Yes, whether you solder or uses crimp connectors you should cover them with
something and heat shrink tubing is a very good choice. It is especially
important to do this for soldered connections in an automobile as the
tin/lead solder is very reactive and corrodes easily.
Reid
'79 Spitfire (original owner)
-----Original Message-----
From: David A. Templeton [mailto:davidt@opentext.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 7:17 AM
To: John & Tracy Knox; spitfires@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Soldering wire
Okay I need to add 2cents as well. On all of my crimp connections I use
heat-shrink tubing to ensure a very watertight seal. Being down this road
many times over the last 15 years the extra cost of adding the heat-shrink
has been well worth it. Besides it makes for a very professional looking
finish.
When I changed the alternator in the spit I used crimp & heat shrink tubing,
very nice. There is something to beware of, there is a new kind of crimp
where the outer casing is heat-shrinkable. I used some of these and found
them to be 'okay' but once cool the casing tended to be a little brittle and
some have cracked. They have since been replaced with regular crimp and
tubing.
My recommendation for the crimp method is to use the regular crimp and a
separate heat-shrink tube. Then you can control the length of the tube for
coverage. Using the tubing does seem to take a little practice as to not
cook too much, shrink one side to fast, not enough tube etc ( ask me how I
know :-) ). But it is not hard.
As for connections I can solder I do and then cover then in heat shrink
tubing. Hey if I solder, I want a permanent connection right?
Good luck in any case
David A. Templeton
Open Text Corp.
Waterloo, ON
Canada
WebSite: http://trandmustang.homestead.com
'74 Triumph SpitSix
'66 Ford Mustang (Wife's)
'66 Ford Mustang GT
'59 Triumph TR3a (Project)
'99 GMC Safari
'95 GMC K2500 Sierra
----- Original Message -----
From: "John & Tracy Knox" <jknox@erie.net>
To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 13, 2000 6:59 AM
Subject: Re: Soldering wire
>
> The problem that I have had with crimp connectors is that they tend to
> corrode over time or wiggle loose. If they are properly sized for the
wire
> they might be fine. What I usually see are the big blue ones crimped on
> little wires. They will work loose. The other thing that crimp on
> connectors tend to do is cut the strands if put on too tight. This will
> also lead to premature failure. The outside strands are cut and this
allows
> the inside strands to just slip out. Now with solder connections for wire
> to wire I put the wire together with a I think it is called a Western
Union
> splice, wrap wire one around wire 2 and wrap wire 2 around wire 1, place
the
> soldering iron on the small parallel spot in the middle of the joint, and
> heat the wires. Allow solder to soak into wires. Solder will be sucked
> into the wires once it is hot enough. Now you have me on the 50 years
later
> point. My connections haven't been around that long!
>
> John
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Marcus Schaper <mschaper@gvpt.umd.edu>
> To: <spitfires@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 9:59 PM
> Subject: RE: Soldering wire
>
>
> >
> > I have to jump in on this one. Soldering is a good idea whenever you
> connect wire to a non-moving object (like a PCB) or two non-moving objects
> together. But I do think that soldering is not appropriate for wire to
wire
> connections in cars.
> >
> > Have you ever worked on the wiring in VW beetle from the 50s? By now all
> the solder has oxidized broken loose, solder joints have broken off, and
it
> is just a big mess. Each time I work on one of these I wished they had
just
> crimp connections - even the two-way bullet connectors for the Spit
> headlights are superior to deteriorating soldered connections.
> >
> > Do not use solder to join strands of wire together that go under a screw
> terminal. The solder is too soft and the wires will work loose eventually
> (one of the VW problems).
> >
> > If you do not want to crimp - and they are reasons for doing this - use
> screw terminals, like Euro Barrier strips (Radio Shack has them).
> >
> > And now if you still do want to solder: the right way to do it is:
> >
> > 1. Heat up one wire, than let solder melt on it (the wire, not the
iron),
> make sure it soaks through
> > 2. Do the same thing for the other wire, or the part it is supposed to
go
> on.
> > 3. Now join the two presoldered part and touch them with the iron so
that
> the solder in both parts melts into one piece.
> >
> > Remember, you want to solder the parts together not glue them with
solder.
> If you are done and it still looks like to separate parts - heat it up
again
> and redo it.
> >
> > Marcus
> > (certified Radio- and TV-technician)
> >
> > >>> "Simmons, Reid W" <reid.w.simmons@intel.com> 7/12/00 20:02:29 >>>
> >
> > No it truly isn't rocket science but about half of all those I have
> > encountered in the workplace over the years who have been trained and
> > believe they can solder produce some really awful results.
> >
> > Although I never personally liked wire-wrap it did prove to be superior
to
> > soldering and properly done crimps can be too especially when compared
to
> > bad soldering.
> >
> > Reid
> > '79 Spitfire (original owner)
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: John & Tracy Knox [mailto:jknox@erie.net]
> > Sent: Wednesday, July 12, 2000 4:27 PM
> > To: spitfires@autox.team.net
> > Subject: Soldering wire
> >
> >
> >
> > Just saw the post and had to reply. Soldering wire is not rocket
science.
> > I can show anyone how to solder in a couple of minutes. Heck, the
> > directions in most soldering irons are pretty good. I see way too many
> > crimp on connectors. Or the even worse squeeze EZ connectors. If the
> wires
> > are worth putting together for more than five minutes it's best to just
> > solder them.
> >
> > John
> >
> >
> >
|