Solder seal wire connector / Test & review

In this video I test & review solder seal wire connectors, also known as heat shrink wire connectors.
if you need to splice wires and don't have or want to use a solder gun then you want to watch this.
Although not new to the market, they are an often overlooked option for the Do it yourself type or even a pro when splicing wires.
They look like a great idea, but do they pass the test ?

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[marclamoureux]

Finally a complete test. All the others just looked at them and decided if they liked it or not, just a visual! Good job Brian!

[stevenbrace]

I just picked some of this up. One test I did myself was to put one end in a vice and pull the other. I was unable to break the wire at the joint by just pulling with a fair amount of force. But with the same amount of force I added the heat back on the joint and it did give at the joint. Which may be expected. But it may show that with the “low heat solder” you may want to keep in mind that if you are using these in an application where heat may be introduced to the joint it could weaken it. Regardless I think they are a decent option. As he found in his testing they are much better than a crimp connector and they seem to fall somewhere in the middle on effectiveness.

[jlparsons]

Very useful to see these strength tested, thanks! I use them to splice cctv cables and automotive where the cable isn't going to see much strain. In either event I take a good length of heavy duty adhesive-lined shrink tube and apply over the top (I give about 4cm of clearance either side) to give some extra strength, extra waterproofing and make them look tidy. If you splice an 8-core CAT5e cable using the smallest diameter solder connectors and stagger them in pairs, then cover with a good length of heavy duty adhesive lined heat shrink to match the cable colour, the signal degradation is no worse than an inline RJ45 connector and from only a few feet away you have to look carefully to even see that they've been joined.

[palco]

…...short of towing a trailer with a 10 gauge sold, Heat shrink solder butt connectors are great...….I now use them all the time in tight work place situations.Great video, by the way, thanks !

[bigmikeatl]

I’d like to see conductivity tests and comparisons

[flyingdutchman]

They work exceptionally well on marine tinned wire with as little wire stripped as possible. I only strip about 1.5mm (1/16 inch) more wire than the width of the solder rings. Of course not everyone needs to use marine tinned wire, but I hope this comment might help other's like me who do need to use it.

[AMC-eqjr]

Very useful demonstration and information. Thanks for sharing.

[davidrobinson]

in the demonstrations Ive seen for these, they use a heat gun with a more focused nozzle. maybe thats why you didn't get good flow of the solder.

[gplans]

Not that I have used the solder seals to date nor do I have a dog in the race, but I would point out that i would expect that each of the true solder joins to be stronger. With each one you have and will introduce more solder material creating greater surface to surface area and bond. Thanks for the test, it does look like the solder seal wire connector will do the job, and thanks for the heads up on the mini torch.

[hardlyb]

I found this useful. I haven't tried them yet, but I wanted to be able to splice extension cords for running lights outside, and have some expectation that if they get a little wet they won't blow a fuse. Based on this and another video where someone put a joint in salt water for a while, I think they'll be fine.

[johngagne]

Indeed . . I came to the same conclusion. They are good enough

[rayvojtash]

If that green mat wasn't so clean I would've thought you were in AvE's shop.

[Shawn-rqpy]

Around 5:20 and 7:04 you talk about the solder not going all the way through the wire.
I noticed when you put the wires together you made a twist in them. Which may work well w regular solder methods but for the connectors I believe you’re just supposed to push the wires together, pinch them to line Up any stray wires then put the connector on. Then the solder will melt and seep into the wire joint making a strong connection.
At least that’s what my instructions said to do. Not sure how much it would really matter but to me it makes sense. I’ve never tested them like this but the place I use the wires there isn’t any worry of pulling on the wire

[HouseDoctorRay]

Nice comparison. I'll be waiting for your exposure to the elements follow-up.

[gmoose]

I suggest the resulst of the low temp solder would be better with tinned copper wire using plain wire is like soldering without flux.nAlso if you are wiring with that much tension on the wire you are doing it wrong

[washingtonstatepicker]

Thanks for this test! I bought these, have not used any yet. Just played with them.

[richardwoodurff]

Would adding a small dab of flux to the wire before you insert the ends into the solder help flow more?

[BIGxJIMxSLADE]

Great video. I'm not sure if your sample did, but the ones I just got also have "hot glue" in the sleeve. I am planning to use these for rewiring the inside of my boat. So, for me, seal is more important than strength.

[benc]

It seems that others have complained of the solder not flowing through completely. What if you dipped the wire ends in your soldering paste (flux) prior to smushing them together and twisting. It would seem that the flux would help the solder to flow more completely through all the wire. Just spit balling here.

[danielWakefield]

Wonder if some flux would improve the joint