Adam Savage's Quick Electronics Wiring Tips!

Solder Seal Wire Connectors: amzn.to/3FBYLzD
Dewalt Cordless Heat Gun: amzn.to/3z5SZnG
Wire Marker Tape Dispenser: amzn.to/3ExUcVP
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For doing heat shrink, putting a hook shaped reflector (for lack of better words) on the end of the heat gun works awesome. You put it around the wires and run on the heat gun and it heat from practically all directions. Very little movement is needed, and you're also not blowing past the wire.

I'm a commercial electrician and 3M also makes booklets of wire numbers. We use this when we're pulling in multiple circuits through a single pipe. We need to mark which neutral goes to which hot and if you have more than 3 circuits in there you'll have multiple black's red's blues' (or brown orange yellow's) and you need to keep track of it all. There are low number books (1-45) and high number books (i think it's 46-100 or something like that). They're cheaper than the tape dispenser and if you have a number like 35 you don't need a 3 and a 5 it's just one sticker. You can get them at home depot or lowe's in the electrical section.

You can slide the sleeve completely over one wire, push the wires together so they mesh and squish them neat, then slide the sleeve back and then apply the heat. It gets a slightly better joint, rather than have the strands side by side.

' may all your electronics work first time ' ... now that is a maker blessing right there

I have been using the low temp solder connectors on semi trailer light wiring. The colored rings are actually a Hot melt glue. In 5 years of extreme service I have yet to have a connection fail.

Using the curved heat reflector on the heat gun helps a lot

I work for an automotive OEM. We recently tested a bunch of those solder connections. Can say they hold up well in an automotive environment.

"I hope all your electronics work on the first try" That felt very generous! TY!

Does anyone remember solder tape? Radio Shack used to sell it. They came in a pack of little strips that you could melt with a lighter. I used it on a lot of simple joints, and it worked surprisingly well. Seeing these solder connectors brings back memories.

3:1 adhesive lined heat shrink is a must have also, the adhesive lining helps release some of the stress on the solder joint itself

I came across those self soldering joints when I was searching for vintage military self soldering sleeves. I finally was able to buy a few boxes of the military self soldering joints last year for my collection. They are a copper tube with solder inside, but the outside is covered in a pyrotechnic composition that you can strike like a match in the outside of the box they come in. The composition burns and melts the solder inside. Apparently they were used for spicing radio transmission lines and Morse code lines out in the field. I think they were used from the 1950s into the 1970s. The ones I have are dated 1967. Someone did a really good video on them where they actually tested some of the vintage ones.

The helping hands crocodile clamps appear to be called GRS Third Hand.
Here are two model numbers;
G04570
G04546

There’s a version of that 3M dispenser that is different colors instead of numbers. So handy!

I use the solder connectors sometimes for my job, and lately have been looking into a labeling system for the wires. They now have cartridges of heat shrink tubing that goes into a label maker, you just print what you want on a piece of heat shrink, and then put it on a wire.

Been an age since I've seen you up on ..what was once celluloid....Great to see the old passion hasn't wavered. Thanks for the great entertainment that was mythbusters !!

When I was working at 3m that was one of the products I made. Seeing that brings back memories of stuffing all 10 number (or colors for the color rolls) into the dispenser then applying the product label and stacking it in the box with the 100s of others I had made that day...

I've used those heated little sock things for years now. highly recommend. you can also heat them up with a regular lighter, they can take the heat, so you dont need a hot air gun if you dont have one. They make a very strong bond, you can really pull on the wires and they wont come off. What I do differently from Adam tho, is that I rolls the copper wire around each other before putting on the sock and heating it up. That way I can be sure there is a connection and that it is very sturdy.

So glad to see how you come back to “Tool Tip/ Favorite Tool” videos. They’re among the best subjects in your video repertoire.

Adam! You can’t do this to me any longer! Every frickin time you upload a video, i see cool stuff i need to have and order immediately. My poor finances 😁

I used solder seal connectors to rewire a buddies ATV and add things like light-bars, and I also used them on other low amperage connections like winch control connectors. Silver soldered the high amperage winch motor connections and use large heat-shrink with a bit of silicon grease in the jacket and on the ends of the plug in connectors. I can't count the amount of times he has submerged that vehicle and run it completely on the snorkle, but 5 years later it's still running like a champ.

