Wiring Harness Splicing

IF it is done well, in all likelihood you will never have a problem.

Go into the workings of any Boeing or Douglas airliner (example: the “Lower 43” compartment of a B727 from my time) and you’ll find hundreds of crimped on terminal connectors. If these were good enough to be FAA approved, they’re good enough for a Toyotad, or whatever

You mentioned problems with twist connectors and automotive use

Those are NOT meant for automotive use, anyways


Heck, I don’t even like 'em in my home wiring! So many electricians live to splice 4 or more wires into one wire nut…I’ve had a few fail on me, one not even a year old. Replaced it with a “bus-style” setup that may or may not be code…but I know I trust the connection a lot more!


For automotive connections, I’m partial to W. Union splicing, soldered, then heated shrink-tubing over it.

@meanjoe75fan

Thanks for enlightening me

I didn’t know those things were called wire nuts

Yep , they’re called wire nuts & like anything else they must be properly installed . If properly installed the failure rate is very low . I’m referring to home type use not automotive use .

The only time I’ve ever seen wire nuts in automobiles, is when some car stereo shop did a hack job and installed a booming system or an aftermarket car alarm system

The hack job often created unforeseen problems. Then if the car still had new car warranty, the owner would bring it to the dealer. And when we found out the problem(s) were caused by the hack job, they would always get upset.

In some cases, the aftermarket booming system was much worse than the factory sound system. And now the wiring is all screwed up, also

In many cases, the owners had the aftermarket car alarm system installed, not knowing the car had a factory alarm system. Which was active, by the way. Unlike the story about the guy with the Dodge truck a few months ago. The sad part is that the aftermarket system was junk. It was so sensitive, that any and all passing cars would always cause the alarm to activate.

When Romex is properly twisted to make a connection the wire nut is just insulation. But I have on occasion tied 14ga onto 10ga knowing that without the nut there would have been no meaningful connection. Updating the wiring on 40 year old homes can be a challenge.

Wire nuts are for solid wires or splicing a solid wire to a stranded wire. A butt splice will not work very well with a solid wire.

@“Rod Knox” , 14 is good for 15 amps & 10 is good for 30 amps . I hope your 14-10 connection was on a 15 amp breaker .

I didn’t trust 14ga or even 12 ga for a 50’+ run @Sloepoke.

Updating the wiring on 40 year old homes can be a challenge.

Updating anything on a 40 year old car can be a challenge too!

You are of course correct @db4690 that wire nuts shouldn’t be used for splicing any wires in cars. But sometimes they come in handy if you want a temporary connection, for doing an experiment say. Wire nuts – for low current circuits – provide a quick and easy connection, and an equally quick and easy disconnection, leaving you with stripped wires on both ends. When I’m doing such an experiment, once I have decided the configuration I want, then I’ll replace the wire nuts with crimp or soldered connections. I tend to go back and solder even the crimped connections I make these days.

A proper butt splice with stranded wire is superior both electrically and mechanically and more corrosion resistant.

Wow. You do know that auto manufacturers use un-tinned bare copper wire, right? If so, you’re still going to say bare copper is more corrosion resistant than tin-lead? I can dig up a half dozen references showing the opposite pretty quick using google. Can you find even one that supports your position?

Tin is a corrosion inhibitor for copper, but tin/lead is not. I’d like to see just one of those references of yours.