TICONN Solder Seal Wire Connectors, 150 PCS

First time using something like this. I had seen ads for something like this before, but never thought to give it a try. Had a car stereo project and thought I’d give these a try. Very little instruction on how to use these, but basically I just took the two stripped wire ends. Twisted them to make a more solid strand. Made each end into a “j” hook then folded the wire back on itself and slide the connector over so the solder was over the connection. Then fire up a heat gun. I looked to find some guidance on the packaging of how hot to get the connector, but couldn’t find anything. Set the heat gun to 790°F and started running the connector back and forth. the ends “heat-shrinked” relatively quickly and made a tight apparently water-tight connection but the solder ring was still there. Took about a minute to get the solder hot enough for it to visibly flow in the connector. By the point the solder was hot enough the plastic/heat-shrink part of the connector was very soft and thin so the wires had to be held tight to make sure the solder joint would cool properly and straight. I had many that cooled at an angle but could be bent straight. They work for small lower voltage connections like a car stereo, but I’d be pretty hesitant to put some serious amps through one of these connections mostly due to the low quantity of solder. But they’re quick and easy, and you just need a heat gun. No need to break out the soldering iron.

So I’ve been curious about these for a while and finally decided to try them out. My ten year old butane soldering iron finally gave up the ghost so I figured I’d give these a shot before buying a new one. I was super skeptical from all the advertising but I was surprised how well they work. I’m a truck driver and I own my own truck and trailers, all older equipment so I fix a lot of wiring.

If you’ve seen the advertisements for these they make it look like you can just slide them on, hit them with a cigarette lighter and be done. They do not work like that at all, however when used properly they work great. You need a good heat gun and you need to hold it on the solder section until you see the solder shrink/flow into the wires. Also the clear heat shrink from what I’ve read seems not to be UV protected so you should run some normal solid color heat shrink over these, I did intentionally leave one exposed on my trailer and I’m curious to see how it does. All that said they seem to create a very strong joint (once they’ve cools down, made that mistake pulling on them while still hot) 100 times better than crimp connectors and it will take time to know if they last just as long as soldered wires but I feel like they will.

Will they save you time, maybe if your not well practiced at soldering wires, but honestly I could probably solder two wires in good working conditions just as fast as connecting them with these. Where I think these are going to be the best thing in my tool kit is when I’m in Wyoming, it’s negative 10, dark and windy and all I need to grab is these, some heat shrink, wire strippers and my cordless heat gun. That situation without these I’d probably use a crimp connector as a temp fix and go back later and fix it properly, as far as ease of use these are probably easier than crimp connectors and they’re a solid permanent fix.