tony1

Soldering is for circuit boards, not for wires. A proper crimp is the right way to connect wires. A proper crimp will break the wire before the wire gets pulled out of the crimp. Ever seen Honda solder pins on wire?

rota92

We do a lot of the F22 electronics at work, the facility is amazing to walk around. It's also amazing the amount of people you wouldn't want changing your oil are building boards for the most badass machine on the planet lol

FWIW, for those that don't know Ebay is awesome for your crimping needs. I have tons of like new surplus DMC crimpers and I got them with different turret heads and die's for under 100 bucks a shot. Even more conventional crimpers are a steal there as well. HF also has some nice ratcheting ones for normal type connections.

precisionsc54

Solder enough said

DESTROYER

Well unfortunately after the surplus of useful comments, yours means nothing.

Blown90hatcH

This is true. But since most of these clowns are Honda owners who will not buy the proper crimpers and crimps there by resulting in us fixing their wiring issues and our wallets growing because of it. Let them do it their own way.

forthrills

VERY CORRECT . all harnesses use Mil spec cannon plugs < such as type Motec uses . for other connections BAX BJC Bundy's and DCM's . There's no do over or pit stops in the flying buzzzzzzzzzzz . A good crimp is a must for racing . Saves on you from ripping your hair out looking for wiring problems , that can come down too a bad ground or bad crimp . what solder does is harded a small part of the end of the wire . And on any thing that vibrates that will fail at some point down the road . It could be just an aborted run or a nice BOOM and wallet damage

precisionsc54

How bout U *low me I do Electrical installs daily as a profession and I was taught Soldering is the most secure and longest lasting connection. Sorry for giving my opinion.

shandonwall

Wow, didn't realize that this was a touchy subject. Anyways..........

Seeing that I can see how using heat changes steel and makes it brittle, I can make the assumption that it might do the same to copper. I guess heat tempers metals and thus the vibration/hardened wire explanation made my decision for me. I will get a good crimper and good connectors. Thanks all!!

k24em2

What exactly do you install said electricals into?

precisionsc54

Commercial buildings. Elevators, Fire alarm systems, etc

k24em2

For stuff like that soldering would be alright....In a vibration prone environment like a car it should be avoided.

cbustuner

What about solder messing with sensors? Any truth to that? I'm looking to install an injector driver in the near future and I was told by a friend that I shouldn't solder the wires because it could possibly mess with the injector signal..

precisionsc54

So an elevator doesnt vibrate? Lol

Capillary action can indeed draw solder quite a distance up the stranding of the wire and turn it into solid wire, which is a no-no in any stressed environment. Yes you can "support" it, but what does that mean - the support would have to consist of something that would prevent the stranded part of the wire from flexing at the point where it becomes "solid" due to entrained solder - I'm not sure heat shrink is adequate for this.
I will admit it is a little counterintuitive to those of us with a electronic background - soldering makes the connector and the wire into one continuous piece of metal and it seems it has to be better than any other connection technique but it's just not that clearcut in an environment where stresses are present.

-RedneckDave-

An elevator does not vibrate like a 1000hp race car or an airplane so just stop it.

JRSC01GS-R

so when u guys are talking about crimping wires, im assuming your using better crimpers and connectors than say like home depot sells. I have always felt those to be junk, and in turn have done mostly soldering on the wiring I have done. Now that I hear this from u guys, I think I wanna make the switch. What should I be looking for as far as crimpers and connectors go? How can u tell the nice ones from the junk ones, and where is best place to buy em?

precisionsc54

Just a perfect example of why H-T has the reputation it does

Vadian

I work in the electrical distribution system. My old man deals with Substations which includes transmission voltages. Guess what 95% of all our connections are?

Crimp.

These are connections at 600+ volts all the way up to 240 kV. The conductors are can be 1/4" to about 1 1/2" in diameter. As many others have said, with proper crimp tools, they can be very reliable. The other 5% of my work does involve soldering but this is because of the type of cable used(lead). We only solder these because we need an extremely smooth connection to re-insulate the area and keep it free of air pockets and sharp edges that could ultimately cause failure. Every other cable/wire is crimped which handles hundreds/thousands of amps (depending on voltage) for 30+ years so long as a good, quality job was performed.

When done right, either type of connection is just as good as the other. Though, soldering typically takes a little longer.


But to step back down to the application at hand, typically, I solder because I think it looks better and I haven't invested in a quality crimp tool. That, and I think butt connectors look hideous. Occasionally, I will use fully insulated quick-connects.

turbo90accord

i only crimp. reason behind why i only crimp is because as an AUDI technician we are mandated to only crimp and never solder. I asked one of the audi engineers why this is and he stated its because there are too many inconsistencies in soldering irons and heating the wire changes its conductive properties and thus changing its resistance at the solder. they found that crimping the wire lost less voltage than soldering. I personally use amphenol 4 pin circular crimpers on butt connections with non insulated connections then heat shrink over it.

Enzo-Racing

Soldering will fail on a race car sooner or later...

Crimp is the way to do..

pauld

Not meaning to add fuel to the fire, but alot of aviation wiring is aluminum strand wire, for weight saving purposes, which means that soldering will not work, hence the crimping. Of course, full length runs are used as much as possible, and support is given to the harness to avoid stress and fatigue on any joint areas. On an automotive harness, a PROPERLY done solder joint, with both a mechanical and solder joint would be my first choice. PS - the mechanical bit is simply how the wires are placed together before soldering. Hey, both are going to work, and both can fail miserably if done incorrectly.
Sorry, been involved in too many airplane builds to let the "airplanes use crimps, so its better" bit go unchallenged.

mh

Crimping, if done rigth, will give the same quality connection every time.

Soldering, even if you are good at it, will not garantee the same result for every connection. you only need one wire to fail. if the wires are in the car, that makes it even more difficult to get the soldering right.

Crimping is the fastest and best way for me, so that's what I do. and I know my soldering would not be as good as my crimping.

Flashmn

I've done both soldered and crimped. Neither has been an issue for the past 10 years.

snowseeker

-RedneckDave-

A perfect example that you don't know how to have a grown up discussion, or a what? An elevator does not vibrate like a race car and you have to know this.

precisionsc54

Ya your right it is a perfect example. You have a select few who come off as complete as*holes when the guy asking the question was asking for people opinions. Everyone is entitled to there own opinion. If you disagree thats fine but do it in a respectful way.