splicing two wires together

I am thinking about replacing a broken dimmer switch on my panel. At home, I would use a wire nut to connect the two wires. Should I use the plastic shrink material to splice the connection? If so, how do you shrink the plastic around the spilced wire connection? Is a small wire nut acceptable?

Re: splicing two wires together

Use crimped butt connector with heat shrink over it.

Good Luck.

Re: splicing two wires together

the best is to bare both end slip a piece of shrink tube on and then solder. i think i would use a crimp style butt conector befor a wire nut.
i have a small pencil torch that uses lighter fluid. i have used to solder and shrink tube. a heat gun is best for shrinking and in a pinch i have gotten buy with a butane cigarette lighter.

Re: splicing two wires together

soldering, then shrink tube is best. but they do make marine sta-con connectors that have gooey stuff on the inside of the insulator. it's basically a butt connector w/ thick shrink tube instead of plastic as the insulator... they seem to work well...... kinda pricey though.......

Re: splicing two wires together

phwrd said:

Use crimped butt connector with heat shrink over it.

Good Luck.

Click to expand...

I second this.
Before shrink wrapping, I put a dab of silicon in either end of the butt connector. This ensures it is watertight.

Re: splicing two wires together

My preference would be to solder and then shrink tube over the soldered connection.

Re: splicing two wires together

for home wiring yes just use a wire nut

Re: splicing two wires together

For stranded wire type splices, the butt wire connectors work fine for me.
Just use the right color/size for the wires you are splicing. I make the crimp
on the metal splice tab directly, and then just snap the plastic over it.
I fill in the sides with silicone, too.

Re: splicing two wires together

Coast Guard Regs specify mechanical connections for wires. So the proper connection is a crip connector. The type with sealer in the ends will work well, or just press some silicone or liquid electical tape in the ends.

But soldering is a no-no. Even though logic would indicate it makes the best connection.

Re: splicing two wires together

Thanks for all your suggestions. I guess it's time to invest in a heat gun as all I have at home is a butane torch for sweating copper plumbing joints. Putting a torch near a lot of dash wires seems too risky to me.

Re: splicing two wires together

3M makes a nice little connector that has Vaseline or some other goo in it
You put in the 2 wires and flip it closed,
then a little lock goes over the connection and it's sealed

Re: splicing two wires together

I remember a few years ago the "Solder VS Crimp" discussions got pretty hot. Someone was able to explain why crip connections were what the CG wanted, but I really don't remember.

When I put all new wiring in my MFG, I used crip on connections on everything, including the spade ends that are used with a terminal block.

Because my boat is used in salt water, I used tinned copper wire (as per regs) and painted all the exposed screws on the terminal block with liquid electrical tape. What a pain. The liquid tape tended to drip down into my face while I lay upside down under the dash. After about 15 minutes of making a mess, I decided to skip painting every exposed screw connection I could find.

Coast Guard boat building regs are really for manufacturers, but if you read it, they suggest that home boat builders follow them too. Can't hurt to make as much of your boat meet regulations as you can. I know I feel better knowing I did as much as possable to follow the regulations, even sometimes it was a real pain in the butt, like when I put in a permanent gas tank. Special hose clamps, mounts, anti-siphon valves, fule filters, bonding straps, marine grade filler hose and gas line hose, and on and on.