Wire Marker Tape Dispenser, That lovely good thing/tool! that is useful tool (when it's needed). Who remembers 'Soldering tape' ?

I have 129 lights on my Great Dane trailer, recently (or maybe around this time last year) switched from pinch connectors to these and couldn't have been happier. So far, no wire rot at the connectors and it looks clean and neat.

Those low temp solder connectors have been AMAZING working on thinning out the wire loom on the car. They're genius, and we've beaten them about a LOT too in the elements.

in reference to the wire marking tape, DYMO (and i'm sure other brands) makes heat shrink wire labels, 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" sizes. doing the wiring on my Voron 2.4 3D printers, these saved so much time. They're a little tricky to open up, since they come out of the label maker flat, but a sharp pencil tip can open them up easily.

I love those little heat shrink things. Used them for wiring up a stereo.
This is more Motorsport related and definitely on the more expensive end, but consider looking into deutsch connectors! If you’re making projects that have more of a loom of wiring and you want to have a clean break, they’re a great option. A reliable plug that can easily be repinned or moved to a numerically larger or smaller pin out plug. In addition to being weather resistant.

I've used thousands of these for christmas lights and have had zero failures so far. Solder seal connectors are amazing and I hope whoever invented them won a lifetime achievement award. lol

That solder connection combined with a NASA twist is the way to go.

I'm terrible at soldering wires, especially when it's something I can't bring to a work bench to do properly, like wires on a vehicle. Those solder seal wire connectors work well. I've used them on my motorcycle.

Those shrink wrap with solder connectors make life so much easier. Won't pass some standards but still, super convenient and solid.

Those are solid products that have been around for decades and even improved upon... thousands of electricians and tech people use them in a wide variety of conditions and they survive even some of the harshest environments. When the actual wire fails before the connection, there is no doubt as to the quality. Then there are the wire markers. the books are great for a large amount of the same 1, 2, or 3 digit numbers but can get bulky and mixed up. When time is of the essence or you are standing on a tiny platform dozens of feet in the air, that small tube that can be hooked to a lanyard so it stays put and can make ANY number you need is a godsend and worth it's weight in gold. Yes there are cheaper options that can work just fine, but having the best tools for the job makes everything easier when you already have enough to worry about.
Thank you Adam for bringing this to the attention of the general public and making things that little bit easier. Another great item are the multi connection, lever action, clips for solid wires. Those are fantastic for making temporary connections that can be easily released and do not tear up the wiring like wire nuts because of the twisting.

Used the numbered tape for years but have never seen it in a dispenser. Always been in a little tablet of pages. Awesome !

Love those solder sleeves!! We used to use them occasionally at work in avionics. I just recently got some for my home and hobby use. They will melt fine with I lighter too

Those helping hands look suspiciously similar to snap ring plier heads. Fantastic as always Adam! You’re a favorite for sure.

Been using these for the last year and a bit. Brilliant piece of kit.
Also have been using those tape markers since forever. So good.

installed a Painless wiring harness in my old 1973 Cj5 a few years ago and every wire in the set had #'s on it that matched up to the info in the install manual. Super helpful.

Those solder heat shrink is the best thing around for soldering! I have used so many on my van.

Adam Savage's Quick Marketing of Gadgets.
I knew it was a bad idea clicking on a link to this guy.

These solder sleeves are fantastic. I used them in my car(of course not the battery main cord), in all my home 12V cables, in 110V cables. They all worked very reliably. Under high current(15A?), the temperature of the joint is even lower than the cable itself. But of course, you don't want to let them hold any weight

I mark all my wires with a sharpie. If the wire is big enough, you can write numbers on the wire, if it is too small, put a number of marks indicating its number. The advantage of the sharpie is you can pull said wires through tight spaces, without ripping the stickers off.

