I’ll discuss four techniques to connect wires without soldering in this article.

Why go through all the trouble of soldering and creating needless heat when you can glue the wires together?

I’ve put together these four techniques because you can move on to the next, even if you don’t have the tools for one technique.

You should find the required tools at a hardware store, though. Moreover, remember that these techniques are graded from low to high strength.

Low-strength techniques are ideal for making short circuits or small projects that need a simple connection and disconnection.

Medium and high-strength techniques are great for more complex circuits requiring you to move around often.

Keep reading to find out more about these techniques!

Also, make sure to check out my guide on removing super glue from metal.

Preparations Before Gluing

Before you start gluing the wires together, you should know that the wire is generally enclosed in plastic insulation.

This insulator will protect the wire against heat and prevent other wires from coming in contact.

Before gluing the wires, you should strip them and remove the insulation plastic. You’ll need a pair of pliers or cutters to remove the insulator.

The wire strippers have numbered holes for the exact sizes of wires. After you find the appropriate hole, put about 3/4 inches of wire into the hole.

Then, remove the insulating plastic using the wire strippers. When you apply force on the wire strippers, the plastic covering should come right off and reveal the stranded wires beneath.

One last thing you should know is how to twist wires together. When you combine two wires, you first remove the insulation.

After that, twist the wires together with your forefinger and thumb. After you’re done, the connection should be very solid!

Does Superglue Conduct Electricity?

Superglue is not an electrical conductor. After it cures, the adhesive becomes rigid, solid and impervious to electrical current.

However, it may be electrically conductive when it’s still wet, which is why you should avoid explicit conduct with it.

However, super glue dries very fast, so you shouldn’t worry too much about it.

This is true for most adhesives, not only for super glue. They’re made from petroleum chemicals, so they’re completely waterproof to electricity after they’ve been cured.

However, you should assess your project before gluing anything. For instance, glue isn’t good for connecting components on a circuit board.

That’s what soldering is for. The tiny electrical signals need to be firmly connected, and glue isn’t ideal.

Still, if you’re using hot glue, set it to the lowest setting, so you don’t damage any other surrounding circuits.

Moreover, avoid using glues that contain strong solvents.

All superglues are made from plastic polymers, a great insulator that stops electrons from flowing freely.

What Are the Glues That Conduct Electricity?

There aren’t too many conductive adhesives in the world. Some of the best ones were created as an alternative to solderings, such as wire glue, solder glue, or metallic glue.

These adhesive pastes contain iron, copper, or other conductive metals, making them great substitutes for soldering.

However, these adhesives are also inferior to common glues in strength. The metal components reduce the adhesion power.

Moreover, the conductivity of these adhesives is still lower than soldering.

On the other hand, some conductive adhesives include various metals in the formulation, such as silver, iron, and copper.

They’re electrically-conductive adhesives, with copper being the most cost-effective and expensive.

Iron is pretty good and also the cheapest. There’s about 80% metal in the make-up of these adhesives, with the remaining 20% being bonding polymers.

Before using these adhesives, you should check your project’s requirements and see if you should use glue.

Metallic Glue

Metallic glues are quite conductive and have 80% metal in their composition. Silver, iron, and copper-infused glues are the most common metallic glues, but they’re quite expensive.

Copper is more flexible than the other two, and iron is less efficient than its counterparts.

However, they’re all good for specific projects. You should check things out and see what you need to finish your project.

Only use the adhesive that best matches your requirements.

If you want to use glue ideal for metallic surfaces then check out my guide on the best glues for stainless steel.

Elmer’s Glue

Elmer’s glue hardens once the water inside evaporates. It would help to use this adhesive as an insulator between petroleum and polyvinyl acetate when they form a connection.

These two compounds are poor conductors, so you’ll need Elmer’s glue to insulate them.

However, remember that the glue may get between the wire and joint, stopping the flow of electrons.

Use the glue to keep the connection and place and prevent a short-circuit from happening, but do it properly!

First Method – Alligator Chip (Low Strength)

This method is the easiest and least effective method of the four. However, it’s just right for temporary solutions that you’ll strengthen later on.

An alligator clip will snap into position anywhere you want it to, so you can use it for various applications.

This includes wire connections, pinning wires down, or supporting the wires up.

To proceed with this method, hold the wires close and attach an alligator clip to them. The teeth should touch both wires.

That’s about it. You can buy the alligator clips from any hardware store or make your own at home.

Second Method – Electrical Tape (Medium Strength)

Making an electrical connection using electrical tape is very easy. You’ll only need a few pieces of electrical tape and effort to finish things.

It’s the most useful method for insulated connections that should retain their resistance over time.

Take a roll of electrical tape and two wires with their ends twisted together. You already know how to do that now!

Take the electrical tape and cover the twisted ends of the wires with it. Wrap it around the wires 5-6 times and make sure the ends are fully covered.

Pull the connection to check if it’s firm!

Third Method – Hot Glue (High Strength)

Hot glue is one of the strongest methods to bond wires together. You’ll also insulate them at the same time!

You also won’t need to clamp the wires together because of the short cooldown time of the hot glue.

You’ll need a hot glue gun, a few hot glue sticks, and a pair of wires with twisted ends.

Warm up the glue gun and then squeeze a bit of glue on the ends of the twisted wires.

Then, with the tip of the glue gun, swirl the glue around the ends of the wires.

This will make the bond stronger. Ensure all the exposed wire is covered in hot glue before cooling it down!

Fourth Method – Crimping (High Strength)

Lastly, I’ll tell you about the crimping method. This is the best technique I’ve used for bonding wires together.

You’ll need specialized equipment to do it, though. For this method, you’ll need a crimp (cord crimps) that conducts electricity.

Insert one stripped end of the wire into the crimp to the insulation on the wire. Now do the same with the second wire.

Then, slide the crimp’s notch over both wires and squeeze them together. The crimp should crush the wires and bend them into a U shape.

Now make sure that the crimps are stuck together by pulling on them.

This is the most complicated method of all four, but once you get the hang of it, it should be fairly easy to accomplish.

Wrap Up

With these four methods at your disposal, bonding wires together should be a cinch.

You’ll finish quickly, whether you use superglue, hot glue, electrical tape, an alligator clip, or my favorite, the crimping tool.

The methods are much more cost-effective than soldering the wires because a soldering kit is quite expensive.

Look for electrically-conductive adhesives before doing anything, though!