My loom has three main power feeds into the fusebox.

Ideally for neatness I would like to join all this wires together and then run a single heavy duty lead to the battery though a grommet in the scuttle to the positive terminal.

Is soldering all these wires together and then heat shrinking them a sensible idea or is that a connector that will do this job?

Cheers.

I know some will argue that soldering is not a great idea, but when I made my loom from a Mk2 Escort one, I found several soldered connections made by Ford, so I followed suit and have had no problems since!

Why not just thread the 3 wires through a single shrink wrap to join at a single Midi fuse holder and then a single heavier wire to the battery.
This would be better than having a completely unfused feed going through a metal bulkhead.

If you want a soldered joint that as reliable you have to make a mechanical splice that is intertwine the wires properly before you solder.

I did just what you describe, one large wire through the bulkhead - (not fused at this point) into a fust up under the passenger footwell, then large wire into a large 'butt connector' and the three wires in the other side of it.. screw them up, heat shield over the top and done. my local car shop had them, but I can't find an example quickly online!

Thanks for the ideas.

I have just found this ebay item

What are peoples thoughts? It does come with a cover but it does seem a little exposed to me given every metal surface is earth.

Few here I have used the two way junction box before was told by a vehicle wiring firm to use this instead of any of butt connectors.
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/97/1/terminals-connectors

Matty

this is what I used:

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/product.php/561/butt-connector-screw-type/32ffe1153c4f72fd5e7672f47da5a1a3

or screwfix do crimp ones

http://www.screwfix.com/p/10mm-butt-connector-pack-10/58923


(thanks for the pointer to VWP !)

[Edited on 24/3/15 by Chris_Xtreme]

quote:

---

Originally posted by matty h
Few here I have used the two way junction box before was told by a vehicle wiring firm to use this instead of any of butt connectors.
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/97/1/terminals-connectors

Matty

---

I'd connect the three to one as originally suggested, but use a battery connector with an integral fuseholder to feed the single larger wire, so you have no unfused section.

In my case, I didn't have a fused battery connector available and simply fitted an inline fuseholder (AGU / 5AG) and 60A fuse from Maplin into the feed, very close to the battery.

Hi
Solder & heatshrink by far the best
trouble free connection.
Looks neater than crimps or connectors.
Good luck

I have two plastic junction boxes under my dash. One for permanent live and one for earth. In the junction box is a bus bar that is secured inside. If I was wiring the car again I would have one for switched live as well.

Solder and heatshrink for me. The OEM loom that came with my engine (Toyota) is full of soldered joints.
Having a fuse near the feed point is a good idea though.

Done well both crimp and solder are fine. Both are OE ways of doing things. What i've tend to notice is solder is only used to join multiple wires in areas of no movement in the loom, ie where loom is well wrapped and supported. Any connectors or similar will always be crimped as even a good soldered joint will become brittle.

Many say don't solder. I prefer soldering for a better electrical connection, but it does require proper stress relief on the joint (multiple layers of heatshrink properly shrunk extending 25mm either side works nicely). I think the "problem" is the solder creates a hard spot that causes localised stress raising and fatigue failure under vibration. The heatshrink limits this by spreading the load over an area. Personally I find no-one can reliably crimp anything without wire damage and it then is an open corrosion point too, which to my mind is worse.

quote:

---

Originally posted by coyoteboy
Many say don't solder. I prefer soldering for a better electrical connection, but it does require proper stress relief on the joint (multiple layers of heatshrink properly shrunk extending 25mm either side works nicely). I think the "problem" is the solder creates a hard spot that causes localised stress raising and fatigue failure under vibration. The heatshrink limits this by spreading the load over an area. Personally I find no-one can reliably crimp anything without wire damage and it then is an open corrosion point too, which to my mind is worse.

---

Yeah but even decent crimp tools require careful adjustment to the correct sizing and checks on pull-out strength (we do high reliability crimping here at work, with ESA qualified technicians, and even they take a few attempts!).

Agree, anyone using cut'n'shut connectors is asking for a nightmare. Definitely worth environmentally sealing the joint wherever physically possible to prevent the old black rot!