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Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 10:34 am
by sbebenelli
I'm just wondering how others go about repairing something like this. Are you soldering, using crimp connectors or what?

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 11:11 am
by Rich
We soldier and heat shrink.

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 11:40 am
by nickscarcare
Solder and heat shrink! Defintly the best way to make sure it holds as long as you don't get a cold solder joint.

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 11:41 am
by sbebenelli
Rich wrote:We soldier and heat shrink.
Do you use any type of cleaner or acid on the wire before soldering? What kind of solder do you use?

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 11:42 am
by Tim Martin
I usually will use the connectors from Standard that are solder and heat shrink in one piece. The one problem in a situation like seen in the above photo is that the connections take up more space than does the wire itself and tends to bulge out of the wire loom. Not a big issue in most cases but can be somewhat unsightly for some of us that try an take pride in our work.

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 12:04 pm
by Rich
sbebenelli wrote:
Rich wrote:We soldier and heat shrink.
Do you use any type of cleaner or acid on the wire before soldering? What kind of solder do you use?
Not 100% sure. I have seen them cut out the bad spots and replace the bad portion of the wires. I have not had to order anything to clean the wires, or acid, so I ASSUME we use nothing before we soldier them.

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 12:18 pm
by brianp87
Tim Martin wrote:I usually will use the connectors from Standard that are solder and heat shrink in one piece. The one problem in a situation like seen in the above photo is that the connections take up more space than does the wire itself and tends to bulge out of the wire loom. Not a big issue in most cases but can be somewhat unsightly for some of us that try an take pride in our work.

We stagger them to help with the added size. But we also solder and shrink all of them. The only time we have to clean may be battery ut we use a bg acid cleaned and water for that or cut away the acid and extend.

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Fri Nov 22, 2013 1:19 pm
by ricmorin
The best connection is a good crimp, but because you have so many injuries so close together, solder and shrink is the way to go.

Re: Best Way To Repair Wire

Posted: Sat Nov 23, 2013 3:01 am
by steven kiser
The broken wires I cut back and replace in sections. I also stagger and use weatherproof crimps. The damaged or chafed ones I use a special tape that you take a piece off the roll, peel the plastic protector off of it and stretch it. A one inch piece will stretch to three or four. When you stretch it there is a chemical reaction that starts and the tape will actually get warm. Wrap it around the chafed piece and it will melt together forming a nice tight weatherproof seal. For years I've been taking harness out of vehicles I send to the salvage yards. Now I'm selective since I have miles of wire but I go to these harnesses and cut out what I need and am able to cover 90% of the colors and gauge. I always take pride in wiring and want anyone that opens it up and looks at it to see a professional job. I even take pride in how it's wrapped before I put it back into the loom. As a reminder that the harness was repaired I make sure we wrap the loom with a piece of white electrical tape. I've had times that a repair needed to be revisited because a chafed wire was missed or a splice went bad and something isn't working.