Solder and heat shrink vs. crimp and tape

Baylinerchuck

Baylinerchuck

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Jul 29, 2016
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2,740
I too am very particular in my wiring of just about anything, mainly due to the training I received as an electrician working for a defense contractor that built communication shelters and other various mobile projects including Patriot missile components. I have rewired numerous trailers over the years with electric brakes and of course boat trailers. All the boat trailers I've done have had surge brakes so I usually use regular flat 4 trailer wire, which is normally 16 awg stranded copper. Tinning refers to lightly soldering the ends of the wire which I may do to a ground wire that I am crimping a ring terminal to attach to the frame. I like to lightly solder that ground wire in the ring terminal after I crimp it.....many opinions obviously on this, I'm just explaining what I do. I never use solderless crimp butt splices, but take the time to solder and heat shrink every connection between the wiring and the light. I also never rely solely on the chassis ground of a light fixture and will run a short ground wire from the light ground post connecting it to the main part of a boat trailers frame. Again, this is what I do, and opinions vary. I hate rework.....I really hate flashing lights as I drive down the road at night. For plugs and connectors, use a quality dielectric grease to seal out the weather and protect conductors. I really like in these posts the idea of liquid electrical tape. I will certainly be giving this a try as I've never really used it before. I always secure all wiring to the trailer to inhibit excessive movement. This not only protects your work, but makes everything professional grade. I like to go the extra mile, but unlike the MIL stuff I worked on, I don't have a tie wrap every 1.5 inches. The extra time spent making it right will pay off years and miles down the road.
 
gm280

gm280

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Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,605
Baylinerchuck. I hate to post again on this subject because I personally think it has run its course...again! :faint2: And actually knowing that everybody is still going to do their connections however they like. It is just human nature. All these one-upmanship ways seriously accomplished Zilch, NADA, nothing, Zero. It is right up there with best 2-cycle oil and ethanol vs regular gas or even best foot oil. But back to the subject. :focus:

I do remember lacing wire bundles with waxed lacing cord years (okay decade) ago. I laced a 75 foot multi wired cable with two laced wraps every 1/2" for 75 foot. My fingers were near raw. But the finished product looked amazing and very neat. Those were the days...............that I don't want to remember now. :eek:
 
Pusher

Pusher

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Sep 2, 2014
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1,273
bruceb58 said:
Go here and buy their tinned wire. Every strand is tinned. Yes, expensive and I use this for my boat and trailer.
http://www.genuinedealz.com/marine-w...e-primary-wire

You want to buy the crimp connectors with the heat activated adhesives like the Anchor or these:
http://www.genuinedealz.com/marine-e...rink-terminals

Buy the proper crimper....No Harbor Freight!
Click to expand...

Bruce or anyone else, I have a question. I just ordered wire and butt connectors from that site to redo my trailer wiring. Is it beneficial to also coat your connections in grease, vaseline or some other compound, or can these cause corrosion? Is the liquid tape corrosive? Would it be a bad idea to use these connectors with a grease, heat shrink it up and then also put heat shrink over the top of everything?

Also, is there a BETTER brand of trailer light out there? imagine sealed units are the way to go?
 
bruceb58

bruceb58

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30,592
Pusher said:
Bruce or anyone else, I have a question. I just ordered wire and butt connectors from that site to redo my trailer wiring. Is it beneficial to also coat your connections in grease, vaseline or some other compound, or can these cause corrosion?
Click to expand...
You don't need to add anything. They have a heat activated adhesive inside that seals everything up.

I use sealed lights where you replace the whole housing if the bulb burns out. Better to just get the same type in LED and never have to worry.
 
Pusher

Pusher

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bruceb58 said:
I use sealed lights where you replace the whole housing if the bulb burns out. Better to just get the same type in LED and never have to worry.
Click to expand...

Oh really. I wasn't aware they had something like that. I'll definitely go with LED. Is there a name for this type or just shop for sealed boat trailer lights that are "UseEm&LoseEm"?
 
mjf55

mjf55

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Jun 17, 2014
Messages
462
Well, at least we are not discussing solder vs crimp connectors anymore.:behindsofa:
 
Oshkosh1

Oshkosh1

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Joined
Jun 8, 2009
Messages
968
I know some(not only this forum) get wrinkled from topics gone wild...but hey, it's all free. If you don't want to read or participate..."click". You're now somewhere else. Yeah, most of the "What are you're opinion" type topics are usually answered correctly in the first five responses and then after that it's just a "here's what I use/do" type free for all. EVERYONE who belongs to this, or others like it KNOW that. SO WHAT? Sometimes it's the "other" stuff you read while browsing that can spark an idea. I don't mind at all. If you don't? As I said...free to come, free to go.

Shrink wrap, tape, splice, solder, glue, grease, crimp...whatever. They ALL work. Some longer than others. However, it takes me an entire 5 min to re-wire a trailer connection if it goes south. I don't spend a lot of time thinking how I can save that every 10 years so I go with what is easy, cheap and can be done with no special tools, and nothing but a knife and good electrical tape(3M...toss the HFT in the trash).

As a matter of fact, it probably took me longer to type this than if I were to splice a new 10 year spade connection!lol!
 
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