How to: wires too thin for crimping?

[mascip]

Hi,

I'm working on a boat, not on a car, but the problem is the same. I have these led lights with extremely small wire. I am trying to connect them to thicker supply cables (1.5mm2). I could solder it but was told that soldering is not reliable on vehicles, as the vibrations will make break the solder over time.

I have tried folding the light's very thin wire over itself, then crimping a ferrule connector on top, and then crimping a butt connector on top of that. But when I crimp the butt connector on top it often breaks the ferrule connector, so it's not a reliable solution.

Which solution is best? Soldering? Any other idea?

 

[Octopus]

Why are you lengthening the cables - lots of LED's don't like long cables.

 

[mascip]

I'm not trying to lengthen the LED lights cables. I'm trying to connect them to a thicker cable which is my supply cable. Sorry, I didn't make that clear, will edit my first post.

 

[davesparks]

A properly soldered and insulated joint will be absolutely fine


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[Richard Burns]

Have you tried the wago 221 lever action connectors, these can accommodate a cable down to 0.14mm² and can connect the 1.5mm².
They should not work free on vibration, but you may need to check the specs on that, but it seem the simplest solution.

 

[davesparks]

Have you tried the wago 221 lever action connectors, these can accommodate a cable down to 0.14mm² and can connect the 1.5mm².
They should not work free on vibration, but you may need to check the specs on that, but it seem the simplest solution.

I wouldn't be inclined to trust them in a damp atmosphere of a boat.

I've used them on the landrover for temporary connections, and they've not fared too well whilst awaiting a permanent fix (it's only been since the last firework season)

 

[Marvo]

I'm sure soldering would be a good joint but obviously it can make things difficult for future maintenance and testing because it's permanent. We use bootlace ferrules as small as 0.25mm sq and they may even be available in smaller sizes than that. Maybe you could use a properly crimped bootlace ferrule on the thin wire first then put the ferrule and thicker supply wire into a Wago connector although I'm not sure if they're officially designed for this....

 

[PEG]

Given the application,i would simply solder,and use adhesive heat shrink,not forgetting to secure the subsequent "lump",of two finished connections,where a likely movement would eventually cause failure of the thin conductors.

 

[mascip]

Thank you everyone

It's going to be solder + glue-lined heat shrink then, with an additional heat shrink on top of the two connections.

Wago connectors won't work in this case because the connections are in sight in the room, so it has to look neat.

I was told to not use solder connections because of the vibrations, but maybe this applies primarily around the engine, where everything vibrates a lot.

 

[rich.250]

Why would you put a ferrule inside a butt crimp??
Just double over the small flex and put it straight in the butt crimp then heat shrink it.


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[mascip]

rich.250 this worked perfectly. Simple and efficient. "How did I not think about this"? Thank you so much.