[Rhodes22-list] Harbor Freight connectors - caution

[Chris Geankoplis]

The marine heat shrink (with thermo plastic glue) butt connectors from HF
have been OK for me in a pinch. I do use the WM when there is a chance of
probable exposure to moisture.
Chris Geankoplis
Enosis

On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 6:40 PM PBR <pbryanriley at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes.  Thanks Peter.  Seems like rather obvious advice.  I think I did shop
> at west marine for a few heat shrink marine grade parts when I rewired my
> boat trailer but then I got cheaper and stupider :-).  ..and always in a
> hurry so I tend to rig things with what I have instead of doing it right.
> Patrick
>
> On Mon, Feb 1, 2021 at 5:35 PM Scott Andrews via Rhodes22-list <
> rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:
>
> > Thanks Peter, I have some Pep Boys looking connections I was wondering
> > about too.
> > Scott
> >
> > Sent from my iPhone
> >
> > > On Feb 1, 2021, at 5:01 PM, Peter Nyberg <peter at sunnybeeches.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > I’ll take this one step further and suggest using quality connectors
> > that are specifically labeled as being marine grade.  These would have
> > tinned copper tubing.  I prefer connectors that have heat shrink with
> > adhesive.
> > >
> > > And, of course you should be using these with marine grade wire (also
> > tinned copper).
> > >
> > > The headaches you save may be your own.
> > >
> > > Peter Nyberg
> > > Coventry, CT
> > > s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)
> > >
> > >> On Feb 1, 2021, at 2:51 PM, PBR <pbryanriley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> I thought I would drop a note of caution about using harbor  freight
> > >> materials.  I have had a couple of electrical failures of butt joints
> > using
> > >> their connectors.
> > >>
> > >> When I lived in Denver I drove past a HF store everyday so I picked
> up a
> > >> lot of cheap stuff there.
> > >>
> > >> 1) After wiring a new hitch wire harness to my utility trailer using
> HF
> > but
> > >> joint connectors I wrapped the joints with electrical tape to seal it.
> > >> About a year later the lights weren't working properly and I narrowed
> > the
> > >> failure down to an open circuit in that area under my tape.  Upon
> > removal
> > >> of the tape the wires were just falling off, breaking at 90 angle to
> > then
> > >> ends of  the connector body.  Visible was a lot of corrosion white and
> > >> green material.  I don't think there was any significant water
> intrusion
> > >> and it's pretty dry in Denver.  I chalked it up to some sort of
> galvanic
> > >> corrosion between the seemingly aluminum connectors and the copper.
> > >>
> > >> 2) Meanwhile I had used the HF stuff in other areas too.  LIke my R22
> > bilge
> > >> pump.  I recently returned to check on my Rhodes after about a 2 month
> > >> absence to find that storms in Kitty Hawk had shredded part of my
> tarp,
> > >> clogged the drains with tree parts of all nature, and filled the laz
> > with
> > >> water which found its way into the bilge.  Water up to the floor
> boards
> > -
> > >> why wasn't my automatic bilge pump working?  Traced it to a butt
> > connector
> > >> down at the pump being basically open circuit.  This time I had
> > >> waterproofed the joints with liquid electrical tape or something like
> it
> > >> and all that was good.  On the outside everything looked water tight
> and
> > >> this joint was in an area where it never saw stress or chafing.  After
> > >> cutting into it, I again found white and green signs of corrosion.
> > >>
> > >> Lesson learned.
> > >> 1) don't buy harbor freight (but the only non-chinese made connectors
> I
> > >> have found are Taiwanese, please advise if you have a north american
> > source)
> > >> 2) I will make sure any butt joints have full copper to copper contact
> > in
> > >> the middle (but that may not help much).
> > >
> >
> >
>