Thread: Soldering irons

Originally Posted by loanrangie

I have seen bad crimps and bad soldering so i dont think either is a perfect solution and both can fail, i would trust a good soldered joint with heat shrink added before a crimped joint.

I did all three (crimp, solder and wrap) on all joints 10 years ago when I rewired my engine bay, etc.

Absolutely no regrets.

DL

It never ceases to amuse me to see how few people can crimp a connector properly, and resort to soldering to hide their poor workmanship.

I've spent the last 30+ years doing LPG conversions and associated electrics and crimped terminals form a reliable connection if done correctly, no soldering required, ever. Most importantly, both the terminals plus the tools must be of good quality, and the wire should fit the chosen terminal. If the amount of stripped wire doesn't fill the connector cavity, you either twist the wire to bulk it up or double it over. Crimp it until it squeaks and it'll never come off. Both the fully insulated and plated non insulated terminals work just fine without soldering. Thin plain brass female Faston connectors are a waste of time, soldered or not. Utilux used to make excellent non insulated plated connectors, I haven't been able to get any for a while. Some of the LPG gear I buy comes with little packets of suitable plated crimp connectors and none of them ever get soldered as they don't need it.

As for soldering, I tend to reserve that for joining wires inside harnesses, where the wire is fully supported by the neighbouring wires that protect the joints from mechanical stresses. That and decent heat shrink.

Utilux used to make excellent non insulated plated connectors

Yes, they did. And they were solder terminals, not a crimp tool in sight.

Originally Posted by p38arover

Some years back I had friends in the RAAF who worked on electronics. They had to do a high reliability soldering course. After every use of the solder, they had to snip off the end of the solder wire to expose fresh resin.



I use these crimp terminals



I have the right tool to fold the tabs in like this (actually, better than this):

Is there a name for this tool or do you know where to get one ?

Originally Posted by Old Farang

Well, there is no way that I would call the terminal posted by p38arover a crimp terminal

Well, I dunno. A hell of a lot of them were used in cars and electrical appliances, e.g., whitegoods, and they were never soldered. The ones I have are Utilux.

Originally Posted by Debacle

Is there a name for this tool or do you know where to get one ?

I think I bought mine from Utilux. I think they are called Molex crimping tools. See http://www.overclock.net/t/1234028/a...-molex-crimper

Originally Posted by p38arover

Well, I dunno. A hell of a lot of them were used in cars and electrical appliances, e.g., whitegoods, and they were never soldered. The ones I have are Utilux.



I think I bought mine from Utilux. I think they are called Molex crimping tools. See Anyone used the modDIY Molex Crimper?

The biggest problem with those sorts of ratchet crimpers .................. Is fitting them where you need them (in dashboards, around the motor etc.....).

I have the ratchet crimps for insulated terminals too. I can't say I really trust them. With the non-insulated terminal crimpers pictured, at least you can see the crimp to verify it actually looks ok

seeya
Shane L.

Originally Posted by p38arover

Some years back I had friends in the RAAF who worked on electronics. They had to do a high reliability soldering course. After every use of the solder, they had to snip off the end of the solder wire to expose fresh resin.

HRHS - High Reliability Hand Soldering, joints were inspected under a microscope, no re-work permitted, joints that were not to specification had to be de-soldered and redone.
There was also a course called Mechanical Connections where looming and crimping were taught. In this course it was explained why correctly done crimp connections are better than solder for joining wires.