Thread: What kind of plugs/connectors can I solder? Low current, auto wire. (Spade?)

It just occurred to me that I have seen a solder crimp cover of sorts.

You can get the non insulated crimps with clear plastic covers. So you could crimp them on (or not) and then apply solder. Then slip the cover over.

I only solder connectors on when I am using a crimp connector that is too large or small for the cable and folding the wire over still doesn't make it big enough. More of a get out of jail thing than an every day thing.

Sounds like you want something like this:

Trade Pack 50 X 3 9 Japanese Bullet Connector Plus PRO Crimpers Honda Yamaha | eBay

I worked for a company building road maintenance trucks for a few years. They would not let us just crimp wires, unless it was for a specific connector. such as deustch plugs.

Most OEM harnesses are crimped because its cheaper and faster for a machine to crimp the joints.

Our auto electrician would always solder every connection he could reach. his reasoning was that as good as crimps can be they can over time work loose with vibration,

till the acid in the flux eats away the copper and then the slightest bit of vibration causes a break.

I can tell you that aircraft don't have soldered connections. All connections are done mechanically.
Crimps crimp the wire and the insulation this gives the connection strain relief.
Soldered joints have no strain relief and also suffer from wicking which is where the solder wicks up the wire and under the insulation. Of course you can use anti wicking tweezers however I doubt that most people have seen or heard of these before.
Any flex at the soldered joint will result in the wire eventually breaking.

A correctly crimped connection will fuse the wire and the crimp due to the force involved.

Originally Posted by bee utey

Sounds like you want something like this:

Trade Pack 50 X 3 9 Japanese Bullet Connector Plus PRO Crimpers Honda Yamaha | eBay

Now we're talking. That type of fold over crimp appeals to me a bit more too. With the option of soldering as well, I like it.

Originally Posted by Geedublya

I can tell you that aircraft don't have soldered connections. All connections are done mechanically.
Crimps crimp the wire and the insulation this gives the connection strain relief.
Soldered joints have no strain relief and also suffer from wicking which is where the solder wicks up the wire and under the insulation. Of course you can use anti wicking tweezers however I doubt that most people have seen or heard of these before.
Any flex at the soldered joint will result in the wire eventually breaking.

A correctly crimped connection will fuse the wire and the crimp due to the force involved.

I agree with your points and they are certainly some negatives to soldering. Like most things there are always pros and cons to consider. I would be interested to know what type of gear they use though - I doubt Boeing and AirBus have the same crimper I have.

To me it comes back to viable DIY options of crimp vs solder. The quality of my DIY crimps thus far have been poor and I consider my solder connections to be much better.

As always, discussion is uncovering some good options for both though.

I have tried soldering spade connectors before but found the crimped ones more that enough for the task and a huge step up from the old twist and tape method i used as a kid fitting stereo's in friends cars .