I have to split a couple of cables, but have become to paranoid to just rat-tail.
Currently poorfag so can't get a soldering iron but I have a hotglue gun and a shit ton of self-vulcanizing tape.
How safe would that be in the long term?
>>1017789
Depends on what is going through the wire, if you're running a light with a double A battery it's probably safe. If you're running an audio system in your car it very well could catch on fire. If the cables ever separate enough they can arc and cause a fire(or if there's flammable vapors it could cause a flash over or explosion).
What I'm getting at is that there's no way to know if it's safe unless we know what the application is.
I can tell you that it won't work as well as you think it will. If nothing else the glue will eventually become more plyable as it gets older and it won't hold as tightly. And hot glue doesn't like to cling to copper anyways, it will but not as well as fabrics and paper.
What you want to get are crimp connectors, butt connectors, or at the very least wire nuts. But crimp connectors have been used to bond stranded wire for years in applications where soldering would be near impossible or too time consuming, or where there will be a lot of vibrations(personal boats for example).
Hot glue will work as well as electrical tape will, the reason people use it on circuit boards is for stress relief, so if the wire moves it's not putting as much strain on the solder joint, but I personally don't think that's necessary. I've never needed to do that.
And you can get a soldering iron for $10 that'll do an excellent job bonding wires together. It's not intricate work.
>>1017808
Simple on desk lamps. And a laptop charger.
On one of the lamps I twinned the strands individually, applied a good layer of hot glue, twin two layers of vulk tape on each cable, apply another layer of glue in between the cables and then two more layers of vulk around the finished cable. On a scale 1-10 how safe does that sound?
Yeah I have been soldering before but the iron broke a couple of months ago and now I'm almost scraping pennies just for good (lot of paid dept last month)
hot glue? why? how does that make any sense? cheap electrical tape alone would be safer and less costly.
>>1017817
Heard it's a good wire insulate
>>1017815
not safe, like AT ALL, the "joint" if it is not soldered will get old, oxidize, resistance build up, leading to heat build up, and one day your heavily protected ball of insulation will catch fire because it is hot inside
how long until this happen, no one knows, but between this and a $15 soldering iron, the choice is easy
>>1017833
With that logic wouldn't ALL copper cables jointed or not build up resistance? Sense the cables run free with isolation only. Also wirenuts and crimp connections are considered safe without the solder.
>>1017837
>Also wirenuts and crimp connections are considered safe without the solder.
they apply enough force to cold-weld the joint and keep oxidation out.
Also, not all of the world considers nuts/crimps safe.
>>1017815
Like, mains side? Hell no. I thought you meant like cell phone chargers or other bull. Replace the cable, that simple. Best case scenario you blow a fuse or trip a breaker, or the wire outside the wall burns up and burns out before spreading. Worst case scenario is your house is up in flames. Something capable of sending that much power over a wire that will likely be moved several times is not something you want to half ass. What you're talking about doing is the equivalent of putting a bandage over something that needs to be stitched, it may work but if it doesn't the results could be devistating.
At the very minimum for this, they make these push down connectors, they're enclosed in plastic, you insert the wire in both ends and press it down. It creates a very stable connection between the wires themselves as well as the piece that clamps them. Use those, they're rated for 110v, you can get them at a big box store next to the wire nuts and various other connectors. Cut the wire to different lengths so they're not setting right next to each other, then wrap in electrical tape. I personally wouldn't even do that, I don't want that risk.
I'm not trying to be a dick, but this is dangerous. I went through a house fire once, it's not something you want to experience. Even if you make it out your life will be drastically affected for years to come.
>>1017837
yeah about that, crimps etc at least is mechanically secure and forces the copper to keep contact, but a twisted wire has zero mechanical strength at the contact, also it has zero thermal sinking with twisted wire (a crimp is a big chunk of metal bigger than the wire)
anyway it is not safe, and dont try to convince yourself otherwise
>>1017845
s'fine, just wanted to be clear.
For signal or low power, Class-II type stuff, your jury-rigged connections may fail but would still be pretty much safe.
Not safe with mains. When a bad connection can call down the wrath of an entire continent's power grid, yeah, be careful with that.
>>1017845
twisted wires inside a wire nut at least have a little bit of mechanical security, but just twisting the wire together and then just tape it over is just BAD, just don't do it, just dont
Small naked crimp splices and heat shrink work well and are common on aircraft, as are splices with heat shrink already applied. Crimp, heat, done. (Former avionicsfag here. Most connections, splices where allowed (ya typically can't splice fly-by-wire flight control connections) on military and many civilian aircraft are crimped.)
Stagger the splices so you don't get a "tumor" in the cable, and have a larger piece of heat shrink sitting on the cable so after making your joint you can heatshrink over both of your previously covered splices. Done right it's a permanent repair so do it right.
Electrical tape is pretty shit. It has its uses but gets sticky as a bukkake party and doesn't stay in place well on anything which moves.
Self-vulcanizing tape is great stuff for wrapping harness bundles but I wouldn't use it in place of heat shrink. If you have a lot of it, trade to a bro for something else. Self-vulcanizing tape AKA "F-4 tape" (because many wire bundles on Phantoms are wrapped with it) is not chafe resistant but flexes nicely. It doesn't stick to wire harness so you can skin it off later to make repairs. If you are an off-road fag it's outstanding for wrapping harness you want waterproofed.
>>1017789
Never use solder on an electrical main or on an appliance cord on the wall-side of the transformer. It can readily melt if there is ever a problem or during normal use of the appliance (depends on what device it is).
Only use butt-end crimp connectors. Preferably heat-shrink type. Use additional heat shrink tubing over everything to finish it. Make sure are both properly rated for the wire size.
>>1017865
>Never use solder on an electrical main or on an appliance cord on the wall-side of the transformer.
shwuh? Soldered/taped was and still is code.
>>1017865
"Heat-shrink tubing"?
>>1017865
Those on the pic are better connectors than the usual auto store shit. You can get them at an electrical supply or industrial supplier like Fastenal, or cheapest on Ebay if you can wait for shipping. Ditto with good heat shrink tubing. The adhesive line polyolefin is best but for OPs purpose the PVC is fine.
