Butt Solder Process and how I do it

[jharrell3623]

A small demonstration of how I solder butt connectors.

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[JediMcMuffin]

Those things have been a bit hit and miss to me. Sometimes it seems like the heat punches through and the whole thing melts and creates a bloody mess

 

[jharrell3623]

Those things have been a bit hit and miss to me. Sometimes it seems like the heat punches through and the whole thing melts and creates a bloody mess

SOme conversation on it on Bronco nation if you did not watch the video , speaking specifically the process in text. People twisting wires is probably the worst thing to do.
Butt Solder demonstration process - Bronco Nation (thebronconation.com)

 

[cve]

Are those connectors keyed the same? If so, wouldn’t bundling power together and ground together potentially make it easier to reverse polarity?

 

[jharrell3623]

Are those connectors keyed the same? If so, wouldn’t bundling power together and ground together potentially make it easier to reverse polarity?

I'll try to be short on this , the connectors for all my positives are one type of connector with TWO parts , a FEMALE and a MALE side. The grounds are all terminated at the end with lug terminals. Its literally impossible to get it wrong. So the kit I got from amazon is this.
Positive connectors
Each light pair has two positives and two negatives. I attached the PAIRED positives ( TWO Positives ) to the MALE side of those connectors. The female side is attached with an 8 inch piece of wire going to the back of a BUSSMAN EATON Waterproof Fuse. Each Light has its own fuse , not each pair of lights , each individual light.
Here is the bussman eaton Fuse box
EATON BUSSMAN
here is the kit for the terminals that are NON tanged that fit it with the seals
Metri Pack FEMALE TANGLESS
Use the same crimps below
This is what you crimp them with.
Crimps
The ground wires as I said again , there are TWO per pair of lights , they are terminated with lug terminals to the ground distribution blocks found here.
Ground Blocks

There is two 30 amp circuits feeding each Positive buss bar on the fuse box. Those 30 amp circuits are coming from my AUXBEAM 8 gang switch panel found here.
Auxbeam 8 Gang Switch Panel

Hope that is enough information for what you needed to know.

 

[da_jokker]

In a recent Robbie Layton video he showed some sort of new self-soldering but connector but I think you might need to use a special heat gun tool.

 

[jharrell3623]

In a recent Robbie Layton video he showed some sort of new self-soldering but connector but I think you might need to use a special heat gun tool.

I just use a heat gun with low and hi from Milwaukee tools. Works great so far.

 

[drewski]

Those things have been a bit hit and miss to me. Sometimes it seems like the heat punches through and the whole thing melts and creates a bloody mess

You're right. The "knock offs" on Amazon are horrible. The original "solder seal" ones work better. I can only see using these if you can't solder, don't have the equipment or in a place that soldering would not be practical. The independent video's I have watched on these show the low temp solder does not completely flow thru the wires even when not twisted together. It bonds the outside wires nicely but when cut apart and the inside inspected there is not complete penetration as with traditional soldering. The larger the wire you try to use these on the more troublesome penetration becomes. The issue appears to be you can't get the solder hot enough to wick completely through the wires before the outside tubing starts to burn. I think it's better than the traditional crimp on butt connector and will probably work fine for the most part, but I'd rather have the best connection I can get the first time. Of course, I've had years of experience chasing down faulty automotive wiring, so I maybe jaded. lol

 

[jharrell3623]

You're right. The "knock offs" on Amazon are horrible. The original "solder seal" ones work better. I can only see using these if you can't solder, don't have the equipment or in a place that soldering would not be practical. The independent video's I have watched on these show the low temp solder does not completely flow thru the wires even when not twisted together. It bonds the outside wires nicely but when cut apart and the inside inspected there is not complete penetration as with traditional soldering. The larger the wire you try to use these on the more troublesome penetration becomes. The issue appears to be you can't get the solder hot enough to wick completely through the wires before the outside tubing starts to burn. I think it's better than the traditional crimp on butt connector and will probably work fine for the most part, but I'd rather have the best connection I can get the first time. Of course, I've had years of experience chasing down faulty automotive wiring, so I maybe jaded. lol

I may have to test the theory on that. I would be interested to see the difference in conductivity and strength of the wire. I got a way to test all this to a degree. Interesting.

 

[Tex]

I've had pretty good results with the cheap amazon stuff, haven't had to trash any that weren't my own fault to begin with. If you're not using a reflector nozzle on your heat gun for this (which you really should), then move your heat gun to the opposite side once you start melting the solder, and then back to the other side for a few seconds once it looks like the solder has fully flowed. The heat shrink tubing has a hard enough time conducting adequate heat to melt the solder ring, but it works better if the heat is dispersed around the circumference as opposed to localized heat in one spot. Sometimes that's the only way to properly flow the solder without burning the heat shrink. Low heat and good coverage is ideal.

You can also waterproof your own solder butt splices in a similar way for non-standard applications (multiple wires, for example), though it's not as convenient as these connectors. Drop shrink tube over one wire, use a western union splice on the exposed wires and solder together, use a hot glue gun to make a bead on the insulation close to the splice (you can coat the solder joint too if you want but if you use too much it'll just squish out and look messy). From there just run your shrink tube over the joint and heat until your glue beads start flowing.

 

[jharrell3623]

I've had pretty good results with the cheap amazon stuff, haven't had to trash any that weren't my own fault to begin with. If you're not using a reflector nozzle on your heat gun for this (which you really should), then move your heat gun to the opposite side once you start melting the solder, and then back to the other side for a few seconds once it looks like the solder has fully flowed. The heat shrink tubing has a hard enough time conducting adequate heat to melt the solder ring, but it works better if the heat is dispersed around the circumference as opposed to localized heat in one spot. Sometimes that's the only way to properly flow the solder without burning the heat shrink. Low heat and good coverage is ideal.

You can also waterproof your own solder butt splices in a similar way for non-standard applications (multiple wires, for example), though it's not as convenient as these connectors. Drop shrink tube over one wire, use a western union splice on the exposed wires and solder together, use a hot glue gun to make a bead on the insulation close to the splice (you can coat the solder joint too if you want but if you use too much it'll just squish out and look messy). From there just run your shrink tube over the joint and heat until your glue beads start flowing.

good tips , yeah , deflector tip does work better for sure.

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