Waterproof Solder Wire Connectors: What You Need to Know Before You Buy
Solder wire connectors help to provide secure connectors, allowing you to bypass the need for a soldering iron and a crimping tool. They’ve simplified the task of attaching wires, ensuring that you don’t have to stress over optimizing the reliability of your connection.
Waterproof solder wire connectors have also become especially popular thanks to thor weatherproofing benefit and flexibility. In this solder wire connector buying guide, we’ll look into some of the most significant waterproof soldering tips and what you need to look out for when purchasing a connector.
What You Should Know Before You Purchase A Waterproof Solder Wire Connector
Just as the name suggests, solder wire connectors help to connect wires together and it especially used in situations where you have two soldered wires. These connectors protect any specific joining from any dangerous external factors, ensuring that you have a strong and reliable wire convention.
The waterproof solder wire connectors are especially popular because of their waterproof nature, which allows them to be useful for tasks such as outdoor wiring and more. However, before completing your purchase, you need to keep a couple of things in mind:
Connector Count
If you’ve been working long enough on electrical circuits, you’d know that you need to solder several wires together in order to create an electrical connection. Due to this, you will most likely also be using several solder wire connectors.
The usage will get even higher when you’re using wires of different sizes that will need solder connectors of various sizes as well. And if you only have a few, it’s easy for you to run out of solder wire connectors this way.
To overcome this challenge, most solder wire connector kits come in packs, with between 120 and 200 connectors available in each pack. Depending on your requirements, you should be able to find a pack that works perfectly for you.
As you’d expect, the packs of 180 and 200 connectors are better suited for projects that will require a lot of electrical circuits. Nevertheless, going for a pack that contains as many connectors as you’d need is the important thing here.
Water Resistance Strength
The next step for you will be to look into the strength and efficiency of the connectors’ water resistance. If a solder connection accidentally gets wet, you run the risk of short circuits - or, in the most extreme of cases, perhaps even a fire hazard.
Water resistance helps you to protect the solder connections from damage done by water. But, you also need to know the extent to which the water resistance actually lasts. Most solder connectors come with IP67 water resistance, which prevents water from entering into the connector as soon as it has been heated and the connector has shrunk.
Nevertheless, you should also keep in mind that IP67 water resistance only protects the circuit from water levels between 15 cm and 1 metre, and for just about 30 minutes. Put your soldering electrical connectors anything deeper or longer than this, and you might still have a problem.
To that end, look into whether you can get waterproof electrical connectors that has an even higher waterproof rating. This way, you can rest assured that you are safe and that your connection is protected from the elements. Weatherproofing is definitely an important component, and you need to keep it in top shape.
Size Compatibility
While working with electrical circuits, you will be working with different types of wires. This includes wires that have different size, with different diameter ratings and thickness numbers.
Due to this, you need to ensure that the solder wire connector you use should be compatible with the size of your wire itself. Just as it is with electrical wires, the size rating of a solder wire connector will come in handy. Given in American Wire Gauge (AWG), this metric comes in different forms. You can find solder wire connector options available in the following sizes:
- 10-12 AWG
- 14-16 AWG
- 18-22 AWG
- 24-26 AWG, and much more.
To help, you can pick a solder wire connector package that offers different sizes. This way, you have a versatile product that easily works regardless of the different sizes of wires you have.
Product Warranty
Finally, you want to ensure that your solder wire is able to last for a long time without encountering any issues.
You will find that most solder wire connectors come with warranties that last for a year or two. This should generally be sufficient, although you could also look for a longer warranty term.