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So I'm replacing my washdown pump... in as much as I took it out, fixed it, and am putting it back in. I had to cut the wires to pull it out as the factory crimp connections weren't going to come apart. How should I go about reattaching them? I'm not sure that I could get a soldering iron in there. Should I just crimp them back together and wrap them in electrical tape like I would with my Jeep, or should I get special connectors or something?
So I'm replacing my washdown pump... in as much as I took it out, fixed it, and am putting it back in. I had to cut the wires to pull it out as the factory crimp connections weren't going to come apart. How should I go about reattaching them? I'm not sure that I could get a soldering iron in there. Should I just crimp them back together and wrap them in electrical tape like I would with my Jeep, or should I get special connectors or something?
Buy new marine grade crimp connectors and crimp them with the proper crimping tool. Electrical tape has no place on a boat except for temporary repairs. Soldering is not used on a boat either except for data connections on very small wire.
get the ones with the heat shrink on them, after you crimp them and put the heat to them , there sealed up good. You don't have to get them here but this is what they look like. http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse.cfm/4,11120.html
Get the crimp connectors that heat shrink AND have the adhesive lining.....DONT use liquid tape. Make sure you size them according to the wire diameter too.
x3 on the liquid tape. i use crimps then either cover bare ones or fill in the ends of insulated ones. it firms up in a few minutes, but after a day, it hardens.
Get the crimp connectors that heat shrink AND have the adhesive lining.....DONT use liquid tape. Make sure you size them according to the wire diameter too.
There's no real negative to it as long as you use the insulated crimp connectors or the heatshrink insulated crimp connectors first. Of course, if you do this correctly, there's no real need for liquid electrical tape.
Get the crimp connectors that heat shrink AND have the adhesive lining.....DONT use liquid tape. Make sure you size them according to the wire diameter too.
I don't think anybody is suggesting that the liquid tape be used by itself as a connector. My dog chewed the trim & tilt wiring on a BRAND NEW JohnSu 90 a few years ago. To replace the wire is a huge job. Powerhead has to come off. I rejoined the wires using heat shrink resin cored butt joiners & sealed them with about 5 coats of liquid tape.
That wiring is immersed in salt water constantly. Never had a problem in three years. The only shortfall with the liquid tape is that it looks somewhat agricultural.
Seals and hardens. The three boats that I have owned all had it on some connectors and ALL of them eventually cracked and corroded. Maybe due to vibration? My Dad, should be retired 10yrs ago, has 35yrs + in Naval Engineering/Weapon Systems. He's the one who steered me to the crimp/heat/adhesive connectors.......
There's no real negative to it as long as you use the insulated crimp connectors or the heatshrink insulated crimp connectors first. Of course, if you do this correctly, there's no real need for liquid electrical tape.
Buy new marine grade crimp connectors and crimp them with the proper crimping tool. Electrical tape has no place on a boat except for temporary repairs. Soldering is not used on a boat either except for data connections on very small wire.
I use the crimp and solder style butt connectors on my connections ->
There's a little piece of solder in the middle along with the crimp and the adhesive lined heatshrink; it's a very solid, weatherproof connection.
__________________ 1973 Aquasport 19-6
08' Suzy 4 Stroker
Son of "Boatdood"
"You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it." -Jimmy Dean
seals and hardens. The three boats that i have owned all had it on some connectors and all of them eventually crackedand corroded. Maybe due to vibration? My dad, should be retired 10yrs ago, has 35yrs + in naval engineering/weapon systems. He's the one who steered me to the crimp/heat/adhesive connectors.......
Get the crimp connectors that heat shrink AND have the adhesive lining.....DONT use liquid tape. Make sure you size them according to the wire diameter too.
The adhesive lined heat shrink crimp connectors are the best way to get a solid connection on a boat!
Also I use the old Thomas and Betts style crimper (Ideal makes a pretty good copy) instead of the rachet style crimpers as well.
I have not had good luck with the liquid tape, I have found it to get brittle and crack and flake off.
__________________ My boat is a 2008 Sea Hunt 220 Triton with Yamaha 250. Garmin 4212, Furuno FCV-620, GSD 22, Standard Horizon Matrix, XM Weather.
Buy new marine grade crimp connectors and crimp them with the proper crimping tool. Electrical tape has no place on a boat except for temporary repairs. Soldering is not used on a boat either except for data connections on very small wire.
I totally agree that solder should not be used on a boat, ever. It is fine for the data connections, but the "snap caps" the telephone company uses are the best way that I know of to connect the data wires.
__________________ My boat is a 2008 Sea Hunt 220 Triton with Yamaha 250. Garmin 4212, Furuno FCV-620, GSD 22, Standard Horizon Matrix, XM Weather.
I totally agree that solder should not be used on a boat, ever. It is fine for the data connections, but the "snap caps" the telephone company uses are the best way that I know of to connect the data wires.
If you're insulating all of your connections with heat shrink anyway, whats the issue with solder?
__________________ 1973 Aquasport 19-6
08' Suzy 4 Stroker
Son of "Boatdood"
"You gotta try your luck at least once a day, because you could be going around lucky all day and not even know it." -Jimmy Dean
Solder is hard & often the wire next to the solder joint flexes & breaks. I have been using heat shrink tubing over my joints along with liquid tape to fill in any tiny spaces & have never had a problem.
I am a licenced electrician, I do a lot of control wiring and just outfitted a new boat. For items like a bilge pump, I splice and twist wrap the wires together. Then I take an appropriate size wire nut, fill it with silicone caulk and twist onto the wire and make sure there are no voids. I find years later when I undo the wirenut to replace the pump that there is no corosion at all...you also have the benefit of directly compressed twisting of the wires. Crimp connections can and will fail due to joining of dissimilar metals with both corrossion and different expansion rates. I use this method especially on trailer lighting connections. Smaller electronic sized wires... like transducers, nema2000 cables and such I solder and shrink wrap with complete success. Wirenuts, while not very pretty are my perfered method of a quality field connection.
get the ones with the heat shrink on them, after you crimp them and put the heat to them , there sealed up good. You don't have to get them here but this is what they look like. http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/browse.cfm/4,11120.html
Sure these heat shrink butt connectors are supposed to be crimped?
Marine electrical connections 
