I solder & heatshrink as much as possible, I've never once had a wire break/fall apart + it looks much neater than crimping/choc blocks
imo, if soldering is done well, you will never have any problems..
Bugger iron you say?Originally Posted by brainsnova
...or I need a bigger soldering iron
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No, he said a bigger one. You dirty *******.
It breaks at the end of the join as the copper goes brittle from the heat.
No, he said a bigger one. You dirty *******.
(┌∩┐(◣_◢)┌∩┐)
Never had one break.
Loomed bikes, cars and electrical day job
But I agree, if done incorrectly it can be bad.
Knowledge of where that 'soldering iron' has been; do not want.
as someone who does vehicle electrics for a living, soldering in not something you want to be doing in vehicle wiring.
The reason - wiring loom move because for some reason, cars happen to be mobile things, and there is vibration. Wires that are soldered WILL break at the point where the solder stops eventually.
The last car manufacturer to use soldered joints in a production car was Austin, and the car was the A30.
Crimped joints are flexible, and allow for movement, and that my friends is why looms are generally reliable.
Where manufacturers have attempted to cut costs by using copper plated steel wire. Ford were a notable user of that. Now this stuff should never be soldered - because the copper plate comes off, leaving a dry joint. It doesn't twist together well either, because the steel is too springy. And finally, it's crap because unlike copper, steel isn't as flexible, and the wires break in areas where stuff moves.
Vauxhall's recommendation is to use crimp & shrink joints.
Ford & Jaguar recommend "Sureseal" connectors
Petroleum Regulations (for vehicles involved in the petrochemicals industry) state that soldering is NOT allowed AT ALL. All joints must be crimped.
Ambulances and vehicles carrying Oxygen should also not have any soldering carried out in their wiring looms.
I use Tyco/AMP Fastin/Faston, Mate'n'Lok, Minifit Jnr, and Molex Sabre among others, including Sureseal.
Proper tooling is required to use these, as bodged crimping is often worse than crap soldering!
Choc block can be used - providing you use bootlace ferrules on the end of the wires to stop them fraying, and fix the block securely, not allowing it to float around in space.
I shall get off my soapbox now.
Rob.
C612DNM
If a job's worth doing, it's worth paying someone who knows what they're
doing to do it.
i had an ecu plug with crimps on every wire....i put the cover back on and never looked again
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