figgie said:funny thing it is not the Air Force reg. It is an FAA reg. The Air Force follows laws also
did you read that NASA link at the top of this page someone posted?
kinda interesting... what do you get from that?
calling all wiring gurus
- Thread starter cwapface
- Start date
did you read that NASA link at the top of this page someone posted?
kinda interesting... what do you get from that?
If you're worried about elements entering your crimped connection and causing corrosion then use a hot glue gun and glue the ends of the crimp when you're done, this will not only remove a source of chafing (wire against the crimp) but will keep anything from getting in there.
IHI-RHC7 said:
good to know that there is a general consensus at least. thanks for the info guys
back from the dead!!! muahhahaha
I've been using a way for some time now that encompasses both the conductivity of a crimp connection, and the cleanliness of a soldered connection.
Take the two wires you wish to join.
Strip 1/4" or so off the ends
Using a small pair of electronics pliers, trim the plastic sheathing off of a typical butt connector, or you can buy them without the plastic covering.
Cut an adequate piece of heat shrink tubing. enough to cover the butt connector and enough of each wire.
Take the now bare connector and crimp it onto one of the wires.
I neglected to do this, as they were just two lengths of wire, but slide the heat shrink onto the wire, and crimp the other connection.
Slide heat shrink over the now crimped connection, and heat.
(mine's a little crooked, but it gets the point across...)
The beauty of this connection is that it's strong, less prone to breakage, and waterproof.
Not to mention clean... I just wish I had positioned that heat shrink a bit more even... :icon_razz
IHI-RHC7 said:
I've been using a way for some time now that encompasses both the conductivity of a crimp connection, and the cleanliness of a soldered connection.
Take the two wires you wish to join.
Strip 1/4" or so off the ends
Using a small pair of electronics pliers, trim the plastic sheathing off of a typical butt connector, or you can buy them without the plastic covering.
Cut an adequate piece of heat shrink tubing. enough to cover the butt connector and enough of each wire.
Take the now bare connector and crimp it onto one of the wires.
I neglected to do this, as they were just two lengths of wire, but slide the heat shrink onto the wire, and crimp the other connection.
Slide heat shrink over the now crimped connection, and heat.
(mine's a little crooked, but it gets the point across...)
The beauty of this connection is that it's strong, less prone to breakage, and waterproof.
Not to mention clean... I just wish I had positioned that heat shrink a bit more even... :icon_razz
supra90turbo said:Take the now bare connector and crimp it.........
That was not done with the proper crimp tool. Don't use pliers to crimp butt connectors.
:biglaugh:
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Interesting post. Goes against most of what I have been educated on, including from the US Military. I can believe that about the strength. Solder is the weakest shit out there. You can wiggle a piece loose off the spool. It isn't needed on grounded vehicles.
Not about the coductivity of a butt connector though. I will test it tomorow with the Fluke 179.
+1 Figgie
Not about the coductivity of a butt connector though. I will test it tomorow with the Fluke 179.
That is a good reason there not to use it on an aircraft. It can break easily.some chemists page said:
from the same dudes page said:
+1 Figgie
The only soldered connections in your Supra from Toyota are on pc boards, everything else is crimped :icon_wink
Fluke 179 has .1 ohm resolution. I've got a Fluke 76 with .01 ohm resolution and a relative function to zero out resistance of the test leads and it still can't tell the difference.
Fluke 179 has .1 ohm resolution. I've got a Fluke 76 with .01 ohm resolution and a relative function to zero out resistance of the test leads and it still can't tell the difference.
