Heat Shrink comes in different types
PVC
Polyolefin
Teflon
ECT.
The cheapest is PVC
The Polyolefin is much better, this is also available with an adhesive
linner. This material 110c heat shrinkable that is co-extruded and
selectively crosslinked to provide an integral, meltable inner wall.
When heated to 135c the inner meltable wall is softened and forced to by the
shrinking to make full contact with all underlying surfaces. Once cooled it
makes a very good seal to moisture, chemicals and solvents.
One of my major accounts for this material is Blue Bird Bus and Volvo Truck.
Volvo uses the 3M product for ALL connections on the front lights and other
harness under the hood.
The 3M product number for those of you that are interested is MW or EPS-200
which is a two to one shrink ratio or EPS-300, EPS-400 with the respective
shrink ratios.
It's not cheap like the PVC but it sure makes a good connection.
-----Original Message-----
From: David A. Templeton [mailto:davidt@opentext.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 9:17 AM
To: John & Tracy Knox; spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Soldering wire
Okay I need to add 2cents as well. On all of my crimp connections I use
heat-shrink tubing to ensure a very watertight seal. Being down this road
many times over the last 15 years the extra cost of adding the heat-shrink
has been well worth it. Besides it makes for a very professional looking
finish.
When I changed the alternator in the spit I used crimp & heat shrink tubing,
very nice. There is something to beware of, there is a new kind of crimp
where the outer casing is heat-shrinkable. I used some of these and found
them to be 'okay' but once cool the casing tended to be a little brittle and
some have cracked. They have since been replaced with regular crimp and
tubing.
My recommendation for the crimp method is to use the regular crimp and a
separate heat-shrink tube. Then you can control the length of the tube for
coverage. Using the tubing does seem to take a little practice as to not
cook too much, shrink one side to fast, not enough tube etc ( ask me how I
know :-) ). But it is not hard.
As for connections I can solder I do and then cover then in heat shrink
tubing. Hey if I solder, I want a permanent connection right?
Good luck in any case
David A. Templeton
Open Text Corp.
Waterloo, ON
Canada
WebSite: http://trandmustang.homestead.com
'74 Triumph SpitSix
'66 Ford Mustang (Wife's)
'66 Ford Mustang GT
'59 Triumph TR3a (Project)
'99 GMC Safari
'95 GMC K2500 Sierra
----- Original Message -----
From: "John & Tracy Knox" <jknox@erie.net>
To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 6:59 AM
Subject: Re: Soldering wire
>
> The problem that I have had with crimp connectors is that they tend to
> corrode over time or wiggle loose. If they are properly sized for the
wire
> they might be fine. What I usually see are the big blue ones crimped on
> little wires. They will work loose. The other thing that crimp on
> connectors tend to do is cut the strands if put on too tight. This will
> also lead to premature failure. The outside strands are cut and this
allows
> the inside strands to just slip out. Now with solder connections for wire
> to wire I put the wire together with a I think it is called a Western
Union
> splice, wrap wire one around wire 2 and wrap wire 2 around wire 1, place
the
> soldering iron on the small parallel spot in the middle of the joint, and
> heat the wires. Allow solder to soak into wires. Solder will be sucked
> into the wires once it is hot enough. Now you have me on the 50 years
later
> point. My connections haven't been around that long!
>
> John
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marcus Schaper <mschaper@gvpt.umd.edu>
> To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 9:59 PM
> Subject: RE: Soldering wire
>
>
> >
> > I have to jump in on this one. Soldering is a good idea whenever you
> connect wire to a non-moving object (like a PCB) or two non-moving objects
> together. But I do think that soldering is not appropriate for wire to
wire
> connections in cars.
> >
> > Have you ever worked on the wiring in VW beetle from the 50s? By now all
> the solder has oxidized broken loose, solder joints have broken off, and
it
> is just a big mess. Each time I work on one of these I wished they had
just
> crimp connections - even the two-way bullet connectors for the Spit
> headlights are superior to deteriorating soldered connections.
> >
> > Do not use solder to join strands of wire together that go under a screw
> terminal. The solder is too soft and the wires will work loose eventually
> (one of the VW problems).
> >
> > If you do not want to crimp - and they are reasons for doing this - use
> screw terminals, like Euro Barrier strips (Radio Shack has them).
> >
> > And now if you still do want to solder: the right way to do it is:
> >
> > 1. Heat up one wire, than let solder melt on it (the wire, not the
iron),
> make sure it soaks through
> > 2. Do the same thing for the other wire, or the part it is supposed to
go
> on.
> > 3. Now join the two presoldered part and touch them with the iron so
that
> the solder in both parts melts into one piece.
> >
> > Remember, you want to solder the parts together not glue them with
solder.
> If you are done and it still looks like to separate parts - heat it up
again
> and redo it.
> >
> > Marcus
> > (certified Radio- and TV-technician)
> >
> > >>> "Simmons, Reid W" <reid.w.simmons@intel.com> 7/12/00 20:02:29 >>>
> >
> > No it truly isn't rocket science but about half of all those I have
> > encountered in the workplace over the years who have been trained and
> > believe they can solder produce some really awful results.
> >
> > Although I never personally liked wire-wrap it did prove to be superior
to
> > soldering and properly done crimps can be too especially when compared
to
> > bad soldering.
> >
> > Reid
> > '79 Spitfire (original owner)
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: John & Tracy Knox [mailto:jknox@erie.net]
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 4:27 PM
> > To: spitfires@autox.team.net
> > Subject: Soldering wire
> >
> >
> >
> > Just saw the post and had to reply. Soldering wire is not rocket
science.
> > I can show anyone how to solder in a couple of minutes. Heck, the
> > directions in most soldering irons are pretty good. I see way too many
> > crimp on connectors. Or the even worse squeeze EZ connectors. If the
> wires
> > are worth putting together for more than five minutes it's best to just
> > solder them.
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> >
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