Wiring connections...?

[Hilldweller]

Crickey almost $0.80 each!:Wow1:

It might be nice to have a few in a repair kit but I don't think I'll be using them routinely anytime soon.

I bought a bunch of them a long time ago at a gentler price.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

The only time I use insulated terminals is for field repair. Otherwise I always use uninsulated and use adhesive lined heat shrink tubing. Using uninsulated lets me also visually inspect the connection after crimping. It also gives a less bulky connection.
I also put a dab of dielectric grease in the terminal for added protection.

x2 on using a quality crimper.
I use these Klein crimpers:
http://tinyurl.com/3ko732f

This is the secret to crimping is the proper tool. I prefer Klein #1006 myself over the #1005. I have challenged several people to pull my crimps apart with no success. Good crimpers like Klein and T&B have colored handels for a reason. There is a proper way the crimp goes in the crimper. Most all crimps are seemed, you want to position the seem of the crimp on the black handle side of the tool.

 

[kjp1969]

Crimp plus solder is the worst of both worlds IMHO.

So I'm in the midst of a project, and just did this about a week ago. Why is it bad?

I'll likely have a nice little test bed of different techniques going in my truck. depending on the joint, I've soldered, crimped, tinned and crimped, and tinned, crimped then soldered.

 

[rusty_tlc]

This is the secret to crimping is the proper tool. I prefer Klein #1006 myself over the #1005. I have challenged several people to pull my crimps apart with no success. Good crimpers like Klein and T&B have colored handels for a reason. There is a proper way the crimp goes in the crimper. Most all crimps are seemed, you want to position the seem of the crimp on the black handle side of the tool.

I use Kliens as well but they take practice to use correctly. Most people are probably better off with the ratcheting type that won't release until the corret tension is reached.

So I'm in the midst of a project, and just did this about a week ago. Why is it bad?

I'll likely have a nice little test bed of different techniques going in my truck. depending on the joint, I've soldered, crimped, tinned and crimped, and tinned, crimped then soldered.

You really cant inspect the solder joint inside the crimp connector, at least with the Western Union splice you can see if you have a good solder joint.

 

[86cj]

I made a living in the early 80's wiring Van Conversions and have been crimping for 30 years, I have never had one come apart. You must give it a good tug to check it out, I have had them fail when doing the tug. How you crimp takes practice, don't rotate the butt to make 2nd crimp.

I now use the heat shrink butt connectors on all my stuff with a layer of heat shrink over that, Fastenal has been my source in the last few years.

I have Never used a Scotch Lock type connector on my vehicles, they cut the wire or corrode quickly.....

 

[off-roader]

To qualify my statements I'll preface them with this; I have over 25 years experience in electrical/electronics manufacturing.

When making connections with stranded wire a crimp connection is the only way that is reliable. It is well worth your time to learn to make a proper crimped connection as Martin described.

Here is the readers digest version of why a crimped connection is better;
We use stranded wire because it will bend many times without breaking as a solid wire would. As soon as you solder the strands together you introduce a potential point of failure due to metal fatigue.

Stranded wire is rarely soldered in a high rel applications such as military or space electronics, never in a wiring harness or connector. Way back in the 80's NASA and IPC did a boat load of studies on this which all came to the same conclusion.

What he said. A close friend is a Lockheed Rocket Scientist (literally) and was involved in many of the rockets that are used for space launches. He told me the same thing about soldering versus crimping. The bottom line is with a solder joint, you go from a flexible union to an inflexible one that can now fatique much easier especially in a mobile application.

I'm a former Navy data systems tech myself who's 3M Micro/ Miniature soldering certified (although admittedly that certification has lapsed by now). The USN also does not solder their shipboard wiring connections. They are ALL CRIMPED! What is soldered are board level components (resistors, transistors, etc.) but definitely not anything that can move like wire.

HTH.

 

[Squatchout]

Good info here but most everyone forgot one of my favorite finishing products. The best connection on a vehicle can be exposed to the enviornment and corrode. So I cover every connection. soldered and shrunk or crimp with liquid electrical tape. Great stuff especially on the exterior of the vehicle such as trailer wiring, boats ect. Good for color coding as well.
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Star-brite-Liquid-Electrical-Tape/dp/B0000AXNOD"]Amazon.com: Star brite Liquid Electrical Tape: Sports & Outdoors[/ame]