New AM Shrink Tube Solder

[ahartnet]

Originally Posted by electroken

They do require a lot of heat to melt the solder cylinder within, much more than most wire insulation can tolerate, so some care is needed to avoid damaging the wire insulation.

I've used them at my day job (NASA). They definitely do require more heat than many other things that require a heat gun.

My use cases have been when we need to solder a wire to a braided shield (surrounding the wires). I do not know if that is the main purpose of them or not, but soldering a wire to a shield can be either tricky or difficult to provide a strong mechanical connection.

I agree with the other sentiments expressed here - if it is able to help those teams that may not have someone to teach them how to solder - great! Do I think this is particularly helpful in FRC (as opposed to butt splices, levernuts, andersons, or soldering) - eh I won't be pushing to move to these instead, but I won't deem it a poor decision by those that do.

This is what I see:
-Advantage over levernuts: cheaper
-Advantage over butt splices: stronger connection and more obvious that it's completed (crimping done by inexperienced people are likely to either crimp the wrong place, or not crimp hard enough). It is obvious (and like bilfred said - satisfying - to see the solder melt
-Advantage over Andersons: cheaper (probably, I haven't confirmed), more permanent, and same crimp issues noted before
-advantage over soldering: probably quicker, requires less experience

-disadvantage over levernuts: takes longer, requires more tools than a wire stripper (or sharp edge), requires electrical power (or battery powered heat gun)
-disadvantage over butt splices: more expensive, requires electrical power (or battery powered heat gun)
-disadvantage over andersons: can't disconnect
-disadvantage over soldering: more expensive, requires a decent check of wire on both ends (i.e. - there are some situations you can only solder to connect wires)

[Chris is me]

I'm glad this exists. It is an easy and mess-free way to create a strong electrical connection that anyone can visually verify is robustly held in place. I / my team might not use it, but there are a lot of situations where I would rather a team use these than try and crimp a connector with the improper tools / technique.

[bobbysq]

Originally Posted by ahartnet

This is what I see:
-Advantage over levernuts: cheaper

They actually appear to have similar unit rates using Amazon prices for the levernuts and for the heat shrink solder. These get you a better deal than AM's price.

[RoboChair]

What the heck are they using in their solder alloy? Full melt at 300F?

[Nate Laverdure]

Originally Posted by RoboChair

What the heck are they using in their solder alloy? Full melt at 300F?

Maybe In97/Ag3 or Sn50/Pb32/Cd18

Are they RoHS compliant?

[RoboChair]

Originally Posted by Nate Laverdure

Maybe In97/Ag3 or Sn50/Pb32/Cd18

Are they RoHS compliant?

There is no way there is profit margin in using that amount of Indium, that stuff is like $0.50 per gram, in bulk. I spent $150 for a half a pound of the stuff, but I will say I do like the taste and consistency. Always entertaining to see someone's reaction to chewing on a piece of metal.

[Team34Guy]

As several others have noted, these have been around for a long time. I saw them for the first time back in college 25 years or so ago. In my opinion they are a fairly reliable method of joining wires. However, knowledge and experience with good soldering techniques are still required when using these. It's very easy to create a cold solder joint if you aren't careful.

[efoote868]

Originally Posted by ctt956

it's soldering irons that take 3-5 minutes to warm up.

Sounds like you need a better soldering iron.

[Richard Wallace]

Originally Posted by Billfred

We also released two things:

1) This how-to video so you can see the process for yourself.
...

Another recommended process includes mechanically interleaving strands of the two wires to be joined. Less risk of cold joint.

[Mr V]

Originally Posted by ahartnet

I've used them at my day job (NASA). They definitely do require more heat than many other things that require a heat gun.

My use cases have been when we need to solder a wire to a braided shield (surrounding the wires). I do not know if that is the main purpose of them or not, but soldering a wire to a shield can be either tricky or difficult to provide a strong mechanical connection.

I agree with the other sentiments expressed here - if it is able to help those teams that may not have someone to teach them how to solder - great! Do I think this is particularly helpful in FRC (as opposed to butt splices, levernuts, andersons, or soldering) - eh I won't be pushing to move to these instead, but I won't deem it a poor decision by those that do.

This is what I see:
-Advantage over levernuts: cheaper
-Advantage over butt splices: stronger connection and more obvious that it's completed (crimping done by inexperienced people are likely to either crimp the wrong place, or not crimp hard enough). It is obvious (and like bilfred said - satisfying - to see the solder melt
-Advantage over Andersons: cheaper (probably, I haven't confirmed), more permanent, and same crimp issues noted before
-advantage over soldering: probably quicker, requires less experience

-disadvantage over levernuts: takes longer, requires more tools than a wire stripper (or sharp edge), requires electrical power (or battery powered heat gun)
-disadvantage over butt splices: more expensive, requires electrical power (or battery powered heat gun)
-disadvantage over andersons: can't disconnect
-disadvantage over soldering: more expensive, requires a decent check of wire on both ends (i.e. - there are some situations you can only solder to connect wires)

You can get these type of connectors to work properly with just a lighter or candle. Of course there is a risk with using an open flame and not something you could do in the pits, however there are some butane torch units that don't have an open flame that are intended to be used in a heat gun type of application.

[Chris is me]

One advantage of this method is that before the solder melts, you glue the wires into place. Sometimes in the heat of a quick moment (emergency repair in the pits etc) it's hard to hold two wire ends steady / champ wires down while soldering. This could be done safely by a very nervous person!

[JamesBrown]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

Sometimes in the heat of a quick moment (emergency repair in the pits etc) it's hard to hold two wire ends steady / champ wires down while soldering.

The wires should be joined together before you start soldering.


That is the root of my concern with these, everything I learned about soldering is that if you don't start with a good mechanical connection you will not get a good electrical connection. Even with the wires glued in place, there is not a solid mechanical connection.

I have no doubt that these will work fine in a lot of applications, but I don't see the advantage. For a fast/easy fix you won't beat a crimp with the right tool. For smaller gauge wire I would rather solder and then heat shrink it.

[ctt956]

Originally Posted by efoote868

Sounds like you need a better soldering iron.

Probably. I have a two-setting Radio Shack iron that takes that long to heat up, and my dad has a Weller that's at least 20 years old, which takes equally long. I have used the Hakko digital irons, which heat almost instantly. I do have a Weller soldering gun that also heats fast.

[Al Skierkiewicz]

EVeryone,
The basic rule of a good soldering job is that both wires reach a temperature that will allow the solder to flow in between the strands of the wire.
These devices were developed for soldering a jumper wire to coaxial cable. The ring is meant to solder to the strands of the coax shield. In general, the shield uses very small stranding. These could be useful for emergency soldering of a broken wire but they are not fool proof. Do not trust them to have good mechanical strength. The two rings of non-metallic material are for water proofing. In use on coaxial cable, these would seal on one side to the outside jacket and the other side would be around the inner insulation surrounding the center conductor.