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Old 08-31-2006, 07:51 PM   #1
LI Pets
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Profile:  1977 31' Sovereign
Riverhead , New York
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Electric wire splice on magnets

I'm getting ready to bring home my new '77 and refurbed and checked all 4 brake systems, except for one broken spring they were great.

Then I checked the two wires going to the magnet from behind the wheel.

The 2 wires were twisted with wire nuts and taped

So i cut the wire nut out to replace it with a nice butt end connector,
that isn't going to happen one wire is a 14ga and the other 18ga.

How are these connections or splices supposed to be done?

I want to redo all 4 wheels and not worry about these splices
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Old 08-31-2006, 08:04 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lipets
I'm getting ready to bring home my new '77 and refurbed and checked all 4 brake systems, except for one broken spring they were great.

Then I checked the two wires going to the magnet from behind the wheel.

The 2 wires were twisted with wire nuts and taped

So i cut the wire nut out to replace it with a nice butt end connector,
that isn't going to happen one wire is a 14ga and the other 18ga.

How are these connections or splices supposed to be done?

I want to redo all 4 wheels and not worry about these splices
I soldered mine and put shrink wrap over them.

Jim
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Old 08-31-2006, 08:06 PM   #3
lewster
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Lipets,

I'm with ya' on the but connectors. Just one more thing..............they should be sealed with heat-shrink tubing to keep them from corroding. That would make them the perfect connection. I use this method in just about all of my exposed electrical work.
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Old 08-31-2006, 08:33 PM   #4
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Sounds like a plan any suggestions on what to use to heat shrink them?
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Old 08-31-2006, 08:36 PM   #5
scottanlily
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Hello lipets,

the 14 and 18 gauge wire can be spliced with the blue butt connectors,
both will fit ,the red connectors allow 18 but too small for 14 . Seal them with liquid electrical tape ,that have it at OSH .Soldering is better ,the crimp way
is fine ,just seal the ends up ,shrink tubing as lewster says works great .
you do not want corrosion starting on the connections ,and it will if not
prevented from doing so .

Scott of scottanlily
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Old 08-31-2006, 08:47 PM   #6
LI Pets
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The blues ones were to loose on the small wire, I think I can solder them in the same time as screwing around with the connectors.
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Old 09-01-2006, 12:01 AM   #7
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Tech secret

Bob,

I'll give you a little secret that I use to join dissimilar wire sizes (but let's keep this between you and me! ) Use the smallest butt connector that will fit the largest wire. Then cut the smaller wire so you strip twice the normal amount of insulation from the end. Then fold the end on itself in half. This will give you a larger amount of strands to clamp into the butt connector, and both wires will be tight.

BTW, I use a heat gun from Harbor Freight (about $10 IIRC) for heat sealing. I also made a little curved attachment that fits over the end that directs the hot air flow all around the heat shrink tubing so you can effectively shrink it in one pass from any direction.
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Old 09-01-2006, 01:26 AM   #8
scottanlily
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Agree ,I use that special secret way almost everyday on electrical work.

Scott
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Old 09-01-2006, 06:27 AM   #9
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Splicing

One more thing that you can do is to put a tie wrap (the smallest one that you can buy) over the end of the tape wrap then coat with the liquid electrical tape. This makes an excellent environmental splice.

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Old 09-01-2006, 09:53 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lipets
Sounds like a plan any suggestions on what to use to heat shrink them?
Radio Shack has a small packet of assorted shrink wrap tubing. I also remember I coated the connection with bulb grease before I shrunk the tubing. Be sure to slide the tubing on the wire before you solder the connection.

Jim
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Old 09-01-2006, 12:04 PM   #11
overlander63
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lipets
I'm getting ready to bring home my new '77 and refurbed and checked all 4 brake systems, except for one broken spring they were great.

Then I checked the two wires going to the magnet from behind the wheel.

The 2 wires were twisted with wire nuts and taped
That is how they were sent from the factory, and as far as I know, how Airstream attaches them to this day.
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Old 09-01-2006, 12:31 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lipets
How are these connections or splices supposed to be done?
To chime in with O63, how you found them is the supposed to way. All the other ways listed above are better than what you found and are slower at replacement when it comes time to replace the magnets. And you will replace the magnets. Not really right or wrong. Just different and more secure.

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Old 09-01-2006, 12:49 PM   #13
Tom Nugler
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottanlily
Hello lipets,

the 14 and 18 gauge wire can be spliced with the blue butt connectors,
both will fit ,the red connectors allow 18 but too small for 14 . Seal them with liquid electrical tape ,that have it at OSH .Soldering is better ,the crimp way
is fine ,just seal the ends up ,shrink tubing as lewster says works great .
you do not want corrosion starting on the connections ,and it will if not
prevented from doing so .

Scott of scottanlily
Make life easy on yourself and head to the "good" auto parts store in your area. The better stocked stores have butt connectors that have a sealer coating the inside of the plastic shell.
The plastic is heat shrink material and when heated, the sealer melts, the shell shrinks and waterproofs the connection.
We've been using these at the shop for over 10 years now and I have never seen a failure of a properly spliced wire.

Tom.
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Old 09-01-2006, 01:11 PM   #14
Jim Clark
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Nugler
Make life easy on yourself and head to the "good" auto parts store in your area. The better stocked stores have butt connectors that have a sealer coating the inside of the plastic shell.
The plastic is heat shrink material and when heated, the sealer melts, the shell shrinks and waterproofs the connection.
We've been using these at the shop for over 10 years now and I have never seen a failure of a properly spliced wire.

Tom.
Marine supply stores also have this type of connector.

Jim
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