la colle [/ QUOTE]
Oui c'est en plein sa et c'est la compagnie que j'utilise c'est du très bon matériel.