Connections to strip lighting

[MarkSolar]

I'm using LED 12v strip lights in my barn for lighting, I've never found a good way to connect them because the wires are so tiny. I use landscape wire to carry the 12v power around the barn, I think it's 14ga stranded. So connecting it to wire the size of a few human hairs is tough. I've been wrapping the fine wire around the landscape wire and then using a Wago connector to hold them together, then I tape the fine wire to the landscape wire to prevent it from bending. I tried transition crimp connectors, but putting any weight on that fine wire makes it likely to break. Is there a better way to connect two dissimlar wire sizes?

 

[42OhmsPA]

2 ideas that come to mind.
Solder and heat shrink.
A small junction box and wire nuts.

 

[Mattb4]

I would think you could use a non-insulated crimp butt splice. Wrap the two wires together and insert into 14ga connector. After crimp use heat shrink to give a good hold by folding one of the wires to lay flat against the connector, cover with the heat shrink tubing and make a straight wire.

 

[OzSolar]

Wago lever locks allow you to effortlessly connect solid to stranded from of any size from 26 to 12. Pretty awesome product.

 

[MarkSolar]

Thanks for the ideas. I'm currently using Wagos, but the ones I have won't grab the fine wire so I'm wrapping it around the larger wire and then it works OK.
Soldering is tough because one wire is so much larger. It's also inconvenient because I'm so far from power. I have a small torch but I think it will smoke the insulation on the fine wire. I thought about taking a small piece off a circuit board and soldering each wire to an appropriate sized pad. Then I'd put it in some kind of little junction box as suggested. I think that would make soldering more viable with that tiny wire.

I think my long term solution is to stop using these strips and switch to a standard E26 base with a 12V LED bulb. I just found out that those exist or I would have gone that way from the start. I also read a couple threads that had examples of light fixtures for RVs, didn't know they existed either.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

think my long term solution is to stop using these strips and switch to a standard E26 base

I strip several inches on ultra-fine wire, fold it over itself and bare-crimp it to the supply’s wire

 

[teal95]

Butane soldering iron.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Butane soldering iron.

I don’t/won’t solder most if not all connections because of its high potential of wire failure. Which is even a greater concern with light gage wires.

On the other hand, the self soldering heat shrink thingdangers… I hate them but maybe solder makes sense.

At the very least a decent B crimp and heat shrink should do it