I love the phrase "...many wires octopussing out of it" Great way to describe it! :-)

The solder seal connectors on all 3 of my trailers are doing fine years down the road. Life changing.

These are great connectors for anything that doesn't eat a lot of amps. Did all of my 12v connections on my electric motorcycle with these and they work great. Fast, easy, waterproof, and secure.
Love the tape dispenser. Always caught between knowing I should label my wires and not wanting to spend the time to do so. That makes labeling them fast and easy which will of course always save time troubleshooting later. Simple and brilliant.

I was using solder seal butt splicers back in the late 70s and early 80 when I was running assembly lines for Tandy, building
5 1/4" floppy disc drives.

Clear heat shrink over the numbers makes everything look really clean. Love those low temp solder joints, amazingly fast. Also using a mini lineman splice as well gives me reassurance for those high stress joints

I've been soldering for years, and considered myself pretty knowledgeable in the subject, but I had never seen shrink tubing with solder built in. That's pretty amazing. Thanks for sharing! If you have any more soldering tips I'd love to hear them.

Thank You Adam so much for solder seal wire connectors, and the scotch code wire marker tape. I was once rewiring My Sister's 1970 Maverick ignition, and I also used a newer steering column. All the wires were color coded differently. When I had figured out where one wire went I would then forget what color wire corresponded to it in the new harness. I did finally use mailing labels to mark each wire.... I generally use inline crimp connectors to attach everything, as I don't solder that much. I could definitely use those solder seal connectors.... 😁

They are fantastic. A couple of months I ended up using them to wire up a few hundred RGB LEDs for a theatrical production. I found if you melt one end of the glue first the the solder it allows air to escape and get a full solder connection. If you ever need to have multiple people working with these I would highly recommend making sure the heat guns are on separate circuits. We unfortunately only had 2 circuits and 4-5 heat guns going at the same time.

In "The Tick" (2016), a tracking device is extracted from a character and 'left behind.' A close-up shot is given and it is fairly clear that the device is one of these low-temp solder shrink splices containing a single hearing aid battery and a single flashing LED bulb! I don't remember if it had been heated or not.

I can vouch for the wire labeling saving troubleshooting time. As an electrician, a small amount of time invested in labeling on the front side, can save a lot of time on troubleshooting during trim out if any problems arise from mistakes or damage by other trades. So many headaches saved

Just a month ago I was wanting to connect a pulse width modulator to a wired remote (for use in a kayak w/trolling motor). I stumbled onto these same heat shrink w/solder connectors. Since I was using a leftover ethernet cable for this connection (eight 24 gauge wires - 16 connections) I (with my limited soldering skills) couldn't have done it without these.

I just had a massive flashback to grad school. I had not used or even thought about those numbered tape dispensers for 25 years, and now I see it here.

In my time in aviation. We have what we call in the Army environmental splices. We have actual crimped splices that are then covered with environmental heat shrink. The standard is to heat it to the point that both pieces of colored wax (I call it wax) melt and just barely begin to ooze out the ends of the environmental. This is to ensure that it is melted thoroughly enough to have a watertight seal. What’s interesting about your splices is that you don’t have that ability to see the wax ooze out the ends. We also have solder sleeves. They’re nearly identical to what you have but are intend for use with shielded wiring. Like coax which needs the shielding grounded. What I like about this is that the colors for yours appear to coincide with our colors for sizing.
Whilst talking about mobile solder repair kits. I have been working developing a mobile solder station that also has a heat gun capability. One of our biggest problems in aviation is that our repair tools are in the shop. We can’t very well take the shop to the aircraft. So we oftentimes need to take the equipment to the aircraft and try to figure out how to get AC power to the aircraft. The army has a mobile heating and soldering kit but it’s bulky and we don’t have one. I don’t believe we’re authorized to have one either. The real issue is having to repairs in a remote area. I believe I have an Avenue of approach. Our standard military radio batteries have two 12V cells. I am looking to utilize this for a mobile repair station.

I have used those connectors to rewire the headlights on my car. It has held up perfectly even through years of northeast salt filled winter driving.

