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Wire must touch wire before solder. Don't just hold the wires near each other and bridge the gap with solder. Better current transfer.
I'm still disappointed that you haven't completed at least one assembly and realized you left the shrink wrap off – we've all done it
Soldering the relay was pure genius for a customer who wasnโt willing to fix something right.
So glad you was able to fix the car and save the people alot of money.
So, how do you bill this out? The customer turned down the replacement, now you come back and say, "I did some creative engineering".
Never mind, you beat me to it as I was typing. You are an honest man.
All you have to do is take the fuse box out and pull the pins out and reshape them and you should be good to go itโs very simple to do, you donโt have to replace the whole fuse box Iโve done it before I know you can do it God bless youโ๏ธโ๏ธโ๏ธ
Great editing ๐
Awesome Job.
How can we clone a Rainman Ray? I need a clone for my area.
Great stuff! Beats a $500 fuse box!
Some mechanics: Yep fair enough $500 is a lot. Pack up. Give car back. Go home.
This guy: I canโt leave a job without knowing I tried everything.
Me: You sir are a legendary rarity.
Yellow to green green to yellow must make lights brighter
Customer had to be doing handstands over the huge cost savings. Some other shops would just draw the line at replacing the panel and not even venturing to try the repair you did. Makes me want to move to Florida just so you could work on my vehicles.
Many shops would just give the customer back the car as is if they declined the expensive repair. Ray came up with a solution so that the customer got back the car with working headlights and a huge amount of money saved. Now I shall pass some time counting how many people commented with soldering advice.
Solder is a (very) soft mix of metals. Using it to take mechanical forces is not a good idea. The solder will be pinched by the contacts in the fuse box and slowly but surely the soft metal will give way and the contact will be lost. You have already told the customer that this is a temporary fix. Please, people don't use this kind of fix anywhere except when you absolutely have to.
The problem will return, and often with vangens. Repair it properly as soon as possible.
Please don't tin the wires before soldering them together. Twist the bare copper wires firmly together and then tin/solder the wires.
Now you solder the wires to each other at the sides. This way mechanical forces, such as vibrations, are put on the solder joint. Also, soldering will be much less fiddley when the wires are mechanically fixed together.
You could have used a bit thicker heatshrink or two layers; this would add some extra mechanical strength you need in this case.
I am very glad you used a heatgun to shrink the heatshrink. Some people use a lighter or other open flame. This will damage the heatshrink, often burning it.
When I was in the USAF I had to replace the connector on the airplane radar unit the connector had 135 wires real fun.
You could save yourself a lot of time by using heatshrink terminal ends and Butt-Splice connectors with the correct crimper. Solder is best used where there is no vibration and the wires are smaller than 22 Gauge.
Do not tin the wires, twist both end then twist them length wise together and the solder them together it will make a much better connection. Then cover it with grease and the heat shrink it and hope it dosnt corode under the hood it needs to be an airtight water tight connection
If you have is butt splices fill both ends with a high temp grease. To keep water out, trust me it will last a hell of a lot longer up behind the headlamps exposed to driving rain and humidity. Also in Florida salt from the sea.
You can pull out the fuse block and repair the pin sockets, come on you can almost do it with a pic tool, or add extra material to the relay to make its pins wider, but I dont think the fusebox is the problem you have not tested it for power, you've got a wiring diagram. Trace it back futher. Im going to bet the headlight switch is broken, Im pretty sure the switch is a positive pulse to switch the relay, the only test you did on the relay was see if it clicks, well shit a light switch not hooked up in a house clicks but does it let current flow when on?
Its only 5 pins on a normally on normally off relay and 2 pins are the electrical equivalent of flipping a switch.
Whats the car? Ford? Chrysler the Chrysler uses a negative pluse at % impedance from ground via the body control module. On electrical problems you have to trace back to the source of the problem, on fords and gm or even most brands of car a weak body ground can cause headlamp problems.
Im going to bet the fuse boxs not the problem. Hell it could be a bad body control modul chassis ground. On a Chrysler its on the left kick panel above thd driver left foot. Some fords are also there. Some are center console and some are right kick panel. Gms right console or behind the steering bolster
BMW left trunk some gas also under the hood, has this car ever had an aftermarket remote start or alarm installed?
Nice Fluke is that a 77 or 88?
Good video but you could use better solder options such as: Solder Seal Wire Connectors 3:1 Heat Shrink Insulated Electrical Wire Terminals Butt Splice Waterproof
They work great and are totally waterproof.
I'm late to the party here but for connections like this that aren't exposed to excessive heat, I've become quite fond of solder seal connectors. They are butt splice connectors with lower melting point solder and glue inside them. twist wires together, slide connector over them, apply heat, done, soldered and waterproof. tada!
pitiful that the customer couldn't match green and yellow wires together…. probably the same person that stretched those relay connections…..