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I just had to fix a friggen cold solder joint in my home theater receiver. jesus those things are a pain to take apart. Both solder and crimp is going to work fine in a car, what really matters is the person doing the job. Is he going to make a cold solder joint, or crimp too hard at the end and cut the wire off?
mattjk said:
Very true. The method used and the quality of the connection is the important part. I make my point more for the ones who look at butt connectors and think they are terrible connections. I always solder engine harnesses to lengthen them because it would be far too thick with crimped connections. Other times I will crimp or solder depending on the location of the connection. When done correctly either type can work just fine in most situations.
for a car soldering is fine, with a heat shrink tube ideally. but its much easier to use a crimp.... i really don't understand why anybody has anything against crimping
When I worked for the shipyard in Pearl harbor, we sort of did both. All the connector ends were all crimped, then soldered, and if there was a splice to be made, we used these special heat-shrink connectors that had a ring of solder in them. those were the bomb. no soldering iron needed, just use it like regular heat shrink, and you were done. as for the silver stuff, we rarely used it. I managed to score a spool of some 20 gauge stuff at one time and that was cool too.
bigaaron said:
LOL Aaron, no, I didn't use pliers or vice grips. I used some crimp tool, but it's worn out. I was working with what I had at my house. All my good tools are at my garage....
Any suggestions for where to get really good crimp tools? I could use a pair of better ones to go with the rest of my tools.
My 4 cents as an electronics design engineer:
1. Crimping is fast and reliable. If you need to make 150,000 wiring harnesses, what the most reliable and inexpensive way to do it? That's right: crimped connectors.
2. All the crimped connections I see in my car have both a wire crimp and an insulation crimp. You must have the insulation crimp for mechanical strength.
3. Those "smash with pliers" butt connectors are crap because they don't crimp right, even with the right tool, plus there's no insulation crimp. A well-made solder joint is better than that. Look at the crimps on the factory connectors. It's not just a smash. The tabs on the terminal wrap into each other into the stranded wire, adding surface area to the connection.
4. Soldering takes more skill than crimping. You can hand an assembler automated tools and train them for an hour and they'll make perfect crimps every time. I've been soldering for 20 years and still mess it up sometimes.
Asterix
1. Crimping is fast and reliable. If you need to make 150,000 wiring harnesses, what the most reliable and inexpensive way to do it? That's right: crimped connectors.
2. All the crimped connections I see in my car have both a wire crimp and an insulation crimp. You must have the insulation crimp for mechanical strength.
3. Those "smash with pliers" butt connectors are crap because they don't crimp right, even with the right tool, plus there's no insulation crimp. A well-made solder joint is better than that. Look at the crimps on the factory connectors. It's not just a smash. The tabs on the terminal wrap into each other into the stranded wire, adding surface area to the connection.
4. Soldering takes more skill than crimping. You can hand an assembler automated tools and train them for an hour and they'll make perfect crimps every time. I've been soldering for 20 years and still mess it up sometimes.
Asterix
Thanks JJ, I'll be searching around eBay now for some connectors and the crimp tool now. :bigthumb:
agreed with Jetlock
I used to have bags upon bags of aerospace crimps that I had in the airforce. I gave them all away when I got out since I didn't have the nice crimpers available to me that I had in the Air Force.. of course ,now wish I didn't but oh well. Plenty of aerospace electronic places around here
I used to have bags upon bags of aerospace crimps that I had in the airforce. I gave them all away when I got out since I didn't have the nice crimpers available to me that I had in the Air Force.. of course ,now wish I didn't but oh well. Plenty of aerospace electronic places around here
in light of this thread, my opinion has only changed slightly.
before:
solder: best
crimp connecters (radio shack type): worst
now:
aerospace-grade crimp connecters: best
solder: better
radio shack crimp connecters: still worst
ill still be soldering everything with confidence.
before:
solder: best
crimp connecters (radio shack type): worst
now:
aerospace-grade crimp connecters: best
solder: better
radio shack crimp connecters: still worst
ill still be soldering everything with confidence.
Talking about basic car wiring connections with you aerospace guys is like talking about car stereos with a home audiophile guy. :nuts:
You can never be right and what you use is never good enough. :biglaugh:
Most peoples cars here will never be subjected -100 degrees F or 10g's or go past 50k feet.
You can never be right and what you use is never good enough. :biglaugh:
Most peoples cars here will never be subjected -100 degrees F or 10g's or go past 50k feet.