I do that then tape them up really good. The liquid electrical tape work good too for those tight spots.

 

Folks, that stuff really works!
Scotch/3M makes this very kind of stellar performing heatshrink tubing with a layer of hotmelt sealer pre-applied on the inside.. The downside?? This stuff gets VERY expen$ive once you get to the larger sizes(1/4" and up)!! The 1/2" stuff and larger is downright shamefully overpriced.
Since I can't afford to buy their stuff in the larger sizes(3/4"dia and up), I figured I would make my own sealant lined heatshrink.
Taking a cue from 3M, I discovered a way to replicate that feature using ordinary hot-glue. If you find that you are stuck and can only find the cheaper, single layered, non-sealant lined heat shrink, don't despair! Go ahead and get it. Black is best for sun exposure and opt for the thickest wall heatshink offered.
Go find an ordinary hot glue gun and get it warmed up. Go ahead and either solder or crimp the wires together with the short piece of heatshrink slipped on, ready to shrink in place.
Before you get the heat gun, propane torch, Bic lighter etc out, take the hot glue gun, slide the heatshrink tubing back and coat the actual splice with a thin to moderate layer of hot glue. Let this solidify slightly and THEN slide the garden variety heatshrink over the coated splice.. Evenly heat it (heat gun works the best) and you'll see the heatshrink first close down over the glue covered joint. The glue will then start softening underneath the shrunk tubing and will fill in all the voids and crevices between the insulation and conductor splice. If you heat the tubing ends more first, they will close down over the wire insulation, trapping more glue inside and it will take on a slightly "stuffed sausage" look as trapped glue equalizes over the joint. Experiment with heating the middle more and sealant will ooze out each end as you continue gently heating the joint. Once you are satisfied that all gaps and bubbles of air are filled in or expelled, remove the heat and wipe off any excess blobs of expelled sealer.
This technique works really great on large diameter, irregular shaped connections like coaxial cable connections or multi-wire crimp connections. It also rounds-over any protrusions that would otherwise try to poke a hole in the side of the ordinary heatshrink.
The glue seems to stand reasonably high voltage and high power RF levels very well.
The heatshrink protects the glue from UV light degradation and the glue keeps the water out.
I've cut open these old connections and there was no Green Death of copper corrosion inside even when exposed to South Texas sun, heat and salt air.

 

...sounds like a lot of trouble though.
Nat

 

Especially when the glue gun is tougher than the heat shrink. Why put it on. I have a lot of joints that are soldered and covered with glue gun glue.

 

Nat, It just took me a lot longer to describe than to do..
H-I-D, You're right about that hotmelt glue being tough... It isn't tough enough to resist UV light and moisture for a long time..
But on those connections that have just gotta' be right (overhead on antennas, or underground splices) I haven't had to worry about water migration under the heatshrink jacket.
For the small stuff, 3M's sealant lined stuff is the way to go! Their small sized stuff is reasonably priced(1/8", 3/16",1/4"). But OMG!What were they thinking pricing the lined big stuff like that!!!

Keith

 

This sounds like a job for a POSI-TAP. Does what a scotch-lok should, only better.


www.posi-tap.com

jlh

 

Posi-Taps.. Neat idea... Sorry, but I've never seen them for sale...
That doesn't mean anything as the Coastal Bend of Texas is the bottom of the world technologically... It's pretty bad when Radio Shacks are about the only electronics parts places left in town!

K.

 

I put my Putnam hitch on and while moving my 7-pin, saw all the wires had a sctoch lock on them for a GN, well I cut all the wires, and resoldered and heat shrinked all of them. The wires already had corrosion where the S-locks were