P.S. that fuse box will NEVER be replaced.!!!! ๐คฃ
I always twist the wires together. Then solder them, mechanical then electrical connections both solid. Use the helping hand clips on insulation not the wire to avoid heat wicking. I use heatshrink with glue/waterproofing inside when heated it oozes out for water tight seal. Then follow up with liquid electrical tape.
I HATE those pure EVIL connectors! with a passion. So many issues when they are ever used. Vibration offten leads to wire getting fully cut in half.
Impressive! And good splice job. Maybe add wire nuts and those ugly line taps to your list of things that โhurt your soulโ.
Get an IPhone 13. Very good camera system.
Super Clean Wire-work.
Personally, I've been doing wire-work for over 35 years…. in the Communications industry, followed in my Father's footsteps…. The Solder rig he built has 3 gator clips and each one is on an articulating arm, (Dad used to build specialty tools to assist him in whatever needed to be worked on).
Keep pumping out Your Vlogs as We All Theroughly* enjoy watching You work…
((*) Spellcheck can't fix me), LMAO!!!
Hi Ray,
I saw your parallel spices today. Your new gator vise is meant to hold the wires by the insulation. What I saw was the gator clips being used as a hint sink.
To solder your conductors together wrap them a couple to 3 times. Leave no wire or solder spikes on your soldered connection. Keep it up,
You simply need to put a small twist in each of the four legs.
You guys every do junk yard? Especially in your State…Non-Rusting or corrosive…Just curious….You always do a Great Job!!
That was great, like usual I was being a complete smart a$$ and thought throw some solder on the pins and then you said it ๐ณ. Iโm gonna file that one away for โjust in caseโ moments, keep up the excellent work
Twist the pins one degree
This civilian hack wiring job wasn't bad.
Over the years and multitude of vehicles I've had. Very few didn't have rats nests of wires under the dash from STEREO INSTALLS. YUCK! Most times I ended up pulling several feet of wire both power and excess speaker wire.
Hate hack wiring jobs!
I have done something like that in the past. But sometimes the best solution at the time.
Your video skills are good and your editing is great. I do enjoy your skills.
I had projector replicas that lasted a good 2 years and the running light was in a cool blue so u can tell itโs aftermarket but it had the same DRL function as the factory lights but my truck didnโt know how to use DRL until I bought alfaobd and I recently got alpharex headlights so I sold the projectors
No beep beep?
Seeing your soldering technique got me back to soldering like I did in my electronic assembly jobs I did back in the 80s.
Very ingenious fix Ray. In similar situations I have been guilty of an even more crude fix . By either twisting or bending the pins out of alignment and therefore making contact. As for Scotchlocks I totally agree with your opinion of them, you only use them on customers cars whom you don't like. Cheers from Australia.
I could list 50 "Rube Goldberg" repairs I did as a poor kid. Who remembers the classic tomato paste cans and 2 "C" clamp exhaust repair?
Next time donโt tin the wires , put them end to end and wind around each other, then solder, Solder is soft stuff the way you soldered them may last a while but in general the wire should be twisted together then solder applied then it is truly joined. Great video.
you saved about 400 dollars for customer. they might be your new fans! XD
We used to fix loose connections with tinfoil…
Excellent job! Most guys would have said fine, no new box, I put it back together and be done with it. I hope the customer was appreciative of your effort and slipped you an xtra 20 for lunch!
Great work around Ray!! Have to remember that one! Do you ever let your customers know that their vehicle has made it onto your channel?
I just recently discovered your channel and I'm going back in time to catch up. I am a retired over-the-road fleet maintenance manager and I enjoy seeing your trouble shooting skills. I especially like to watch these types of videos so that when a problem is discovered, I will put it on pause and think about what I would do in that situation. I am not always able to match my solution to the presenter but in the case of building up the pins on the relay, you and I were spot on! Great (temporary) solution. My motto is "It ain't stupid if it works".
Great repair on that relay Ray! I see you have 100 or 200 comments regarding proper soldering technique, but I have something better for you. Get an assortment of waterproof heatshrink butt connectors. Try them. You'll love them. Electrically, they as good as soldering, and are a better idea because solder wicking makes wire more brittle. Also, they go on fast. 4-5x more expensive than regular nylon butt connectors but worth every penny. Thank you for the videos!
Man, you know so much about electrics, engines, transmissions, etc. It's really amazing. I just had bad luck again with a "mechanic": he welded a piece of cast iron to my exhaust. It later turned out that this didn't work at all.
Nice Save!!
Not possible to reach around the back of the fuse panel and try to press the contacts closer together ?
Your solder idea is a good one, assuming that the relay contacts haven't just been shoved out of the way…