i gotta wire up my injectors to a resistor box, and i know that soldering is best. but how bad would it be if i just used butt connectors for a few days just to get my car running? i suck at soldering, have only a few days to install a kit. how long will the plastic housing on the connectors last me under the heat of the hood?

 

Its a band aid solution and you really dont want those connections to come loose. Soldering is really easy. If you are that paranoid about not being able to solder it correctly practice on a test piece of wire you then do it on the resistor box.

 

It would be funny to have those butt connectors rattle loose on the road in the middle of nowhere.

 

Or get the shirking/water-proof/solder butt connectors they use on firetrucks. They are basicly a piece of clear heat shrink, with solder in the middle, and two rings of insulation.

You stick the tube onto one part of the wire, twist the two wires together, then slide the tube back over the connection, with the solder centered on the bare wires. Heat her up with a lighter or butane gun, and walla! Water-Proof soldered connections!

Now I dunno where u get em, my buddy used to work for a place that made firetrucks, so I got an assload of em for free, if someone finds out, lemme know too!

 

It only takes a few minutes to do it right, and barely longer than to crimp on the band aid conectors. You can't be in that big of a hurry.

 

that sounds really really cool. do you know the official name of that? maybe i can find some at home depot.


and as for practicing, i suck. i think im using too much flux and the wires arent meeting right.

 

Just get rosin core solder from radio shack. You don't need flux.

Twist the wires together and heat them from behind. Then melt the solder into the TOP (don't melt the solder into the iron!). The solder will flow......

 

I have looked at home depot.. they dont have it. I am getting really low on my supply, so maybe I will just break down and call the firetruck place and ask who thier distrib is for it, maybe I can get wholesale prices thru my biz and pass on the savings to u guys

 

thanks dustin, im gonna look into that.

 

i'll take some

alarm install right now. 100% solder connections.

 

im gonna have to do that then.. i have a feeling they are gonna be spendy as hell compared to butt-connectors, which are already over priced.

 

or you can get yourself that "3rd hand tool" with the alligator clips on adjustable arms. Clip each wire, position them just right, and flow the solder.

 

You don't even need solder...actually the best connection would not use solder...there is a measureable impedance associated with solder....all you need to do is use heat shrink....just put a piece of heat shrink over one wire (past the stripped end) twist the two wires together (so they form one wire not two wires running parallel) slide the heat shrink over exposed wires adn heat with a heat gun....hair dryer will most likely not work but it might....you can also use a solder pencil to shrink the heat shrink if you are careful....

 

hmm never tried that....

 

Nothing like the smell of solder...

 

Worst advice EVER!!!

What happens when the copper corrodes? It has a higher resistance. When a crimp/twist connection is made it has the same resistance as a fresh solder joint. In 6 months the crimp/twist joint can have 10x the resistance. Learned that from a car audio source. ALWAYS SOLDER!

I don't think it has a smell cause it isn't burning. I think the smell is contaminates, burning rosin, and wire insulation. I bet that at least 2/3rds are carciogens too

-Dustin

 

From a car audio source hey? I worked as car audio installer for over a year... I worked with installers who have had YEARS of experience....How is copper gonna corrode with NO AIR?!? Heat shrink will seal it AIR TIGHT! what is it gonna corrode from? This acutally tip came from an installer who competes IASCA sound quality. If you don't know that means it is mostly based on install. He got a near perfect mark for install I tink he lost one or two points.


[Modified by reXem, 12:33 AM 6/22/2002]

 

worse comes to worse, i can try to solder. neither me nor any of my friends are pro's at it. IMO, its something that practice makes perfect. that idea of just twisting together the strands and putting heat shrink over got me thinking, but i just needed one person to shoot it down. i guess it was too good to be true. how about: butt connectors, then heat shrink over it?

im gonna fight this idea to solder til i REALLY got to!

 

soldering is sooooo easy though

can you tie your own shoes? If so, you have done something harder than soldering!

 

soldering is not hard at all man.... all u are doing is melting some metal onto a wire.. super simple

 

FINE! im actually gonna go practice on some right now. but can ya tell me whats bad about butt connectors and heat shrink?

 

Don't get me wrong here....I complete believe soldering is better but if you don't want to solder then I suggest heat shrink...you can use it over butt connectors as well...the best solution is soldering and heat shrinking....Soldering is easy but if you don't know what you are doing it could lead to complications....such as cold solders...the main thing is to have the wire "suck up" the solder....heat the wire first then touch the solder just barely to the iron then immediately to the wire (to over come the hard bit of solder from the last time) it should suck it up and spread to underneath the isulation (you will see the insulation kinda bubble from the heat)

 

see, thats another thing. im thinking i wont be able to do it right w/ no one around me to know whats right or wrong. so im feeling like im taking a risk by soldering, as ***** as that sounds.

 

I wasn't good at soldering...I had to solder the connections for the GReddy blue box Also, the injectors clips. All came out fine, I would use soldering instead of butt connectors when it's come to something like the resistor box.

 

You know what? Any good car audio shop will solder that up for you....just go to them and have them solder it for you...it shouldn't cost much.....

Just butt it first and drive to them and have them solder it


[Modified by reXem, 1:26 AM 6/22/2002]