this installers take on connections

[The Car Stereo Company]

with a lot more people working on their trucks and adding lights, relays, switches, etc i figured i should post how i think is the proper way to make a connection. there are a few different ways to make an electrical connection and i will go over some of them. first up is soldering. now this is a controversal type of connection because its very easy to improperly solder wires together. this first pic is how i see many people solder. they tin both sides of the wires and then melt the solder between the two wires while the wires are touching. i purposely half assed the job because this is a typical type of solder connection i see when this is done this way. as seen in pic #2. a lot of times people will try to solder and since they are connected, think it will hold. however just having the solder as the "mortar" holding these two wires together, is not a solid connection and the solder can break causing the wires to seperate.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

now im going to show you how i solder. it makes for a much better connection and much less risk of having a bad solder joint. first up, i stip back a little more wire. this is about 1/2 or 5/8 in. then i flare out the wires as seen in the second pic. i intertwine the wires (pic#3) then twist them togetherwith the ends of the wires on each end, effectivley making a barrel. then solder the wires allowing for enough solder to absorb into the wire

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

this is what it looks like when its done. then you can use heat shrink or whatever you are using to insulate it.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

when connecting to a wire in the truck with solder and you dont want to cut the wire this is how i do it. first need the right tool. these wire cutters/strippers have an adjustable nut which allows you to cut the insulation without cutting the wire. i cut the insualtion about 3/4 in apart from each other. then i use a razor blade to cut the insulation out inbetween. next i take the tip of the blade and seperate the wire strands in half. i will take whatever wire im adding and feed it through the opening i just made

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

continued.... can only upload a few pics at a time.....

next up i twist the wires together again and solder just like i would normally. then you can insulate however you want. typically with this, since you cant add heat shrink, i use liquid electrical tape and then once dry, go over a second coat and then use the tessa tape designed for outside. (not the cloth tessa tape)

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

butt connectors/spade/bullet connectors

the biggest issue with these connectors is where you crimp them. if you look at any wire end on any vehicle, you will see a crimp type connector, however not butt connectors but its a crimp style none the less. so using butt connectors will work fine, but it needs to be done the right way. first up is a standard butt connector. i used the yellow so its easier to see. what people dont realize is that most of these have a seam down the length of it and if improperly crimped, will split the seam and the wire will fall out. you can kind of see the seam on the red one if you zoom in. so what happens is the seam splits as you can see in the pic. i use a set of klein crimpers and if you look it has the toooth on one side. i always put that tooth opposite of the seam of the butt connector. pic #1 shows what im talking about

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

the best way to avoid having a bad connection with a butt connector is to buy seamless ones, but not everyone knows this.

marine butt connectors....

they are the same as a normal butt connector, but have heat shrink and gel that activate when heated.

after making the crimp connections heat it with a heat gun to shrink the insulation. now there is one downfall to this and that is the a lot of times the insulation will break at the crimp point so you may have to tape the holes

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

if you look closely where my pick is, you can see the gel that gets activated when heated.

spade, bullet connectors, and ring terminals all have a seam so make sure to keep the seam away from the tooth of the crimpers.

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

4ga and larger ring terminals can be fun. if you dont have this

then you arent out of luck. you can use your handy klein crimpers, or equivelent. first step is to crimp it down then i crimp it sideways

this has worked for me very well . you just need to make sure you get a lot of force on it

 

[The Car Stereo Company]

molex/duetche connectors. once again need the right crimper for the job.

same as a crimp connecrion, strip back enough wire to fit the pin

the last set of prongs need to go into the insulation of the wire. the smaller prongs go into the wire itself. as thats what hold the connection together

i usually start with the insulation crimp first. but it doesnt matter where you start. its easier for me this way though

then I crimp the smaller prongs onto the wire

depending on you connector, you may or may not have a waterproof rubber seal. mine does.

then just slide it into the molex plug

as requested, heres a little more info on theopen barrel connectors. (duetsch/molex/weatherpack)

when using these crimpers and the types of connections, make sure you test fit befor actually crimping. the pin has flared metal tabs that form a "V". one where it crimps the wire (he smaller tabs) for connection and one where the tabs lock the insulation (the larger tabs) of the wire. place it in the crimper and check fitment to see which one you will want to use.

place the pin in the crimpers so it looks like this. you will see the tabs on the pin touch the part of the crimpers where it starts to narrow

as you crimp down on the pin, the tabs start to curl over. below you can see as it hits the end of the crimper. the shape of the crimper will force the tabs to the right shape

here it is fully crimped.

when crimping the end of the pin, the tabs that cut into the insulation of the wire, its the same process

the tabs get bent inward

and then the shape of the crimpers force the tabs over

and finally done

since there is no wire in the pin, it did not shape perfectly since there was nothing there to provide the resistance for the pin to crimp around. it kinda caved in on itself. if there was a wire there, it would have been perfect shape. however i cant hold the pin, the wire, the crimpers and the camera all at the same time. i will try to find some help and repost a picture, however in the above post you can see it

here is a close up of the crimpers i use. pay close attention to the shape and how the pins are set in when you crimp

and a shot of the entire tool