Wire glue

[BadgeParticipant @badge]

Hello all,

I am currently building the Smit Nederland,

& fitting working navigation lights, I did not want to solder the connections as this will scorch the wood. I came across a product on the web called WIRE GLUE.

This sounded like the perfect solution, just simply thoroughly stir the mixture & apply to the wires. I ordered the glue which was sent from America cost of about £7, it arrived after about a week. I stirred the glue thoroughly & applied to the wires I was joining, after leaving for 24 hrs to fully 'cure'.

24 hrs & a bit more I tested the continuity on the joined wires, & to my surprise,

NOTHING !

I have tried again & again with different wires, & the only time it does work is if the wires are touching in the first place, so it seems this product is NOT Conductive,

has anyone else tried this product ?

[BadgeParticipant @badge]

No soldering

[lnvisiblemanParticipant @lnvisibleman]

Badge

I may be wrong but any adhesive that sticks two bits of cable together might reasonably be called "Wire Glue" .

Does it actually say that it is conductive on the jar/bottle/can ?? I have, in the past, joined equipment wire with superglue but always had the ends twisted together first.

Mike

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

First I've heard of it as such but a bit of digging around on the internet suggests that these cheaper 'glues' rely on carbon content for conductivity as opposed to silver and do indeed work best if the wires are already twisted together. It is also suggested that the joint be reinforced with epoxy as the wire glue makes a rather fragile connection.

It may be that the low voltage used to power your nav lights (especially if they are LEDs) is insufficient to overcome the resistance of the carbon content in the glue without the wires being in direct contact as well. If you Google 'wire glue' quite a lot of information comes up about using it.

Are you sure you cannot do a bit of delicate soldering using a heat shield such as very thin ply or something similar between the mast and the wires to prevent scorching?

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 15/07/2014 09:24:09

[Gary DysonParticipant @garydyson81492]

Morning Badge, I work in the motor trade, Granville make a product called Electro Connetor, its a conductive paint for repairing heated rear screens on cars, would this be of any use, (twist the wires together, paint them and then a drop of glue for good measures).

Gary

[BadgeParticipant @badge]

Hello folks,

thanks for the replies, the " wire glue " is actually described as electrically conductive, therefore should carry a current, the instructions say to join the wires first, so there you have your connection, & as Invisible Man states you can then use any glue to hold them in place.

As Colin suggested a heat shield between the wire & wood , I have reverted back to the trustee soldering iron, some careful filing down the joins & it doesn't. Look too bad.

I shall look out for the Granville Electro Connector for future use, thanks Gary.

The "wire glue" is made by Andersproducts.com

It is very misleading, so bear in mind if you ever need a wire glue I do not recommend this one!

thanks again for your help, I'll upload some photos when finished.

Badge

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

From the descriptions, it sounds like the product just provides a fairly conductive bond between wire ends that are already in contact, probably prior to covering the join with an insulating layer. For wire joins, I suspect that its main purpose is to stop air and/or insulating paint disrupting the wire to wire contact along with reducing the chance of vibration loosening the connection.

There really isn't anything to beat a real soldered join, and, if it is in a sensitive area, the use of a sacrificial barrier to protect the surroundings as per Colin's suggestion.

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Badge, hello

I have used an electrical paint from the following source on enclosed areas within the superstructure of some quick builds.

It was designed to be used to create electrical pathways on greeting cards, and I got some together with their very reasonably priced LED to try out with my grandchildren. All their and my projects worked, but the material only becomes conductive when fully dry, and does not carry a large current. That said, its in my "waterside toolkit" for quick repairs as required – some of which are still working after a couple of months. I have also used it to repair and connect speaker wire.

web site is http://www.bareconductive.com and look for electric paint (tube or pot).

If used in wet areas it can short out to other metals or conductors also in the water.

Kimosubby

[BadgeParticipant @badge]

Hi Kimosubby,

thanks for the info,

like you say, definitely worth having in the toolkit,

I'll check out the website.

[lnvisiblemanParticipant @lnvisibleman]

It seems to me that one might as well just twist the wires together with a bit of heat shrink tubing over the joint.

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Can't quite see you,

but what usually requires an on the spot fix is a break in the wires – so not enough ends to uncover and then twist up. But I see your point, this method is used by telecom companies with their two twists and pop on a cap approach.

What you can do with the liquid stuff is create a whole new "wire" instantly without wire, or a common puddle or blob. Great for adding a few extra lights for a one-off event etc. and for temporarily fixing inside the hull a couple of small bulbs to illuminate the work area.

Horses for courses, Hobson's choice and all that, it's another arrow in my quiver of needy stuff, alongside such things as clothe's pegs, brass wire from wine bottles, milliput and super glue, together with the trusty old multimeter.

Kimosubby

[BadgeParticipant @badge]

Thanks for your replies,

what I was actually trying to do is join two SOLID wires, not the type of wire you can twist.

the SOLID single wire that comes from an led bulb, to a SOLID single wire, therefore twisting them together is not possible, ( you could with pliers, but then have a great big lump ). I placed the wires so they were just overlapping & then applied a little blob of the so called WIRE GLUE, the same you would do when soldering, perhaps I've just got a dodgy pot with not enough carbon in the mix, anyway I've carefully soldered all the joints now, it looks a bit untidy, but when I've repainted the mast it should look ok, and it works !

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

Now I've got to work out how to upload some photos so you can see the result. Lol.

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

OK Badge,

then the site I pointed you to is the one I would use – their stuff is for fixing LEDs to paper models and creating a circuit back to a battery with two terminal tags normally used for solder. Their switch is made by folding over cardboard covered in their conductive paste. Once dried it works fine.

Kim.

[Malcolm FraryParticipant @malcolmfrary95515]

Back in the day, every single underground telephone line consisted of cables jointed by twisting the solid conductors together. This arrangement worked well. In other areas, joints were sleeved and crimped. Both these mechanical methods were used because of the difficulty in getting a hot soldering iron where it was needed. Insulation displacement (like mini scotchlocks) appeared later.

Not that any of that matters, you bit the bullet and soldered it.

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