Butt splice connector to join 10 gauge to 12 gauge wire?

Skibane wrote:
I bought an assortment of shrink butt splices, just to see how well they work - Never could get a really solid connection out of them, no matter how much heat I applied.

Skibane,

Don't feel bad, I got called to an owner's boat by a friend of his. Instructions were,"Look at everything he did and fix it. I will cover your cost." I had done some work for this owner, but he thought my bill was too high. He had just done a bunch of installation of new electronics and it was all flaky and intermittent. He had seen me use the heat shrink terminals and connectors but had missed that I crimped then before shrinking. I guess he didn't notice the tooth mark in the connections. They problem ones were easy to find, all I had to do was pull on the wire.

It took me all afternoon to get it right. Said friend assured me that I got it right and told the owner what had happened.

Matt

Skibane wrote:

Desert Captain wrote:
I like the heat shrinks but they are hard to find and have always had good results with just properly crimping.

I bought an assortment of shrink butt splices, just to see how well they work - Never could get a really solid connection out of them, no matter how much heat I applied.

You still have to crimp heat shrink butt splices, then apply the heat to shrink the tubing.. The big difference in this type of splice is the heat shrink tubing has a heat activated adhesive that liquefies with heat and creates a moisture resistant seal around the wire insulation when the tubing and adhesive cools.

You can also simply buy standard crimp butt splices and separate heat shrink tubing with the adhesive.. This way you can use the heat shrink tubing with adhesive on other things besides the butt splices. Might be even cheaper that way in the end.

Desert Captain wrote:
I like the heat shrinks but they are hard to find and have always had good results with just properly crimping.

I bought an assortment of shrink butt splices, just to see how well they work - Never could get a really solid connection out of them, no matter how much heat I applied.

Yes, the 10/12 means the connector can be used for those gauge sizes.

However, do not use these



to make the crimps.. Pliers just smash things and the result is a very lousy connection that will fail quickly..

Instead use one of these if you must crimp..



Found HERE for $12 Have never had a crimp made with that tool fail.

Have however had to fix a lot of failed crimps that folks used pliers on.

Just use the 10/12 yellow butt connecters {either end will work}. I like the heat shrinks but they are hard to find and have always had good results with just properly crimping. If you don't get the heat shrink connector then complete every crimp job by sliding some heat shrink over the connection.

It is a good idea to keep and assortment of connectors, butts, rings, spade, bullet etc. along with a quality crimping tool as part of your tool collection that travels in your rig. Having wire in the more common gauges of various lengths can be a game changer as well.

:C

Yes that means it fits both size wire. But get a good crimper for a solid connection.
And yes get some good heat shrink with the sealant inside of it to make it weatherproof.