I ordered a tachometer for my EK sedan and it comes w/ 5 wires in 5 differenet colors. The instructions say that I have to splice certain wires with others in the car. How do I go about splicing wires short of twisting them together ? THanks ;D

 

go to your local auto parts store and buy a electrical kit, it should contain a test light,crimpers/strippers, and various connectors. use butt connectors to splice the wires.

 

Forgive the rant, pet issue.


Honestly, a typical butt connector improperly applied is dangerous at worst and a poor connection at best. There are tons of options for splicing. The best but most inconvienent is soldering, when done correctly it is as strong as the original wire. I only choose soldering in a car when it is practical, soldering under the dash of my car does not sound fun or safe. But soldering up the car stereo harness on my work bench in the house is a peach. When soldering is not an option, i prefer twisting the wires as if you were going to solder (an inline(western-union) splice, NOT into a "v"shape) and using adhesive lined heat shrink to hold it together real nice. If you've never used heat shrink before, your missing out. It looks 100x better than tape, and the adhesive lined stuff makes waterproof connections(perfect for under the hood). As with butt connectors, its critical to select the correct size heat shrink, get it as close to the wire size as possible. The less it has to shrink the stronger it will hold. Same for butt connectors, less crimp distance, more hold.

That said, if you do use butt connectors, splurge on some good ones and get them as small as possible for the job. I have seen too many wires pull right out of wrong sized/poorly crimped butt connectors. This is not what you want after reassembling your whole dash. The really pimpin butt connectors even have some liquid sealant in them(i want to say Seal brand).


And for god's sake... DONT USE WIRE NUTS ok for the house, bad for the car. The vibration makes them fall right off.

Oh yah, put the heat shrink on the wire before connecting, an easy but frustrating mistake, esp if you solder it!

I'm thinking doing a splicing/soldering DIY, hopefully I'll have time soon.

 

I would have to agree, Soldering is the best and most efficient way to get a "lifetime connection" without having to worry about a connector falling out.

The heat shrink stuff is nice too, you can pick up a large pack at most Lowes and home stores in the electrical isle, the ones in wal-mart and the car stores are usualy a bit higher, but variety is key for me, abig pack gives me more options, that way if i jack one up I have 5 more to go with, and a heat gun will help you seal em, everyone should have a heat gun, they are cheap and they do alot of handy tasks.

 

i agree w/ the heat shrink and solder. butt conectors are a "quick fix."

 

good source for heat shrink http://www.partsexpress.com/ get adhesive stuff, its awesome!!!! 3:1 shrink is nice too!

If you are going for a bullet proof connection, multiple layers of heat shrink work wonders. It becomes very much like rubber tube when its layered on, I like to use it anytime a wire has to contact metal, especially bending around it.

 

God yes. I agree with soldering them. And dont use the cheap heatshrink you can get at radio shack. Home depot has the good flexible stuff. It is black and comes in many sizes. The stuff from radioshack is hard to bend, don't use it, it SUCKS!!!