Soldering

[jackb_ms]

Could you expain why?

 

Jack

 

[OliverSedlacek]

A crimp forms a gas tight cold weld between the wire strands and the terminal. The metallurgy of the parts isn't affected and the copper stays soft and flexible. When you solder joints the flux in the solder chemically cleans the parts but leaves an acid residue unless properly cleaned. The solder joint also turns all the individual wire strands into a lump that loses it's flexibility. A solder joint is therefore much more likely to fail over time in any environment where the wire is exposed to flexure or vibration.

 

[Nigel Fox]

Great in theory. I bet over the last forty years I've removed hundreds of faulty crimped connections on cars and motorcycles and replaced them with soldered joints. Joints being then taped or more recently heat shrunk. I'm not aware of any failures of the soldered joints.

[michaelw]

I'm with Nigel, I got fed up with crimps failing and completely re-wired my car with crimped and then soldered terminals, all heat shrunk and all inside trunking. It took ages and so far all has been OK, I will report back if they all start failing I haven't done enough mileage yet, but this post worried/worries me a bit!

 

 

 

Michael.

[OliverSedlacek]

Regardless of the theory, if you can't solder properly your joint wont be reliable and if you don't crimp properly your joint wont be reliable. In my opinion the biggest problem with crimps is that you must use the right crimp tool, and they can be quite expensive. When you come across yet another type of connector, it can be very tempting to economise and not buy the appropriate tool.

[glasgow]

ok, i know i may be shout at.... but is it not just a good secure PHYSICAL contact between the crimps and the wire is all what is needed. This could be achieved by any thing, crimp tool, pliers or even your teeth 😬.... I really cant believe the theory of gas tight, no way the crimp tool (without soldering) could get a gas tight joint. I have been using pliers for crimping in my caterham since i bought her three years ago, (third brake light, starcome, new horn, LED light, 12v socket, fan override switch, side repeater, connections for Cteck charger) without any problem so far... I just make SURE that the joint feels "secure" to me, so what risk I am having here

[tbird]

Technically, wrapped and crimped joints are , when done correctly, superior to soldiered joints, soldered joints, as mentioned before, can become crystalline, and make the wires brittle, the bit that is vapour tight on a crimp is the metal to metal contact caused by the pressure from the crimping tool, you will never get this with pliers and moisture will get between the surfaces eventually and start to cause problems, if you decide to keep using pliers and or solder I would recommend that you augment it with glue filled heatshrink sleeves which will help to keep out moisture as well as help stop the wire flexing at the joint.

and if you are an inexperienced solderer then this is the stuff you want, solder

 

Tim

 

Edited by - tbird on 7 Jun 2013 22:25:12