TECH:Quick little beginers guide to terminating wires for beginners

Did I mention this was for beginners? Don't make fun of me. This is not the Be All End All. I'm not looking to post anything new or groundbreaking. If you have a better way then awesome! Put together a thread and share with the world, it's how us hacks learn to grow.

I do have a couple friends who would like to know this stuff and I happen to have some pictures so here it goes. Please forgive the shitty pics. But I think it's enough to get the idea.

Stuff I use in this little example:

Butane Torch
Lighter
Solder (thin)
Shrink wrap
Blade connector
Electrical pliers

First make sure you have a little torch. It so damn useful. Keep a lighter handy too. You can get this at home depot for 20$



For this example I'm sticking a female blade connector on a 14 gauge wire. Obviously this works with ring connectors and bullet connectors etc..



Shrink wrap



First things first. Because it ALWAYS happens that you realize you didn't put the shrink wrap on til AFTER you terminate the wire. The FIRST thing you do is cut the wrap down to size and slip it on. Here you can see the wrap slipped on and 1/4" or so of wire stripped away.



For cloth wire I'll give it a little burn to defray the end..



Cut away any plastic BS the connector may have on it so it's naked. Then slide the connector on and crimp with your pliers. This is where most folks stop and call it a day. Not good enough.



The next step happens quickly, because you want to get a nice solid connection that wont pull out.

Use the torch to directly heat the area where the end of the wire is crimped in the terminal. It should only take a few seconds, but you should see it flash a little. That's when you're ready to add a dab of solder. Don't overheat it, you don't want to melt the insulation.



When it flashes or after 3 or 4 seconds add a dab. A dab is all it takes. Don't Bill Hines it okay? It should flow right off the solder stick and saturate the wire.



Now let it chill for a bit. Literally. If you're too excited and try to pull the wrap up it will shrink too soon and look weird.

After you've moved on to another and let this one sit for a minute you can come back and slip the shrink wrap up to cover the connection plus a little of the blade part or ring or whatever.



Finally use your torch to shrink it down. Don't let the flame contact the wrap directly just hold it around and it'll do great. Boom you're done. Sorry it's fuzzy.

 

Nice little tech piece.

Now I'll throw a bit of a wrench in it. MANY EE's and aerospace, automotive and other Engineers will say that soldering is Not a good idea in a high vibration environment like a car. The problem is two fold, one the soldering makes a brittle area where the copper wire and tin of the solder come together. Two, the solder can cause a higher degree of corrosion due to electrolysis from the dissimilar metals. (some folks argue this one saying you already have dissimilar metals in the connector to wire, but you do introduce more metals with solder)

There was a time when many automotive connections, and repairs were always soldered, but Volkswagen and Porsche for instance now Require all repairs or replacement wiring to be done with crimps.

Most crimped connections fail due to crappy terminals and even crappier tools. If a connection is properly crimped, it will have a great connection and plenty of "Pull" strength for automotive use. but if all you have is a Harbor Freight 2 dollar crimp tool and Home Depot terminals, then you are probably better off soldering - just make sure the solder connection is Not COLD, or it will fail as well.


Just something to think about.

 

I knew one of youse guys was gonna come along and foil my plans to terrorize the hot rod community with slowly vibrated solder connection failures! World Domination=Fail ++

I'll have you know, Mr Pertronix, that not only did I void my pertronix warranty by cutting into the damn thing and replacing the ugly wires with cloth ones, I'm also running solid core plug wires! Take that! And it runs like a raped ape!

 

Nice tech! I like to use a dab of flux on the wire before heating it up. Aside from the awesome aroma, the strands of wire absorb the solder like a sponge.

 

Plus most people's crimps suck.

 

I like soldering them myself. I figure if it vibrating bad enough to fail you probably should have tied things up and out of the way before you had a problem!

 

OK, quick note to self if we see a warranty from the Dreddy man. If it is a Ignitor 1 the solid cores don't usually cause a problem (unlike the II & III) but you didn't hear it from me.

 

GM is on board with this and requires crimp and seal connectors, Don't buy them at GM though they want like 3 bucks each for them, They can be found online much cheaper for the same connectors.

That being said, I still solder and shrink a lot of stuff, I suppose it's just old habit but I have never had a comeback with a failure due to a problem at the connector.

 

How much vibration do you think you get in most connections? Solder if you want.




Ago

 

I am crushed to know that my Harbor Freight crimper won't do a good job.
Honestly, who sells a good crimper?

 

Nice tech.

The soldering/crimping argument has come up before. My personal experience is that I have seen crimping connections fail, but I can not recall a soldering connection that failed in an automotive applications. I had a Ford factory crimp connector break on my daily driver just the other day. I use both methods but I favor soldering when I can.

John

 

Dreddy, I too am guilty of crimp, solder and shrink, as I feel like it is the only way to build a hot rod. I can not disagree with the aerohead boys but I think the "vibration cycles" may exceed anything a street rod will ever see. Now I am curious as different applications surely are relative but in what way? Smarty pants, hotroddon! Do you put the Pertonix on the space shuttle or what?? I mean, really, I can think of no hot rod where a crimp/solder connector has failed, at least where it was done correctly. Okay, who has a story outside of the Pertonix Space Mission?

 

Actually the Harbor Freight double crimping tool is a good item. I use a name brand tool just like it that I paid at least 4 times the price. I tried a HF recently and found that it is a dead ringer for mine and works great.

