Solder Seal Wire Connectors - Are They Any Good? - Was I Wrong?

Last year we put out a video reviewing the solder seal connectors we picked up from Facebook marketplace and got a lot of heat from YouTube for what we said. We figured we give them another shot, so here it goes.
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[necrosbowen]

if you want more of the penetration and yet maintain the simplicity but make it even better. put flux on the strands before you use the solder seal or the knock off. that will allow the solder to flow much better and quicker giving a much better flow and joint

[OzarkTroutBum]

I use LOTS of connectors on my 36' hot shot gooseneck. I pull it all over the US and through every road and weather condition you can imagine. The connections are exposed to constant corrosion and movement from trailer bouncing. I used crimp on connecters for years and what I found was the crimp style would re-break right at the crimp within a few months. I even tried double shrink wrapping a few inches long to help support the wire connection and always the break was at the crimped section. Mind you most of my work was done in rest areas and truck stop parking lots.

Switched to this style and use a butane torch and the re-breaking issue is gone. What I do is strip a decent length on both pieces and slide the connecter over one, twist the wires together and center the connector before heating.

[RoostChucker]

The fact that you can solder and waterproof a connection one handed is priceless in my life. I don't think full penetration of the solder is required in most situations either, although I can certainly think of a few. If you aren't seeing any resistance in the connection it comes down to how durable the connection is and this design is looking pretty damn good.

[TheIronDuke]

Hello, At the facility where I retired from, We had a vendor demo some of these type connectors which the person making the presentation cooled off the connector and offered the connector to one of us to pull apart. We routinely used the seamless butt connectors crimped with crimping pliers along with the heavy walled self adhesive heat shrink tubing which worked very well for the type of wiring that was performed on our trucks & equipment.
There was absolutely no benefit in changing the type of connectors from what really worked for us to the Solder Seal type connectors.
I think that you were more than fair with your presentations regarding the connectors and very willing to change your approach when being criticized. Thanks for your informative videos.

[dougalshort]

One thing that's often overlooked in this type of video, is a discussion regarding access to the area to be repaired. A repair completed on a work bench is always going to easier than a repair in the field. I recently discovered a bunch of wires were chewed through on my Yamaha outboard. Ideally, I would have soldered them and then used a heat shrink tube over that. However, given the tight quarters, it wasn't possible to properly twist the wires together to solder. I could do it "well-enough" for a solder seal connector. All the same, great video! Thanks!

[MoParRus]

Good video. I just got some of the “knock offs” through Amazon. Only after that did I run across your video. Your first review of the knock offs didn’t seem to flow the solder. I just tried one of mine and used the torch. Mine flowed so well it actually had a small bead come out the end. I believe if you tried one of the first knock offs and applied good heat your results would be more favorable. I cut mine open and tried the stress test. Guess what. It simply pulled apart! And that solder was really melted! Which tells me the solder melts but the strands don’t get hot enough to bond to the solder. My assessment is these are junk. I’ll stick to hand soldering and shrink tubing.

[nickallain]

I know that it's been over a year, but I appreciate you going back and doing this test again. I was one of those commenters, the friendly but questioning type, who poked a few holes in the technique and the particular versions that you were using. I've had okay results with some of the knockoffs but also do prefer finding better ones. When you're upside down under a dashboard, these are a way better option than trying to solder against gravity. I actually wouldn't compare them to soldering directly, I compare them to using cheap butt connectors or other second rate splices from the hardware store. In that case, these come out way on top.

[Crypto_B_]

If you want to do a proper measurement to check for resistance across the different methods you will need to put a load through the connection and measure voltage drop across the connection. The higher the voltage drop measured across the joint, the higher the resistance in the joint. Can be calculated by the measured amps and volts. R=v/a (ohm’s law)
Hope this helps. Would love to see the results.

[LTVoyager]

When I was still working as an engineer and project manager, the old saying was Quality, Cost and Time, you only get to pick two. These solder sleeves save time, but at the sacrifice of both cost and quality. If cost and quality don’t matter to you and you just want a quick joint, than have at it. I won’t use these for any connection that really matters. For a quick and dirty connection on something I plan to sell within a year, then maybe.

[theoldhobbit]

Its great to see Youtubers really take note of comments and go out to address some of the issues, thank you for taking the time to do this. I play in the amateur radio world and spend a lot of my time out in the field portable. If I have a power line break, or any other simple wire break, then I have used the all on one jobs no problems. The pull test shows that there is bonding within the joint, but the amount of pulling shown on your video will never happen in my case but a really good example of what can be achieved. The other area they are really handy is in confined spaces. If I have to put a power lead through the bulkhead, rather than deconstruct the plug, just snip the wires and quickly join them again, easy. Great vlog and again, thanks for sharing.

[ccdmike]

We were trained to do that but I took to it right away. We always got inspections of our work and I never had a reject. We used the standard industrial heat gun.

[clintprice]

Watching the video on the solder seal link from your video it’s stating to use a hot air gun only as a heat source. Watching another you tuber, he pushed the wires into each other and did not twist before applying heat and seemed to get great penetration.
People in the comments of many you tube channels get nasty as people have power for the moment. It was nice to see you revisit the topic and try again. I think these items are a nice alternative provided they can keep a proper seal and not let corrosion into the joint. Nice video.

[jeffmcleod]

Thanks for your humility to do a "partial redemption video." I didn't see the original one as I've just discovered solder seal. Seriously considering it for my Techs doing Church and School AVL installs.

[mikewest]

Just wired my boat with these and heat shrink. Rosin core flux and thin diameter solder wrapped around your splice help these out tremendously. The cheap ones i got off Amazon just simply didnt have enough soder for a proper connection.

[bryanbrant]

I appreciate the heads up on your update. This is much closer to what my experience has been using these. I mainly started using them because the majority of the wiring I do is in cars with extremely limited access. After getting better at it I generally use these for most applications now because it saves a few steps by not having to solder and then follow up with heat shrink. The only time I go for traditional solder now is when using thicker gauge wire as I've found that these things melt before the solder actually flows.
Either way, great follow up and update!

[lindeleasley]

I remember trying these things out about 45 years ago, when I was still in the Air Force. We were given quite a few of them to try in the shop. All of us were impressed, and saw great potential in them. We used heat guns to melt the solder/shrink the wrap. Never had an issue with continuity, and the speed of use, compared to soldering wires together could make or break an aircraft performing it's mission.

[pezpengy]

im a farmer. in the places i have to join two happy electrode highways i dont have the benefit of plug-in electrical power. ive been using these on boats, trailers, my trucky, farm equipment, security systems, etc. etc. so far so good, plus its easy to use.

[lloyd-qtmg]

Thanks for your super detailed video - one observation however: when measuring resistance through a joint, keep your fingers away from the wires and DVOM leads....why? Your body has a large resistance and so your measurement will be inaccurate.
If the joint is correctly soldered there must be NO/MINIMUM resistance recorded . Happy day!

[smartchip]

You need a low resistance ohm meter and also a load test,

For comprehensive test and inspect, purposes,

[lucferblack]

Im a motorbike rider and i used to carry a small bag with a solder iron flux heat shrink and solder just in case it was ever needed. I found my gas soldering iron would be empty when eventually i pulled it out the bike for other jobs this lead to me carrying a can of gas as well. I was recently given a pack of these by a mechanic and instead of carrying a small bag i carry a small mint tin with a mix of these and a mini blowtorch lighter. I ride a honda st1300 which is super reliable so the tools and bits i carry are usually in case a mate breaks down