Are wire nuts OK?

A

ALJ

Member
Someone has used wire nuts in the lighting circuit on my 28 coupe. These are the same kind of wire nuts that are used in house wiring. They are fast and easy to use, but are they OK to use on a car?
 
I think with the vibration they will come off and the wires loosen. There can't be that many in a Model A circuit-I would remove them and solder the connections and cover with heat shrink tubing-or better yet replace the wire with the correct length.
 
on some copper wire if you solder it the wire becomes brittle and breaks, especially if you try to bend it at the soldered connection, use stake ons
 
Wire nuts are COMMONLY used on sound system/speaker wiring. I wouldn't hesitate to use them in a hidden location. I only use the ones that has the funnel shaped wire socket inside them.
Bill W.
 
They make a Marr connector with a sleeve and a set screw. If they are hidden they would work great. They use them on industrial compressors so. Vibration is not an issue. Wayne
 
Wire Nuts work great for a house wiring as the house doesn't move (except in California).

For a device that has vibration, I use the "Western Union" splice. Its a wire connection that is strong before the solder is applied.

Check on line to find pictures.

Marc
 
99.9% chance is is asking about the wires in the head lights, soldering the wires together, how would you now take the head light off?
I would use the solder on type bullet connectors like what is on the end of the wires from the harness. If you used the crimp on type you would not be able to pull them through the flex conduit if repairs were needed.
 
as an add on, wire nuts would be ok, but you need to wrap then with electrical tape to stop them from coming undone
 
Whether in a building or a car if wire nuts are installed correctly they won't come off. always end up with the wire nut pointing up (rain tight) and don't use tape after a while the adhesive comes off and you have a mess,
 
I use these bullet connectors as well as the crimp tool shown. Haven't had one come loose yet. My soldering skills leave a lot to be desired.
 

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Here is a way to connect two wires that I have used on my car and boat trailers that have never given me problems later. Take your two wires and strip them back about one half inch and do not twist them. Slide some shrink tubing up one wire and push the wires together and twist any loose strands so it is now one wire. Now apply a good coating of flux paste and solder. Now you can slip the shrink tubing over joint and heat the tubing. If your shrink tubing matches your wire color the repair is almost invisible.
 
Ron Lachniet said:
Here is a way to connect two wires that I have used on my car and boat trailers that have never given me problems later. Take your two wires and strip them back about one half inch and do not twist them. Slide some shrink tubing up one wire and push the wires together and twist any loose strands so it is now one wire. Now apply a good coating of flux paste and solder. Now you can slip the shrink tubing over joint and heat the tubing. If your shrink tubing matches your wire color the repair is almost invisible.
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Two of the most detracting items on a car are the use of wirenuts or those cheap crimp connectors you get in the $1 bin at you local auto parts big box store. Both are butt ugly and prone to failure sooner or later. A cheap alternative is buy various diameters of copper tubing at a hobby shop. They can be cut longer and crimped on both ends where you insert a wire, or cut shorter and used as a collar where you overlap wires. They solder very easily. Soldered joints may be a bad idea as vibration can cause the soldered wire to break (not approved for most marine uses) but shrink tube provides enough support around the splice to keep it from vibrating. Small, cheap, easy, effective.
 
I would not use copper tubing for the following reason :

When you solder wires, you should be able to see the solder around the wires and not have the wires covered up. In other words, a proper soldering connection has solder where it's needed, not in excess.

The tubing doesn't allow you to actually see that the solder flowed around the wires.

For those that want more info, check out "navy specifications" regarding soldering.

Marc
 
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