Splicing Copper Wire Using Splice Sleeves
Splicing Copper Wire Using Splice Sleeves
Danger: In order to reduce the risk of personal injury, loss of high voltage isolation to ground and higher system impedance, do not attempt to repair any HV wiring, connector, or terminal that is damaged. High voltage coaxial type cables are not repairable. Never attempt to repair a coaxial type cable. The entire cable/harness or component must be replaced. In order to maintain system integrity and personal safety, never attempt to repair any high voltage wiring, cables, or terminals. Performing this procedure on high voltage circuits may result in serious injury or death.
Note: Use only DuraSeal splice sleeves. Other splice sleeves may not protect the splice from moisture or provide a good electrical connection.
Special Tools
J-38125 Terminal Repair Kit
Use DuraSeal splice sleeves to form a one-to-one splice on all types of insulation except Tefzel and coaxial. Use DuraSeal splice sleeves where there are special requirements such as moisture sealing. Follow the instructions below in order to splice copper wire using DuraSeal splice sleeves.
Note: You must perform the following procedures in the listed order. Repeat the procedure if any wire strands are damaged. You must obtain a clean strip with all of the wire strands intact.
1. Open the harness by removing any tape:
* Use a sewing seam ripper, available from sewing supply stores, in order to cut open the harness in order to avoid wire insulation damage.
* Use the DuraSeal splice sleeves on all types of insulation except tefzel and coaxial.
* Do not use the crimp and DuraSeal splice sleeve to form a splice with more than 2 wires coming together.
2. Cut as little wire off the harness as possible. You may need the extra length of wire in order to change the location of a splice.
Adjust splice locations so that each splice is at least 40 mm (1.5 in) away from the other splices, harness branches, or connectors.
3. Strip the insulation:
* When adding a length of wire to the existing harness, use the same size wire as the original wire.
* Perform one of the following items in order to find the correct wire size:
- Find the wire on the schematic and convert the metric size to the equivalent AWG size.
- Use an AWG wire gauge.
- If you are unsure of the wire size, begin with the largest opening in the wire stripper and work down until achieving a clean strip of the insulation.
* Strip approximately 7.5 mm (0.313 in) of insulation from each wire to be spliced.
* Do not nick or cut any of the strands. Inspect the stripped wire for nicks or cut strands.
* If the wire is damaged, repeat this procedure after removing the damaged section.
4. For high temperature wiring, slide a section of high temperature SCT1 shrink tubing down the length of wire to be spliced. Ensure that the shrink tubing will not interfere with the splice procedure.
5. Select the proper DuraSeal splice sleeve according to the wire size. Refer to the above table at the beginning of the repair procedure for the color coding of the DuraSeal splice sleeves and the crimp tool nests.
6. Use the splice crimp tool to crimp DuraSeal splice sleeve. In order to position the DuraSeal splice sleeve in the proper color nest of the Splice Crimp Tool. The crimp tool has three nests, 1 is for the salmon and green splice sleeve, 2 is for the blue splice sleeve, and 3 is for the yellow splice sleeve.
7. Place the DuraSeal splice sleeve in the nest. Ensure that the crimp falls midway between the end of the barrel and the stop. The sleeve has a stop (3) in the middle of the barrel (2) in order to prevent the wire (1) from going further. Close the hand crimper handles slightly in order to firmly hold the DuraSeal splice sleeve in the proper nest.
8. Insert the wire into the splice sleeve barrel until the wire hits the barrel stop.
9. Tightly close the handles of the crimp tool until the crimper handles open when released.
The crimper handles will not open until you apply the proper amount of pressure to the DuraSeal splice sleeve. Repeat steps 4, 6 and 15 for the opposite end of the splice.
10. Using the heat torch, apply heat to the crimped area of the barrel.
11. Start in the middle and gradually move the heat barrel to the open ends of the tubing:
* The tubing will shrink completely as the heat is moved along the insulation.
* A small amount of sealant will come out of the end of the tubing when sufficient shrinkage is achieved.
High Temperature Wiring Repairs
Use the following procedures to perform high temperature wiring repairs:
1. Center the high temperature SCT1 shrink tube over the DuraSeal splice sleeve.
2. Using the heat torch, apply heat to the high temperature heat shrink tubing.
3. Gradually move the heat from the center to the open end of the tubing:
* The tubing will shrink completely as the heat is moved along the insulation.
* A small amount of sealant will come out of the end of the tubing when sufficient shrinkage is achieved.
4. Replace any reflective tape and clips that may have been removed during the repair.