Water proofing three way connection

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MCtree

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Apr 13, 2021
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I’m rewiring the puddle lights attached to my sliders.
This means splicing three wires together. Since I have a positive coming from the fuse box and positive wires coming out of each of the two puddle lights on each side.

Google tells me this connection needs to be waterproof.

What is the best way to do this?

Amazon has things like these (picture below), but I don’t love how it will require that at least one wire will be off at an angle and that seems like a likely snag-point since it’s underneath my vehicle.

1775158861838.webp

I would put two wires on one side of a simple two ended splice, but think the side with two wires coming out of it would not be waterproof since the shrink wrap wouldn’t close the small gap between the two wires.
 
Not a electrician, but if you water proof seal over two(three) wires then insert the "loom" into the connection point, It should have a pretty good seal. Maybe not water submerged proof.
You could alway douse the connection point in grease to keep water out then insert into the connection capsul.
 
Not a electrician, but if you water proof seal over two(three) wires then insert the "loom" into the connection point, It should have a pretty good seal. Maybe not water submerged proof.
You could alway douse the connection point in grease to keep water out then insert into the connection capsul.
Ah. Good point.

But I just realized I wasn’t thinking about it straight. And perhaps I didn’t describe my need correctly.

I need to connect the three wires together. The item in your link actually connects 6 wires but keeps them all separate.

I have a positive and negative wire coming from my fuse box/battery and I have two puddle lights each with a positive and negative wire. So I need to connect the two positives from each of the lights to the positive from the battery. And then the two negative wires from the lights to the one from my battery.

Something like the link below might work but:
1. Again, I would worry that a wire sticking out at an angle would be a snag opportunity.
2. I don’t know if this product is designed for car use where rattling might affect it.

 
if you want to be a bit different, use a Wago and then cover it in silicone caulk if you're worried about the water. Easy to disassemble. And easy to tuck away.
 
What type of connectors are you using at the lights? IDs just double up the wires at the crimp/connector and put a drop of silicone/RTV on it then heat shrink it. Then you have one less junction point to worry about.

If the wires are run in a way that you absolutely have to split them in the middle of the run the I usually just solder and heat shrink. If you’re really worried again you can use some silicone to fill the gap between the output wires and then heat shrink.

I wouldn’t overthink it, they’re just lights that might see some splashing you’re not diving down to the titanic. Even with no protection it’ll probably last the life of the vehicle.
 
I would use a simple non insulated butt splice and marine grade heat shrink. Two wires enter one side and one wore leaves the other. The wire gauge for your puddle lights should allow you to put two into one side of the butt connector.

This would be much more compact than 3-way butt splices and give you options for wire management.



The adhesive will handle the waterproofing but if you want it to outlive the rig you could apply some silicon where the wires enter the splice.

Use a heat gun to seal the heat shrink.
 
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