Testing self-soldering butt joints.

The great river of commerce will provide...

What have you got to trade?

Michael Thompson

I'll give you 1 strip of Gold pressed Latinum for each of them.

a cigarette lighter will shrink and solder these

God 420

I bought a gas powered soldering iron from Aldi a while back, I haven't used it yet so I will dig it out and see if that can be used as one.

Mike Hughes

I sure miss Tandy/Radio Shack. Even worked there for a while. It was an oddball mix they carried.

Bill Kerr

Self-sealing stem bolts?

Michael Thompson

Well sort of, it seems, but things like that tend to stick in the memory. I wasn't in the SOE, but I was responsible for creating a fair bit of chaos in rural Devon as a schoolkid in the 1960s :-)

I think Tandy used to sell solder strips.

Big Clive

I guess they go back quite a time then.

Big Clive

Erk... doesn't seem to handle URLS: do a google image search for 'british army field telephony self-soldering joints' and you'll find them.

Found a photo:

When I worked for Raytheon back in the late 90ies, we used a similar but MUCH better quality with MUCH more solder. They were meant to be "applied" with an IR heat gun. Starting with the solder and working outward to the sealing rings. Very effective and very much higher quality than those you have.

Chuck Kirchner

Self Soldering...

I had some low-melting point solder years ago. It was a strip about 5mm wide and could be wrapped around a joint then heated with a match to hopefully make the connection. Most of the time it just dripped off the joint so I imagine the sleeve in these helps keep everything together.

Stephen Eyles

In days of old When men were bold and Health n Safety wasn't invented... I'm sure much more work got done than it does these days!!

Stephen Eyles

The white and red ones are great. (I have not used the other sizes though)

Ivan Hartley

butt joints

The benefit(?) is if the joint does heat due to high current, the solder should re-flow (but would it stay put?).

Dustin

You could try dipping the strands in a solder tin before shmoosing them together and seeing if that distributes the solder better. But like you said, it's still better than just the crimp which is used in most car repairs.

Mike Bird

The solder is most likely roses metal. An alloy from tin, lead and bismuth with a melting point of about 96°c or so

Leon Schutte

I go back further: something with the same idea but very different implementation was part of Army field signals kit in the 60s. No heat gun was required; they consisted of flared copper tubes containing solder, encased with the same stuff that safety match heads were made of, and packed in a striking box like a large matchbox. Using them required some skill to avoid burns or inhalation of phosphorus pentoxide smoke, but the basic principle was strip your wires, strike your self-soldering joint, shove the wires in, job done.

I recall using something similar for connecting to the screen of coaxial cable about 30 years ago.

Phil Collins

I have a little gas powered heat gun...

Chris Crowther

I can see merit in the smaller ones for low current applications- but who has a 12v or 24v heat gun in their vehicle? I own a 12v soldering iron, but have never needed it in the 20 odd years I have had it. I don't think it is something I would buy personally, but some people might find these extremely handy in an emergency.

Mike Hughes

https://images.app.goo.gl/GTvG7tLhkD8BcxbPA Found a picture. They're called Relekta Duoflux

1. I wonder if you could get these without the low temp solder, just to make a normal solder joint hermetic. 2. You could dab the wires with a flux pen before you make the joint. It might make the solder run better.

Dave Davies

I've used these for many years in the automotive industry. Würth sells these too, they are a lot better than the Chinese ones. But by far the best ones were from a company in Norway called Relekta. They had double solder bands and the heat shrink was by far the best. It could take even open flame from a storm lighter or a lighter like a mini brulee burner without burning through. Also as for the wicking, you stopped at about 80% of the heating. Hold on a bit longer and the band shape will disappear altogether from the joint. Final wicking through happens then. But it's a knifeedge for burning a hole through. After a few 1000 of these, it becomes really easy. quick and solid, waterproof joint. P.s. Start with solder and work your way out on either side. And if you have the round shield attachment for the heathen, this is where it works very well to heat his all around without need of rotating... 😊

A couple of drops of liquid flux onto the twisted copper might help give a better solder joint. Or even a short length of solder cut and shoved in to the middle of the joint just for belts and braces.

https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20books/links/sections/407%20Splices.html For those who want a visual representation of the NASA standards :)

Chris Crowther

Is anything on Wish worth the money? Serious question; my impression of it is that it basically just sells knock-off shit for dirty cheap prices.

Chris Crowther

Wish I'd known about these last year after my hedge trimmer cut through low current cables to our large outdoor water feature. I used many tools and preformed delicate surgery in the undergrowth.

Andrew Donaldson

I found a lighter tended to burn a hole in the heatshrink before the solder melted. Much better with a heatgun. Julian Ilett recently featured a battery heatgun that might be an in the field solution.

I used these to repair some vandalised LED Christmas lights. They've since worked for two Christmas seasons without trouble.

Perhaps metal band is made of something like what is used to alter SMD soldering like Chip Quick? Much lower melting point? Not great for high current loads.

Maybe antimony? It doesn't seem to wet out the copper. The joint likely has a higher resistance that lead based solder and would get hot at the wire's full rated amperage. Side note. I never use solder on automotive wiring, a habit I got working on boats. Solder makes a hard point on a wire that can work harden and fail given constant vibration.

Bill Kerr

NASA had a standard for this: twist wire strands, then interwrap the strand bunches inline before soldering. Eh, sounds like work. I hear spot welding is best.

Mike Page

Wood's metal is used as a low temperature solder. Approximately 50% bismuth, melts at 70c or 158F.

Mark Trombley

Mine were added to an order from a generic Chinese seller, so I'll guess they're not the best.

Big Clive

For completeness I would like to know how they affect the resistance of the cable, I can't imagine the siemens value of that alloy is anywhere near copper, I would imagine that putting it under load would create a hot spot which would quickly cause the joint to fail. This is where the mechanical crimps have a bit of an advantage, the crimping deforms the copper so there is good contact and little impact on skin effect in stranded cables. More testing please!

The Tinkering Shed

i was using these last week, luckily it was quite low current draw, it was very interesting when you cut one open and i now think that your right they need more solder in them, i have noticed that if there's too much heat the 2 ends will shrink down creating an air pocket inside and then the solder can burst through the heatshrink.... can be difficult balancing the heat of the gun outdoors as they cool as quick as they cook so to speak

Julian Butler

I'd be interested in seeing if they will smoke or burn up at 5A

NightshadeLenar

I've seen these a lot on Wish and wondered what they'd be like or worth the money - €3.80 (plus €5 for shipping). Just checked ebay - €3.47 and free shipping,

John Carr

Can i ask where you got them ? ther are good ones and really shitty ones from wish and the likes

Would love to see how they work with a lighter / torch, as a real ad hoc, in the field solution.

Adam Pátek

Next test: Clive will apply high current 😂

Use these in work all the time Clive, Great semi perminant solutions

Too funny

AESFTW

This Corona viruw has went to my heed I read that as self-isolating

CheesyChickenGran