Projects Hot rod wiring-crimp on or solder?

Crimp on terminals make a good temporary fix, if you are careful. Soldering makes a good permanent fix, if you know how to solder.

I'm not talking about some special aircraft terminals applied by a NASA trained scientist with $1000 crimpers. I'm talking about the (shitty) repairs I see around here, that I have to fix.

 

My history in in the automotive industry.

I crimp, but not the type with the red blue or yellow plastic on, the uninsulated ones with the tangs that have to be bent round the wire and insulation. I bought the correct type of crimper (not too expensive but hard to find).

I then just put a bit of heat shrink round it and call it good.

I just did my 33 from end to end like this, and although it won't win any prizes, it all works like it should.

Mart.

 

Crimp on terminals all work like they should, the first day. If they are all still working after a year's driving, including the ones exposed to the weather, you did an outstanding job.

 

been a crimper for 25 years. the only crimp that ever failed was a side of the road repair I made where the wire was actually too short when I put it back together. I knew it was strained, but it was just suppose to get me home. 6 months later the wire came out of the terminal and then I fixed it right.

I say solder all you want if it makes you feel better... for some here it seems it not only makes them feel better, but also superior.

 

I wonder how many of the superior solder'ers are hobbyists, versus pro-builders. I build cars for a living. I crimp everything, with the proper tool. Never have crimps come apart. Never had a customer complain, doubly so when they got the quote to solder and heat shrink instead.

 

I work in the Heavy Trucking Industry, and for safety/liability/dependability reasons, this is how I do all joints and connectors. The best, period, in my opinion. If you have cloth covered wiring, and want to hide the heat shrink, every hardware store sells cloth electrical "friction" tape. wrap a small piece of it around the heat shrink to hide it. Oh, and use the expensive heat shrink that has the "sealant" already in it.

Drew

I'm no hobbiest or "pro-builder", and in my field, most customers demand more than butt-connectors and vampire clips. Then again I don't work on "hobby" cars for a living either. I work on vehicles that the owners income depends on the reliability of my work, so I do the job in the most professional way possible.

 

Modern cars are all built with crimp terminals that's hundreds per car, and millions of cars running reliably on the road. UNINSULATED crimp on terminals, used with a suitable tool are neat and tidy, and look right too, when used with a bit of heat shrink. If solder makes you feel good, ok, but you don't really need to do it.

We're building simple old cars here, not space shuttles.

Mart.

 

Wonder if the guy that started this thread will ever come back, or is the car for sale now? Bob

 

I have been around boats and cars all of my life and as others have said, soldered connections are wrong on things that vibrate. I personally crimp, solder and shrink tube all connections. The problem with just soldering high current connections is they can get hot enough to melt out the solder and leave you with a loose connection. If you crimp it first the connection will be mechanically solid and the solder will carry the current.

 

Does the insulation start to smoke first? Bob

 

That is true, but they don't use crappy auto parts store connectors either. They are using sealed weather paks, deutz connectors, etc... that require special tools to get a proper crimp, and are packed with dielectric grease to keep corrosion out.

 

if the wire gets hot enough to melt solder, you most likely have smoke and/or fire. the circuit was not properly fused. just my opinion...jack

 

No the car is not for sale, and I have been here throughout just reading and absorbing info. Thanks to all who responded!

 

I'm a big fan of the Wurth Crimp/Solder/Seal Connectors.

You can see them in their catalog.

http://www.wurthusa.com/web/media/downloads/pdf/pdf_catalog/03_Electrical_March2012.pdf

There are cheaper alternatives, bit they just don't seem as good to me.

 

Like many I used to do both crimp then solder until I read several articles about problems with soldering cracking and losing contact in vehicles. I dug up some coin and bought a good crimper. Now I only crimp and heat shrink.

 

Strain relief is important no matter how you attach a terminal. Also what people do miss is that they should allow enough slack to get another terminal on that wire down the road in case of a repair.

Most of my wiring practices come straight out of what I see in military applications. Crimping... all the terminals are mil-spec and the tooling is calibrated on a regular basis.

On cars, the problems I see is with people crimping wires with channelock pliers or dykes. Or using the wrong terminal for the wire gauge. All anyone needs is a good quality teminal assortment and a good crimp tool. I've been using a Thomas & Betts assortment and crimp tool for years.

Bob

 

Soldering is actually harder than it looks... to do it right. Leave flux on the connection and it can fail. Overheat the wire, it will eventually break. Use a terminal made for crimping that is not tinned, it may look fully soldered but it isn't.

I'm a bit anal about anything I solder. I'll tin the wire first, clean off the flux residue. Like I said above, if the component you're soldering to isn't tinned or able to be tinned, it won't solder. Look up "wetting" and "solderability".

Bob

 

My thoughts exactly! I bet his 2nd question he needed opinion on was 'whether to set timing with a vacuum gage or not?'

 

I use the Ancor parts as much as possible. The are designed for high corrosion enviroments and are a very good quality product. I have Been a electrician for the CG for 19 years and the only time we solder items is for cannon plugs otherwise it is crimp repairs. When wiring cars I also try to limit in line splices by using new connectors instead of splicing pig tails.

 

Hey OJ look a couple of posts up from yours.

 

Mart, Could you post the name of the crimper you use. If I'm going to crimp stuff I might as well buy the proper tool. Bob

 

The first one I got was about 20 years ago and was made by Stanley. I bought one recently made by Draper but I think they maybe only marketed in the UK.

Mart.

 

I've been wiring cars a long time also, I rely on a very good crimping tool, and very good quality strippers, they make the job simpler. I only crimp, its worked for me for a number of years, my complaint is now, its getting difficult to buy in bulk, so I have stock, seems china also dominates the wiring business, getting harder to buy quality parts these days.

 

I've been soldering wires for 40 years and never had one fail. Seen a few crimped joints fail though.