The helping hands look very much like GRS Third Hands, I think meant for jewelry soldering but just fine for wires. They’re not cheap (~$60 per hand) but I like them.

I've seen a lot of videos showing how the heat shrink solder doesn't penetrate the wires. What I do is I do the typical Western Union wire hooking (wrap) , tying the wires together, then sliding the heat shrink solder connection over it and melting it. I figure this gives me the best of both worlds. And with the wires I use them on, mostly 24-28 AWG, they work great.

Thanks for the tips, I never knew anything so handy as those connectors existed!

I actually have a pack of those, and use solder seal connectors on a lot of my wiring projects, specially any wiring projects that might be exposed to weather. I also put the SSC on one wire, twist the two wires together to make a better bond, and then move the solder onto the connection point. I've also used a lighter to shrink/melt them, it takes some trail and error, but it can be done.

I used the number tape when I worked in the fountain beverage installation industry! Amazing stuff

I love that heat shrink tubing. It’s the best!

FYI, you can get mini heat guns that just use a regular lighter. You can also get little refillable lighters for them. I use it these all the time for commercial door systems. I've had these in exterior doors through storms for years without a single issue. They are great!

They worked really good when I made my wire longer from my ring video doorbell to my solar panel charger I bought & installed on the roof. So quick, thanks for the info

I was waiting on Adam to try to pull them apart!!! It was in your hand! Do the test!!!

I discovered those connectors when a few came in a repair kit for a floor heating cable. They’re definitely so much easier than fiddling around with a soldering iron. On occasion I’ve made my own by cutting a short length of thin solder and poking it into a piece of heat shrink tubing with the wires.

I bought a kit of these and they work very well for getting into tight places where you cant solder something properly.

These are my favorite types of videos you do. Practical information for crafties.

The smallest ones in particular are so helpful. Usually when working with small wires, space is at a premium and you need to be able to move and position after fixing. This makes compact joints, especially with multi core signal cables, much easier and neater.

Had the number tape dispenser in a robotics lab in high school. Never really needed it then but I can only imagine how nice it’ll be to have in my toolbox now that I’m doing automotive wiring.

I've used both of those items, especially the wire marking tape, for quite some time. A variation on the splice is to use them on the end of a shielded cable to attach a pigtail to the shield braid while the inner conductor(s) come out as well.
The number tape can be looped around the wire or cable and stuck onto itself, forming a little flag. That helps on smaller wires when it's hard to see the numbers on a tight curve. Plus as others mentioned, 3M also makes color-coded tapes in that same case, with the 10-color codes like on resistors (Black, Brown, Red, Orange...).

Ever time Adam comes up with a cool product, all the hard core DIY makers are off to Amazon picking up the item. I all really put in a order for the Solder Seal Wire Solder Wire Connectors. But the Numbers tape is a bit expensive. Maybe a birthday gift 🎁 thanks Adam for stocking my workshop with goodie’s

Adam, Brady,( and other companies I'm sure) make printable heat shrink for your labeler. The stickers are nice but can come off easily. The heat shrink costs a little more but is basically indestructible. Cheers!

As an IT Engineer, we have, or at least I have, used little wire tape ID labels for years on fiber and Ethernet wires used in data centers. We usually port port numbers on them instead of just a number, but they same so much time when doing maintenance.

Ive been using those for over a year now and they are amazing and so easy!

I use these solder connectors on my truck for aux lights and onboard air electric stuff and ended breaking a light off my truck while off-roading and theses solder connectors held on an led light pod dragging down the trail for like a mile. Totally fine. 100% would trust these connectors in hard use.

I also used the 3M Wire marking tape dispenser back in the ninteys! Working on boats in the seismic oil industry.

I've used those solder seals for 2 years in my work and I can 100% say that they make things alot easier and faster.

The DeWALT heat gun in the video is the best one I've ever encountered. Most heat guns regulate the temperature by adjusting the air flow, tend to overheat and burn out. That model actually regulates the temperature with what essentially a light dimmer. The air flow remains contestant, much more accurate.

