Best way to splice.

[JaseNZ 53]

Guys over the next month or so i have a couple of projects that i am going to start and complete on my car, First up i am putting in some footwell lights and secondly and the bigger of the two is i am upgrading the 11 button obc to an 18 button one as well as changing out the indicator stalk for one i can control the obc with (Thanks Ray you are the man for getting me these parts).

What have you found the best and safest way to splice wires into the various looms. Butt splices ?? , Twisted together and soldered and covered in shrink wrap. What have you's done in the past that you have found to be the best way that has never given you any problems.

[greenday-rulz21 6]

Don't really know what you mean by Butt splices but you should never use taps for anything permanent, as you might know. I cut away the insulation around the end of the wire you're soldering on, and I cut away the insulation on a small 1-2cm section on the wire you're tapping into.

Both wires must me tinned first, makes it easier for the solder to stick.

If you're doing one end to another I just tin them and solder them side by side. Thats if its in a place where its not going to get vibrations etc otherwise just twist them.

Every join should always be covered with heat shrink or if thats not available, electrical tape. You probably know most of that but thats what I do.

btw, don't use a gun shaped soldering gun (Can't remember their special name) cause they can be very powerful and fry modules and units in the car.

Hope that helps.

[bravo 35]

Agree with you Nick with the exception of soldering side by side.

An electrical engineer once told me that with any joint there are two things it must be. It must be a good physical connection, and it must be a good electrical connection.

So I always loop each wire round the other and back on itself and twist. This makes a good physical connection that will almost never undo. Then I solder as this makes a good electrical connection as long as you do a clean job without dry joints.

Heat shrink is by far the tidiest insulation method, but not always possible.

The other alternative is to solder all the wires into a connector plug and plug them together. This is what they would do in the factory.

[Greg111 13]

As the others said, best way is to twist and solder. Never use those little blue connectors, they are arse and half the time don't work.

[JaseNZ 53]

Thanks for all the help guys, I am going to go down the tin first then side by side solder option followed by shrink wrap, I think this is the best way. I was thinking of plugs but then there would be a whole heap of them taking up a lot of room. There are alot of wires coming from the back of an 18 button obc, (about 5 more than my current 11 button one). So i think the way i am going to go with will be the tidiest.

[bravo 35]

When I said plug I was thinking of a multi-wire harness plug. You can get them from Jacar/radioshack type places. You crimp/solder all of the terminals, and then the terminals press into the plastic connector housing, and its one plug for many wires.

[hotwire 352]

Thanks for all the help guys, I am going to go down the tin first then side by side solder option followed by shrink wrap, I think this is the best way. I was thinking of plugs but then there would be a whole heap of them taking up a lot of room. There are alot of wires coming from the back of an 18 button obc, (about 5 more than my current 11 button one). So i think the way i am going to go with will be the tidiest.

Rather than tin & solder side by side (when splicing one cable end into an existing wire) - it is much easier & tidier (along with being a more secure connection) to twist the wire around the other - then solder. Then tape or heat shrink. If you use proper loom tape & wrap tightly around the connection - the result is fine.

If joining two ends - again twist together & solder - a neat joint once taped or heat shrunk.

Graham's method is good but can tend to give a bulky joint at the double over (particually with thicker wire)

[turbolizard 38]

If you cannot get the heatshrink on due to the layout of the loom then "Liquid Electrical Tape" is pretty useful after the joint is soldered. This stuff is like liquid plastic (or really thick paint) with some sort of solvent. It drys flexible and will build up a nice coating with 2 or 3 coats. You can get it at marine stores.