John

 

I worked for over 40 years in the location recording industry. I've built everything from simple connection cable to analog mixing panels, rf microphone equipment and completely rewired specialized recording decks. I was taught the correct procedure to strip, tin and solder connections. The equipment that I built was constantly subjected to vibration and environmental elements, I never had a connection fail and have never seen a copper wire strand become brittle from the soldering process. In the '60s when I first started building hot rods, I soldered every connection and have never had a failure. As stated before, crimping can be just as effective, but not with the consumer tools or ends.

 

I crimp with locking ratchet type crimpers bought from Advance auto do a careful job make sure the crimp is tight and move on.


Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!

 

Nice tech dreddy

I've never seen a wire break from solder, or a joint fail from solder.
Not saying it does or doesn't , just my personal experience.

I've seen crimped connections corrode (most commonly) wires corrode up inside the insulation, terminals break, wires break inside the insulation for no obviously apparent reason, seen wires break from bending ( doors & deck lids), seen wires chafe, seen crimps come loose even a few of my own, household wire nuts come loose, screw down terminals come loose.

But I've never seen a joint fail from solder.
Some of them around 100 years old.

 

Nice tech article. I've been doing it that way (except for the torch - I use my trusty Weller soldering gun) and I haven't had a failure in 50-years of wiring.

 

Solder is better than crappy crimps, and I've heard people suggest it if all you can make are crappy crimps. But, those people also recommend getting the tools so you don't make crappy crimps.

 

Speaking of Weller soldering guns, they make the normal consumer gun 100/140, and the high heat killer version 200/260, WOW, what a difference, really a big advantage with the large wires such as 8-14 gauge.

 

The "crimping vs soldering" debate is never going to be settled one way or the other. It really boils down to personal preference and the techniques you are comfortable with. I crimp, even battery lug terminals. The main reason is that I have done wiring in the marine industry and soldered terminals are not accepted on boats because of the reasons Hotroddon mentioned......ie, it creates brittle joints that can fail. The heat from the soldering process hardens the wire slightly and makes it a little more brittle and prone to cracking under stress.

As for what tools to use, I have some very expensive crimpers and strippers but ultimately end up using my trusty pair of ChannelLock $30 crimping pliers. They are easy to use and deform the end of the terminal properly so that you get a good connection. Here are the ones I use:



I also do not use wire or terminal ends from an auto parts store, I buy mine at a marine store where they sell Ancor brand wiring supplies. They are high quality and tinned very well to prevent corrosion.

If you do prefer to solder, make sure you use rosin core solder instead of the solder you use to join copper tubing, as it will not corrode the wire.

Don

 

And crappy solder joints are worse than Good Crimps - it's a vicious circle isn't it?

 

I have one like Don above that I use for certain jobs.
I also have this one, which is overkill for many people that I use when doing a whole car


And I have a specialty one for doing Deutsch connectors like Harley's use.

 

Ooooooh, that's nice.

Don

 

Abyc guide lines.

11.16.3.7. Solder shall not be the sole means of
mechanical connection in any circuit. If soldered, the
connection shall be so located or supported as to
minimize flexing of the conductor where the solder
changes the flexible conductor into a solid conductor.

EXCEPTION: Battery lugs with a solder contact
length of not less than 1.5 times the diameter of the
conductor.



NOTE: When a stranded conductor is soldered, the
soldered portion of the conductor becomes a solid
strand conductor, and flexing can cause the
conductor to break at the end of the solder joint
unless adequate additional support is provided.

I don't know if the American boat and yacht guidelines are the law but ....
I doesn't say solder is not accepted!
It says solder is not to be the "sole means" of mechanical connection. So if its crimped that is one means and if solder is added it's not the sole means.
Also says that the solder should not extend 1.5 times the wire thickness. When I solder wires or crimps the solder doesn't go past the crimp let alone 1.5 times the thickness. They are talking about hack solder-ors who solder the whole damn wire, use the wrong stuff, and generally fuck up their stuff.

A properly crimped joint is inflexible at the end of the crimp connector. The individual strands are not supposed to move within the bands of the crimp and that renders it solid. If and only if your solder goes 1.5 times the thickness of the wire past the bands, well now there's 2 problems- it's solid and you don't know how to solder. Stay in the gadget isle of the grocery store.

 

I have crimper envy...Should I over compensate and buy a Corvette?

 

And another thing ...

That goofy plastic insulator thingy, it's not a strain relief it's a movement containment contraption that also insulates. The wires flexing at the end of the band is limited until it passes the end of the plastic. Why? Because the wire is solid and prone to breaking at the band forward to the end of the terminal if it was crimped properly.

Ever have a crimp terminal that was too big for the wire you were using?
Did you strip it twice as far and double it up in the crimp ? Maybe 3-4 times as far ?
Well if you did, that lets the small gauge wire Waller around in the plastic doohickey like a hot dog down the hallway. It's going to break off unless its tied down to prevent that. What happened is you redesigned the crimps wire movement containment size and made it too big

 

Very informative thread dude.

 

I have wired a few cars and have seen a lot and own several brands of wire strippers and crimpers, but I have not seen those, very nice, tell us more, please. And the tip on marine supply for terminals is excellent. How about Deutsch connectors? I really like those.

 

Ok, solder shall not be the sole means of mechanical connection ....
Here's a mechanical connection, a telegraph splice.
Done correctly its stronger than the wire.
Some solder in the joint and shrink tube makes for a tidy splice. Not a huge impact unless you have 100+ wires that need to fit in the same place. 100+ crimps and you'll have a bundle that's 4-5 times the diameter of the original harness.