The third hand clamps are from jewlery soldering third hands.
As for the wire labeling, and heat shrink labels, for brother label printers. I've used them for cleaning up wires in a rack.

I'm seeing these connectors for the first time in my life and honestly it feels to me as genius as putting gunpowder and bullet into one neat and easy to use casing.

Those solder seals are dirrived from aerospace environmental splices and solder leaves to terminate shielded wires. Great inventions!

Have to say love these tips, it's a great concept of only knowing what you know, picking up those terms and words that allow you to find Tools or processes that help but could not find as did not know the core context of the idea.

been using those number tape tubes since i became an electrician 20 years ago. very handy for marking wires.

One of the best inventions in a long time. The time efficiency is what is so great. Though I'll still add a heat shrink tube big enough to cover connector just for extra stability. But yeah low amp low voltage usages (like most car applications) they are a great product.

Ive been wiring all of our semi trucks and trailers and dump trucks with these connections. As an added layer of protection, Ive been coating the connections with liquid electrical tape once they cool, and in the semi truck wiring, these things are almost always never alone, so there is at least on more if not multiple connections right next to each other, So I then slip one large piece of heat shrink tubing over all of them to further protect them and also make the wiring harness look much neater. I haven't had one issue doing it this way and we are in PA running through all the grit and salt. They are definitely worth it if they can stand up to the abuse of dump trucks

The soldering tubes are a great find, will grab some if those for a project. The number system tape is also useful, been using a label maker but it's time consuming.

I did a quick check on Amazon for those butt connectors and found them. Definitely ordering some. I searched "waterproof internal solder wire connectors and the top item (sponsored) was a case of 200 in varying sizes. Great deal too.

a label tape printer with the half-cut feature is also your friend when it comes to labeling lots of wire, since it'll cut through the label without cutting the paper backing, so you can just peel and stick as you go along. Most of the printer software will also let you print from an excel sheet and give you options for repeated labels and where it prints them, so you can set if you want it to print through the entire range twice or print each value twice for every cell in the range. Very useful, we used a lot of them for labeling cables in the datacenter and labs.

The connectors are also available with a barrel connector in my industry that goes under the heat shrink for added strength. We use them under the hood for critical electrical components.

Adam is a REAL man, "I suck at reading manuals", hasn't we all been there?

Thanks Gary much for the amassing tips! I have never seen anything like those connections. Definitely on my list.

Ppl don't get that it's one thing to do this but it's a bit harder to do this while trying to film it and not get in the way of the camera. Great job showing us.

I have a Brother label maker that you can get heat shrink labels that slip over the wire and you can shrink them on. You can name the wires at each end. Keep up the good work.

Great tips Adam. I wish I had a wire marker tape dispenser back when I was doing a lot of wiring projects. Lots of time wasted hand writing wire markers over the years.

Wago 221 lever nuts are my favorite thing ever. It's easy and tool less and for most things they're really secure. The only issue is the bulkiness of a bunch of Wago connections.

Thanks for the tip on the number system thing, Adam! :) Love your soldering station, too!

another thing they make now is a label maker that prints on heat shrink, i love it makes it easy to figure what wire is what when working with a bundle of wires

Brilliant Adam, I love the Solder Seal Wire Connectors. Thanks for introducing me to them. 👍🏻😎

I used the 3M adhesive tape numbers for years until I discovered white heat-shrink tubes that come on a sheet and can be fed through a laser printer, (words, numbers, and symbols that very nicely shrink along with the tubes after slipping over wires. Great for when you need more than a digit or two to ID the termination. I've made several templates to print out these wire markers, Avery Sticky Labels, and other sheets of marking products using a 25 year-old VISIO program.
I appreciate Adam's love of good quality, intelligently heuristic products.

For marking cable ends I just use different colors of electrical tape. For complex systems I double up the colors; example, red-blue to red-blue. Also, EXTREMELY HANDY for pairing power bricks to the products that they are intended for. For instance, a home router and its power supply both marked with yellow-purple tape.

The ScotchCode was the landmark of choice when running miles of CAT5 network cable throughout a building...