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RRUK
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Member Since: 31 Mar 2010
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 2026

United Kingdom 
Electrical wiring advice needed
I am pretty handy when it comes to wiring, doing the hard solder connections and heat shrink etc but I have a question for those of you that do more than me.

If I want to basically T piece in a feed onto an existing wire (or Y piece it if you get my meaning) without actually cutting the existing feed wire, how do you heat shrink it after?

Normal connections are easy cos you simply slide the heat shrink along over the solder, with a T join you can't.

I'll do a quick mock up to illustrate what I mean. 2016 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB Petrol


Last edited by RRUK on 10th Aug 2015 11:45am. Edited 1 time in total
Post #444819 10th Aug 2015 11:44am
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RRUK
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Member Since: 31 Mar 2010
Location: Leicestershire
Posts: 2026

United Kingdom 

Click image to enlarge
 2016 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB Petrol
Post #444820 10th Aug 2015 11:45am
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couplands



Member Since: 31 Aug 2011
Location: Peak District & Cornwall
Posts: 1826

United Kingdom 2001 Defender 90 Td5 HT Oslo Blue
One way, although maybe not the best..!

Take the existing wire, strip it and then bend in back on itself and add the third wire. Then you have an "end" over which you can fit the heat shrink.

The other option if you want to keep it as a "T" is to use self amalgamating tape and wrap it around the joint. I've used this when wiring my house with satellite cables and it did a great job of sealing the cable to the connectors.

cheers

simon
Post #444822 10th Aug 2015 11:49am
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Likeomg



Member Since: 29 Jun 2012
Location: Lake District / Newcastle
Posts: 2655

2010 Defender 90 Puma 2.4 HT Stornoway Grey
id just bend the wire back on itself use some fairly tight heat shrink
Post #444824 10th Aug 2015 11:53am
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custom90



Member Since: 21 Jan 2010
Location: South West, England.
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I'd say self amalgamating tape, think there is such a thing as heatshrinking tape too.
I personally would keep the joint parallel use regularheatshrink tubing. (Adhesive one) providing you can slip it over.
Add a very small amount of silicone inside each end just enough to create a watertight seal but also allow the heatshrink to grip.
For this reason use a longer piece.
Perhaps finish off with a small zip tie where both wires exit either under the heatshrink or over the top in case of cable stress on the entry / exit of the tubing.

Other than that we're talking one of those scotchlock connector things and they aren't waterproof either.
Post #444825 10th Aug 2015 11:53am
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
you cant heatshrink with wires like that

if you can unpick one end of the wire your soldering to then you could slide up a bit of heat shrink , so joint would be one wire in one end of shrink two out of other end

or cut wire then re-join after putting on shrink tube

or use tape , personally I would use cloth tape as it fits better round odd shapes like this

eBay item number:

eBay Item No. 191480932113
Post #444827 10th Aug 2015 11:55am
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Roy5695



Member Since: 15 Feb 2014
Location: Cornwall
Posts: 1123

United Kingdom 2011 Defender 110 Puma 2.2 XS DCPU Indus Silver
Id use the self amalgimating tape, or I'd place the heat shrink tube on it, one wire at one end and two coming out the other, using a good sealer, I'd recomend raychem glue to do the sealing...
Post #444828 10th Aug 2015 11:58am
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RRUK
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Member Since: 31 Mar 2010
Location: Leicestershire
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It's not possible to bend the feed wire back on itself as there's not enough wire to play with to do that.

I could just cut the feed wire I suppose but I wanted to do it as neatly as possible.

Thanks for the ideas. 2016 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB Petrol
Post #444829 10th Aug 2015 12:02pm
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
if your taking a feed off another wire then really you should fuse that wire as any short will go back the feeding wire

so take feed off then fuse then connect your extra wire to the fuse , also that way you will be able to use bit extra length of wire you need

what is the wire for your adding ?

what is the wire your taking feed from ?
Post #444842 10th Aug 2015 12:40pm
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RRUK
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I am going to take the sidelight feed to power Halo LEDs in my new LED headlights so they come on under sidelight operation (not doing them as DRLs) 2016 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB Petrol
Post #444843 10th Aug 2015 12:45pm
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
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are they a drl or sidelight , 2 different things really ( using filament bulbs as a example then a sidelight is 5watt ,drl is 21watt )

drl tend to be a lot brighter than a sidelight , hence why a drl must dim or go off when sidelights are switched on

there are also regulations on how close a drl ( or a light as bright as a drl ) can be to a indicator lamp

what would you prefer using then as sidelight or drl lamp ? because if you wanted them as a proper function drl you could fit a drl controller which are fairly easy to fit


Last edited by munch90 on 10th Aug 2015 12:58pm. Edited 1 time in total
Post #444848 10th Aug 2015 12:54pm
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blackwolf



Member Since: 03 Nov 2009
Location: South West England
Posts: 17754

United Kingdom 2007 Defender 110 Puma 2.4 DCPU Stornoway Grey
custom90steve wrote:
...
Add a very small amount of silicone inside each end just enough to create a watertight seal but also allow the heatshrink to grip.



