Soldering vs butt crimpings?

[buck91]

Going to be building a relay harness for my F150 and not sure if there is any real reason to select on over the other. Historically I have erred to soldered connections, whether its car audio or chassis electrical, under the impression they are more reliable and offer lower impedance. That said, I can't recall ever having troubles with connections I have crimped. In fact, the stereo in my truck is installed with quality butt crimps (butt splice?) connectors.

I'm pretty tempted to go with the crimped connections on this relay harness unless BITOG can talk me into the extra time and effort for soldered joints.

 

[redbone3]

Crimped is probably more resistant to vibration. When you solder a wire some of the solder wicks up the wire away from the connection. That part of the wire is brittle from the solder and will break more easily.

 

[CT8]

You will have to decide which technique to use . Poor craftsmanship on either would make for a poor connection.

 

[Kira]

Are any of the components heat sensitive?

 

[bullwinkle]

If you decide to solder them, be sure to use heat shrink on all the connections. I use butt splices all the time, but if moisture or salt can get to them, even the ones with grease inside will eventually corrode in two.

 

[Mr Nice]

Originally Posted By: redbone3
Crimped is probably more resistant to vibration. When you solder a wire some of the solder wicks up the wire away from the connection. That part of the wire is brittle from the solder and will break more easily.


I agree.

 

[maxdustington]

Originally Posted By: buck91
Historically I have erred to soldered connections, whether its car audio or chassis electrical, under the impression they are more reliable and offer lower impedance.


That's what I thought too, but then I read that crimped connectors are used in automotive applications due to vibration. The best thing is the 3M heat shink crimped connectors according to my research.

 

[Oildudeny]

Solder and heat shrink or 3m super 88 electrical tape.

Do it right walk away and you'll sleep better at night.

 

[Trav]

Some years ago (no idea if they still do) Harley used crimp connectors so that should tell you something about vibration if they hold up in those, course it didn't help the light reflectors from shaking loose.

 

[doitmyself]

LOL, this debate is much more passionate than conventional vs. synthetic. That the marine and aviation industries endorse crimped connectors says a lot. However, CT8 is correct that either choice depends on doing it correctly. People dismiss what a quality solder or crimp joint actually is. I would lean on doing a proper crimp, using the proper tool and high quality connectors.

 

[incognito_2u]

A soldered connection (properly done) is a thousand times more secure than ANY crimp connection out there.........never had one go bad!
Spoken from experience!

 

[Oildudeny]

Military splice and wrap

 

[incognito_2u]

60/40 solder and some heat shrink tubing does wonders!

 

[incognito_2u]

37 years experience talking here, but you make the decision that works best for you!

 

[Chris142]

If you use crimps you need a good crimping tool. Not the one from the bargain bin at the dollar store. I like to solder them myself. The car will be scrapped before that wire breaks from solder.

 

[spackard]

Aviation and aerospace uses a much higher quality connector and crimp tools than the junk sold at retail auto stores. *If* you have aerospace-quality crimps, no problem. Same with soldering.
Problem is people who don't have quality connectors and don't have soldering skills.

If you can do a top-quality crimp, then this is what I believe:
Serviceability: crimped
Fire/overcurrent: crimped

Other than that, if you have top-quality skills, solder.

Use top-quality wire. You can't get that from retail auto stores. Aircraft Spruce is a good source, but it has mfgr. traceability tags on it so a bit overkill.

But to just say 'aircraft uses crimp, so if I crimp mine will be as good as aircraft' is fallacious.
It's more than just a choice of crimp vs solder, it's materials and skill.

 

[buck91]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
If you use crimps you need a good crimping tool. Not the one from the bargain bin at the dollar store. I like to solder them myself. The car will be scrapped before that wire breaks from solder.



I have a dedicated wire crimper, a Gardner-Bender GS-388 (Amazon Link) . Good enough? I know I didn't spend a ton of money on it, but seems to work well for me??

 

[blupupher]

Anything exterior I would (and do) solder and heat shrink. Anything high amps, I also solder.
I do tend to solder and heat shrink most stuff, even if internal, but have used crimp connectors on some basic wiring.

 

[spackard]

The tool depends on the terminal.
This guy demonstrates (and makes it look easy):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u_EkMsioMY

 

[eljefino]

The heat shrink terminals with hot glue inside are the cat's [censored]. Keeps corrosion down as much as anything can.