Soldered pigtails without putting waterproof cap on...

[aplant92]

Am I stuffed?

I can put the cap on the female end and screw it backwards to the male if that makes sense, just not sure if I'll get any benefit doing it this way.

Other alternative is to resolder the 30 odd pigtails I've already done...

 

[David_AVD]

I think most of us have forgotten to put the locking ring on before soldering at some stage.

Either gently heat it with a heat gun or hot water to make it pliable and then force it over the male end.

 

[aplant92]

Ah great idea, didn't think of that! How hot does it need to be before you can force it? Hot enough that you can't touch it? Or just fairly warm?

If the former, how do you force it on without touching the hot plastic?

 

[AAH]

I haven't had to do it but I'm told that soaking in hot water is the go. The plastic becomes quite plastic when it's exposed to 40C temps so it doesn't need to be exceptionally hot.

 

[aplant92]

Great I'll give that a shot then! Thanks to both of you!

 

[Trioxide]

So did that work? I have forget before also but have redone the solder joints and it is a pain. If this works then much easier.

 

[David_AVD]

Heat gun or boiling water works. Have done it more times that I would have liked. lol

 

[AAH]

Grrr. The morning after I typed my previous reply I forgot to add 1. As I happened to have a hot air rework tool on hand I wound the temp down to 100C and a few seconds later I had the nut on the pigtail where it belongs.

 

[aplant92]

I haven't had a chance to try yet! I did a quick test with the hot water and it definitely gets more malleable, so hoping it does the trick!

 

[djgra79]

I used a heat gun (as it's usually out when dealing with pigtail connectors anyway for heat shrink!) and it works a treat. Or if you have some nice sunshine, stick it outside for 10-15 mins.

 

[aplant92]

To confirm - this worked an absolute treat! Thanks all for the suggestion of hot water!

 

[tooms]

I think I've done this about 6 times already in the last few weeks .. I find a good bit of electrical tape is just as good (3m scotch tape)