Burying Splices For Limited Energy

[JFletcher]

Did a limited energy landscaping lighting call today - nothing (4 LED lights) worked from the 120V to 12V transformer/rectifier. Found the factory ID connections all bad, replaced them with standard wire nuts and sealant supplied with the lighting kit. This seemed still a poor solution to me - is there a better way to do this? I've done a lot of limited energy (comm) work, but nothing with splices (which I avoided if possible) let alone ones that will be buried underground (HO was going to do the trenching of the cables from the t/r).

 

[hbiss]

Nothing that says you couldn't use a communications buried splice kit but I think that's going to get expensive. Ideal makes gel filled wire nuts that are used for irrigation and LV landscape lighting. I don't get involved in those areas but I would think they have to work and last otherwise they would use something else.

-Hal

 

[kwired]

Shrink tubes are one option- not so easy to take apart and reuse later on but at same time shouldn't need to be taken apart because of failure in most instances.

 

[tom baker]

I prefer the filled wire nuts, have installed hundreds never a failure. I have seen a couple of failures on the heavy wall heat shrink w/sealer.

 

[kwired]

I prefer the filled wire nuts, have installed hundreds never a failure. I have seen a couple of failures on the heavy wall heat shrink w/sealer.

Been using HW shrink for nearly 30 years - never seen it fail. Have dug up repaired conductors and found a new failure adjacent to a shrink covered repair several times. Maybe even seen a repair inside a shrink tube that had failed but never seen the shrink tube itself fail to seal the repair.

 

[JFletcher]

thank you all for the replies.

 

[SceneryDriver]

Shrink tubes are one option- not so easy to take apart and reuse later on but at same time shouldn't need to be taken apart because of failure in most instances.

+1 on the adhesive-lined heat shrink tube. Easiest mistake is not getting the joint hot enough. Second easiest is getting it too hot. Use a heatgun, and leave the torch on the truck. Solder-splicing might be a good idea too, especially it it's buried.

I get my heatshrink tubing here:

http://www.heatshrink.com/heat_shrink_tubing/o2b2_s_spl.asp

Good selection and good prices.



ScerneryDriver