There are several known methods for connecting electrical wires in linear circuits and junction boxes, among which the most common are:
- Soldering.
- Welding.
- Pressure testing.
- Application of special clamps (screw, bolt, etc.).
Note: All of the above options for the formation of a reliable contact are negotiated in the PUE and are accepted for compulsory execution.
For soldering, at least a soldering iron with flux and solder is required, and welding and crimping will require even more time and money. Special clamping terminals are somewhat cheaper, but they do not always provide a reliable connection.
Connector design
Inventive Chinese engineers recently came up with special tubular connectors, inside of which a soldering compound is placed (photo below).
This design is quite effective if not very thick and flexible conductors are to be connected. To properly evaluate this invention, you will need to familiarize yourself with its device in more detail.
The connector under consideration consists of the following main parts:
- Transparent heat shrink tubing.
- Two annular formations of adhesive.
- A ring made on the basis of low-melting solder (it is clearly visible in the photo below).
From the description of the design it follows that it is able to simplify and facilitate the usual procedure for connecting conductors as much as possible. To evaluate the effectiveness of the new method, the following experiment will be required.
Connecting rigid wires
Let's try to test the connector on single-core rigid wires, for which we clean both ends and insert them into the tube. Then we warm up the ring located in the central part with a hairdryer. As soon as the solder melts, we begin to warm up the rest of the tube, resulting in the joint shown in the photo below.
At first glance, it seems that the contact came out reliable, but it still needs to be tested for strength. To do this, you will have to pull the ends of the soldered conductors a little harder. It turns out that such soldering simply falls apart under mechanical stress.
Based on this, the following conclusions can be drawn:
- this method is not suitable for connecting rigid wires without forming mechanical twisting;
- preliminary tinning of the connected conductors somewhat improves the result;
- however, in this case, the very use of tubes with a solder ring becomes meaningless.
When working with thin and flexible wires, the result is slightly better than the case already considered. Thus, this invention has a right to exist, but is suitable only for solving a limited range of problems.