Soldering vs butt crimpings?

[danez_yoda]

Solder is of course better for electrical connectivity but more of a pain. Especially with low temperature wire insulation that will shrink and melt on you. You have to make a good mechanical connection between the wires before soldering. side by side is not as good as J hooks. I don't like Jhooks because they tend to leave pointy ends stickout out. I like to push the stranded ends about 1/2" inside each other then twist slightly to hold them together. Then solder a football shaped joint. nice and smooth. then liquid tape followed by heat shrink for water proof seals.

That is a pain under a dash or in tight spaces. get a GOOD crimp tool and the proper sized scrimps for the wire being use and you will be much more efficient. Practice on a few wires, you should do a pull test and the wires will break before the pull out of the crimp. Ideally the wires break outside the crimp site.

Much faster.

That said in my youth in the 80s, I install may car stereos with only twisting about 3/4" of stripped ends together then wrapping with black tape.

I was known for very good and reliable installs for the 3 years in High school I did it. My own car lasted many years after high school with twisted and taped connections in south Texas with high humidity.

Don't sweat it too much.

 

[tom slick]

If you crimp, use the terminals with heat shrink on them not the usual cheap vinyl insulation. 3m and Molex both make good quality crimp connectors.

 

[Anon9283]

I recently had to rewire three of the doors on our Jeep due to cracked and broken old wires. I used terminals that you crimp on each end and then use a heat gun to melt solder in the center and then heat the heat shrink on the ends. Very solid conection!! Highly recommend. My first time using them and it was super easy

 

[sleddriver]

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.

+1
Decades ago I bought a Paladin(?)ratchet crimp frame + several dies for all types of connections. Expensive to say the least. However, it will make a quality crimp on near everything. A crimp of this type is a true cold weld due to the compound action.

I've also soldered many connectors. All depends.

 

[cb_13]

For a combination of ease of use/performance I most often use these style of crimp and cover it with shrink wrap. A quality crimp tool is a must for these, the ratcheting type is preferred. If everything I did was laid out flat on a bench I’d solder it all but my solder skills are lacking at oddball angles like working under a dash.

Link

 

[NYEngineer]

I have some real high quality crimping tools and have used them with quality connectors with great success.
A while back, I built a hot rod for a friend that was his daily driver. I wanted the utmost in dependability so I spent about forty hours soldering every connection. This was a throttle body efi car we built in 1999. He drove that car until he sold it in 2014 and never had an issue ever that was caused by wiring. Of course a part failed here or there but that car never left him stranded.

 

[JHZR2]

Is this going to be exposed to elements, or inside the cabin?

Ive liked the crimp connections that you heat, which flow solder in and shrink around the joint. At minimum I like the crimp connections that self-shrink/seal, and then cover them with a larger length of heat shrink tubing.

 

[Cujet]

We do use crimped connectors in the aviation world. Although I still see people using those open ended, strain relief splices, most of the time we use some form of environmental splice. The most simple flavor is a metal connector that gets crimped (sometimes called a solder sleeve) then a preformed heat shrinkable section is positioned over and heated. It has a seal on each end and is very compact when complete.

https://www.silverstatewire.com/crimp-kits?c=113&sort=price&dir=desc

 

[SHOZ]

I like to use non insulated barrel crimp fittings then heat shrink over them. The crimp tool is important. The Amazon one listed earlier would do the job.

But there are time when solder is better. A tap is one situation.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Both require skill to execute proper connections... the problem with crimps is MOST people don't have quality tools AND connectors/splices.

I've never had issue with either technique and both have their pros/cons depending on the situation. When soldering heat or risk of fire can be an issue. Other times the "bulk" of the crimper can be challenging in tight spaces. As of late, I've been using crimped connections a lot more often. However that follows acquisition of better tooling and quality connectors/splices... all of which are not cheap. Granted, I never had an issue prior with cheaper supplies and even crimp AND soldering connections.


I have three main crimpers:
* environmental butt splice (DMC GMT232 $100-200)
* nylon double-crimp connectors (Compass Marine $150)
* heat-shrink connectors (Compass Marine $150)

The environmental splices (a seamless butt-connector with heat-activated adhesive tube) are the [censored] for joining wires and are super-compact (MIL/Aviation) but expensive ($1-2/ea per splice). The nylon double-crimp connectors are good when you don't need a weather-proof connection ($0.30/ea) and the provide strain-relief. Heat-shrink connectors are good for exposed connections ($0.40/ea) and they also provide strain-relief.

Brands of crimps to look for: TE/AMP, TYCO/Raychem, 3M, FTZ, etc...

 

[vavavroom]

A properly crimped connection is cold-welded. So I'm not sure that a properly crimped connection is more vibration resistant than a soldered connection. Mechanical stress on the wire end is reduced by heat-shrinking or by wrapping with tape whichever method is used. I'll take a well-soldered connection over a poorly crimped one.

 

[meep]

my own experience. I rarely crimp, I'll solder 99.9% of the time, and have since learning to help my dad in the early 80s. I can't think of a crimp that ever failed, but for certain the solder joints stayed tighter and cleaner if I was in there working nearby later. I had a used boat some years later and recall finding a few crimped connections that didn't look so good, but still functioned. Interior I solder and tape. Exterior I solder and REALLY tape, and bring in shrink wrap when needed. The only go-backs I've created was when tapping to the body or frame for ground, and that's not been a solder issue but an interface issue between a ring terminal and thin body panels.

I also trust solder much more with high current connections, say 30A+. While an iron or gun can't really heat those well, a butane-fueled lighter does great, and I don't have to worry about it.

-m

 

[andyd]

I use the same crimp ons I used in the tel/data days. also bare loops for old Fords. My brother was a Ford mechanic early on. He ended up with all the old hardware that a dlr ship was making NLA. When he moved, I took probably 600 pounds of it. Most is fine thread SAE with electrical stuff sprinkled here and there. The main deal with wiring is a good connection and strain relief.

 

[buck91]

Any inherent problem crimping three wires into one terminal, front r same a common ground?

 

[SHOZ]

Originally Posted By: buck91
Any inherent problem crimping three wires into one terminal, front r same a common ground?
Not as long as it's big enough to take all the wire. Use good strain relief too.

 

[buck91]

Originally Posted By: SHOZ
Originally Posted By: buck91
Any inherent problem crimping three wires into one terminal, front r same a common ground?
Not as long as it's big enough to take all the wire. Use good strain relief too.


Spent some time in the parts store with a few scrap snippings checking it out. Looks like some 6ga battery lugs (the plain copper things) fit pretty reasonable with my 12awg gxl. Going to scoop up a HF hydraulic crimper and run a test crimp first but this should work out pretty well.

 

[thescreensavers]

I use adhesive heat shrink butt splices. It's sealed and won't come apart.

 

[buck91]

3x 12awg fit nicely in a 4ga lug and crimped well using a 6 awg die. I did backflow solder just to ensure a good connection.

 

[Danomite]

40 years in the utility industry doing relay and control work . EVERYTHING is crimped . EVERYTHING . Even nuclear facilities . Open a control panel anywhere in the world and you will see crimped connections . Use a quality tool and the correct size connector and do it right . You won't have any problems .

And I didn't see anybody else mention this , only crimp stranded wire . Solid wire should be soldered or use mechanical connectors .

 

[zzyzzx]

IMO, Soldering >> crimping. The only way I ever crimp is if I can't get a soldering iron the space provided.