Adhesive heatshrink will form a watertight seal if properly shrunk anyway, if you add silicone all you'll do is stop the sleeve from bonding to the underlying insulation thereby reducing the liklihood of a watertight seal.

You may find, if shrinking adhesive heatshrink round parallel conductors, that it is worth pressing the heatshrink firmly between finger and thumb immediately the heat source is removed to get a really good seal. Be careful or you may burn your finger and thumb though if you're using the right amount of heat and you're not used to doing this.

Using the correct amount of heat from an appropriate source is critical to the success of the sleeving. In 4x4 circles there is widespread use of utterly unsuitable heat sources (naked flames, soldering irons, etc). If you can't afford a proper hot air gun designed for the job, a hot air paintstripper gun used carefully on the low heat is probably the best. Too much heat and you will compromise the insulation of the wire, too little and you'll simply not get a good shrink. The latter is less damaging than the former.

Over the course of 20 years in the telecomms industry and 15 years in Defence I have seen literally thousands of pounds of expensive cables destroyed by people using the wrong tools to heat heatshrink sleeving.

As far as the OP's question is concerned, I would either find a different solution to the problem altogether (locate the end of the wire and connect there, for example) or cut and splice.
Post #444849 10th Aug 2015 12:56pm
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RRUK
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Member Since: 31 Mar 2010
Location: Leicestershire
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munch90 wrote:
are they a drl or sidelight , 2 different things really ( using filament bulbs as a example then a sidelight is 5watt ,drl is 21watt )

drl tend to be a lot brighter than a sidelight , hence why a drl must dim or go off when sidelights are switched on

there are also regulations on how close a drl ( or a light as bright as a drl ) can be to a indicator lamp

what would you prefer using then as sidelight or drl lamp ? because if you wanted them as a proper function drl you could fit a drl controller which are fairly easy to fit


I am happy to use a switched sidelight way of using these, rather thanhave them as DRL's.

I bought them from Flat Dog and when I spoke to them @ Billing they said they just wire them into the sidelight circuit as the Halo ring has a separate pair of cables, the LED headlamp has a standard 3 blade H4 connector.

http://www.flatdoguk.com/led-%2B-angel-eye...--rhd~1527 2016 D4 HSE

1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF

1982 Series 3 SWB Petrol
Post #444856 10th Aug 2015 1:11pm
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munch90



Member Since: 26 Oct 2013
Location: guildford
Posts: 3558

England 
so you are joining the wires from halo in to the sidelight wires under the wing
Post #444857 10th Aug 2015 1:19pm
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Browny90



Member Since: 20 Jul 2015
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 183

United Kingdom 2004 Defender 90 200 Tdi SW Stornoway Grey
You cant use heat shrink in that situation.. just cut it and make a 'Y' Junction then you can make a really solid join that's nice and water tight..

When I worked for Scania Trucks.. I did breakdowns, so was forever searching for other peoples poor repair, but I always made sure I did a really good job of sealing joins..

I Used these..

http://www.hilltop-products.co.uk/heat-shr...ciabY1wadI

Blue or Yellow will be best for making a junction depending on the gauge of the wire you're using.. they generally have an adhesive so when you heat it, it shrinks and melts the adhesive to make a nice seal... A small amount or decent sealant will seal the deal Smile (Tiger Seal, Flexibond etc) then after use amalgamating tape. Its worth the extra effort so you (or whoever you sell to) doesn't have to spent hours looking for issues from green corroded connectors..

Also put it somewhere easy to get to for the same reasons as above.. My 1986 90 is currently on a full rebuild, with new chassis, Paint etc.. Very much a hybrid, TD5 Chassis, tub & bulkhead with a 200TDI and LT77 GB Painted in Stornoway Grey Smile 2 years off the road, but getting close to completion now
Post #444864 10th Aug 2015 1:43pm
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