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I would put a piece of heat-shrink (prefer adhesive lined) that will fit the whole bundle on first. Then crimp the wires together, crimp without insulation, and seal with adhesive heat shrink over each individual wire.
The crimp with insulation ends up with a very large diameter fix. Non-insulated crimps are pretty small diameter.
As of late, I've been doing a Western Union Splice, followed by heat shrink over the splice, and in the case of a large bundle like you have, followed by a Heat Shrink over the entire bundle.
Ends up being a little bit fat where all the splices are, but the end-results are clean and I know that they are protected from the elements and from chafing.
Solder is the way to go,but from past experience the wires will be very tarnished and hard to clean to get a good soldered joint , I used a Bakers soldering fluid in the U.K to clean tarnished wire and then a good flux, cut the wires at different lengths so the joint is not big and bulky and then wrap in heat shrink each joint . and then heat shrink the all the joints with one large length heat shrik.
I would put a piece of heat-shrink (prefer adhesive lined) that will fit the whole bundle on first. Then crimp the wires together, crimp without insulation, and seal with adhesive heat shrink over each individual wire.
The crimp with insulation ends up with a very large diameter fix. Non-insulated crimps are pretty small diameter.
Staggering the splices, if there is enough slack in the wire, makes for a smaller diameter bundle, whichever way you go. I prefer crimping, but I occasionally solder when the joint requires it. Not sure I would use Baker's (or any other acidic) flux for electronic connections, though. It's corrosive, and it is difficult to clean all residue off multi-strand wire.
I read a diatribe somewhere against soldering automotive wiring. I think the objection was over the inflexibility of a solder joint, that a good crimp can better survive handling or repeated natural flexing. Solder flux residue is also a concern. On the other hand, a low-current sensor circuit may easily be interrupted by a thin film of crap, lacking the ability to form little spot welds at contact points. Either way, I would strive for cleanliness, good sealing, and minimizing any flexing at the joints.
When I have my car on a lift, the ABS cables get pretty tight - I'd be concerned about making them shorter. I don't know if there is slack somewhere that can be pulled out.
NASA TECHNICAL STANDARD NASA-STD 8739.4A
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Washington, DC 20546 Approved: 2016-06-30
Superseding NASA-STD-8739.4 With Change 6
WORKMANSHIP STANDARD FOR CRIMPING, INTERCONNECTING CABLES, HARNESSES, AND WIRING 13.3 Assembly of Solder-Type Connectors
13.3.1 Wire shall be bent only in flexible, unwicked parts of the conductor to maintain stress relief for solder dipped conductors. In all instances, stranded conductors will experience solderwicking during attachment. The conductor will be rigid up to the point where the wicking stops and flexible beyond it. Wire movement concentrates stress at the point where wicking stops and normal harness handling can produce conductor fatigue and failure.
I had to splice a new wire into my ABS harness, after the light started coming on due to a short in a signal line. Apparently the cable must have been pinched at some point, letting the copper wire corrode enough that the cable lost continuity.
I had to keep cutting back the wire in 1 inch sections until I finally found clean wire that didn't have corrosion. It ended up being about 1.5 feet of wire that was removed, and went almost to the barrel connector. I left enough wire to splice into at the connector, and cleaned as best as I could with deoxit and flux, so the old wire was finally able to take solder and tin. I also used a "modified lineman/western union splice" to join the two wires. Adhesive lined shrink tube is definitely best to keep the exposed soldered connection safe from future corrosion. See below video at 0:58 for reference.
Removing the old crusted insulation also allowed me to tie in a new strand of cotton yarn (or whatever it is) that keeps the harness from stretching, as the old stuff had shrunk considerably over time. I used hobby store stuff that kids use to make friendship bracelets, as it was nearly similar in thickness and material.
Lastly, I covered the full harness in split-loom and wrapped the entire thing with electrical tape to prevent water intrusion. In my opinion, this is better than stock. You could also use silicone self-vulcanizing tape, but that would prevent you from servicing in the future.
10-02-2016, 05:53 PM
Best Way to Splice ABS Cable
