Crimping versus Soldering

[hellosailor]

ja-
About the only way to save on quality connectors is to close your eyes, bite the bullet, and buy the box of 100 ps. instead of buying a couple at a time. The damn things are simply expensive no matter how you look at it. You may find a local "electrical supply house" carries the same grades for a little less than other sources. The best ones often have a seamless copper tube as an inner lining. That's not tinned, but a dab of silicone grease before you insert the wire accomplishes the same purpose. The seamless inner liner is supposed to provide a more uniform crimp than any type of "seamed" construction. Beyond that...you have to see what is offered and make your own choice about whether it is good enough.

bh-
Those blade connectors are not all the same. If you look carefully at a brand name like Fast-On, you'll usually see a dimple neaer the edge of the blade. When you snap their "qd" fittings together, a bump on one piece snaps down into the dimple on the other, making them much harder to pull apart. And preventing them from slipping apart, even with lots of vibration. That's part of the reason why they may be several times the cost of the "500 for $5" packs, they simply aren't all the same.

[redcobra]

Since I spent gobs of money on the boat, I am not going to skimp on a racheting crimper and the proper terms and shrink. I have been known to crimp, solder (rosin based), then shrink/seal. Then I lace a loom on multiple connections such as the DC panel.

[oldmedic499]

i have used brush on sealer with good results for many years

[sandcruiser]

one note of importance: lower-priced (maybe higher priced as well) ratcheting crimpers are almost always designed for insulated crimps/terminals. They won't get tight enough on a bare terminal/crimp

and if you plan to use your own heat shrink (or adhesive lined shrink) then you probably want bare terminals

I discovered this after doing a really good job on re-wiring an area behind the dash of my truck. Many (many!) of the crimps failed, and with some investigation it is clear that it is because the crimper assumes a thin layer of plastic (the insulation) on insulated crimps. Without that extra layer, they don't get tight enough.

So while a ratcheting tool is the "better" option, it is not foolproof nor perfect. Just my 2 cents.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by sandcruiser

one note of importance: lower-priced (maybe higher priced as well) ratcheting crimpers are almost always designed for insulated crimps/terminals. They won't get tight enough on a bare terminal/crimp

and if you plan to use your own heat shrink (or adhesive lined shrink) then you probably want bare terminals

I discovered this after doing a really good job on re-wiring an area behind the dash of my truck. Many (many!) of the crimps failed, and with some investigation it is clear that it is because the crimper assumes a thin layer of plastic (the insulation) on insulated crimps. Without that extra layer, they don't get tight enough.

So while a ratcheting tool is the "better" option, it is not foolproof nor perfect. Just my 2 cents.

They are also meant to be used with high quality crimp terminals like those made by AMP, FTZ or Ancor to name a few. The stuff you buy at Wal*Mart, or many auto-parts stores, does not always have a thick enough copper wall and no strain relief sleeve thus it won't crimp down tight enough because the material on cheap crimp connectors is thinner..

[sandcruiser]

Yup
Could have been that as well.

I don't recall the brand name of the crimps that I bought, but I did get them from a 'reputable' source and they were not particularly low priced.

Still... live and learn.

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

They are also meant to be used with high quality crimp terminals like those made by AMP, FTZ or Ancor to name a few. The stuff you buy at Wal*Mart, or many auto-parts stores, does not have a thick enough copper wall and no strain relief sleeve thus it won't crimp down tight enough because the material on cheap crimp connectors is thinner..

[flatracker]

While I do not in any way disagree with Maine or the dog, I do mine differently. Been doing it the same way for a long time, and have never ever had any connections fail. I use a crimp connector, using a non ratcheting tool. One of the cheapos from the box stores. For a reason. This leaves a slight gap at the wire end of the crimp. I then solder the crimp connection, apply a light coating of 5200, and heat shrink over that. Heat from the center out, forcing the 5200 out the ends of the heat shrink. Then apply a coating of liquid tape over that. May be the wrong way to do it, and might be overkill, but it works for me.

[sandcruiser]

"might be overkill"

just maybe
but I'm not surprised to hear that you haven't had failures
I don't think I would have the patience to do that many steps.

Originally Posted by flatracker

While I do not in any way disagree with Maine or the dog, I do mine differently. Been doing it the same way for a long time, and have never ever had any connections fail. I use a crimp connector, using a non ratcheting tool. One of the cheapos from the box stores. For a reason. This leaves a slight gap at the wire end of the crimp. I then solder the crimp connection, apply a light coating of 5200, and heat shrink over that. Heat from the center out, forcing the 5200 out the ends of the heat shrink. Then apply a coating of liquid tape over that. May be the wrong way to do it, and might be overkill, but it works for me.

[mitiempo]

Proper heatshrink connector or good connector and separate heat shrink works very well and is quite fast.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by mitiempo

Proper heatshrink connector or good connector and separate heat shrink works very well and is quite fast.

Yes, very easy, waterproof and quick. I made about 20 crimps last night and shrunk them. This took all of about 6 minutes. I pay about 0.36 ea for these 10-12ga ring terminals, so they don't have to be expensive either.

I just keep imagining the messy visual of all that 5200 and liquid electrical tape..

Crimped & Shrunk - Top
Crimped - Bottom




You can see the pile of crimped wires in the back ground.