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Overheard a guy at the hardware store mention heat shrink trick for LED fairy lights
I was grabbing zip ties when this older guy told the cashier that the reason half his outdoor string lights kept dying was water getting into the tiny joints, not bad bulbs. He said he slips a 1/4 inch piece of heat shrink tubing over each connection BEFORE soldering, then hits it with a lighter for 2 seconds. I tried it on a 100 light set that had been flickering for a week, and it fixed every single dead section. Anyone else use heat shrink on outdoor sets, or do you just rely on electrical tape?
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the_lucas1mo ago
So did he solder the connection first and then shrink the tubing over it, or shrink it over the bare wire before making the joint? I always thought heat shrink was for after you finish the splice, but that would mean you gotta slide it on before you even twist the wires together. Kinda sounds like a pain if you're working with a 100 light strand and gotta plan ahead on every single connection. Also, does the lighter ever scorch the wire insulation if you hold it too long?
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