Club 80-90 Forums

At work (defence contract) we have certain joints that we must crimp not solder, this is due to solder wicking up the wire strands and making the joint prone to cracking when flexed. We have a standard we must adhere to and crimp tools are calibrated annually, we also check them every 6 months with a go/no-go tool. So I check my own crimp tool every so often too.
TBH I would happily solder wiring in my camper as once fitted it gets vibrated but not routinely flexed.
Crimping is easier though as long as you have the right tool and it isn't worn to the point where it doesn't crimp securely.

forget crimping - best and easiest way:

1 - strip 3/8" of insulation away .
3 - twist bare ends together, clockwise, 4 times, nice and tight.
4 - bend the twisted end back on itself
5 - wrap with 2" of insulation tape - any colour will do - or masking tape if really stuck (best avoided if wires are outside)

anyone want to buy a van, slight fire damage behind fuse panel but this is reflected in price, all modifications done by me but looking for a new project,

^^^^ I had wiring like that on my Merc van when I bought it - the crazy thing was that the guy that did it was a ship's engineer. Rear drum brake linings were worn to nothing and front discs pads were detached from the backings. There are engineers and then there are engineers.
I clamp a pair of forceps onto the cable to stop wicking when soldering if needed.

bigbadbob76 wrote:At work (defence contract) we have certain joints that we must crimp not solder, this is due to solder wicking up the wire strands and making the joint prone to cracking when flexed. We have a standard we must adhere to and crimp tools are calibrated annually, we also check them every 6 months with a go/no-go tool. So I check my own crimp tool every so often too.

Thanks Bob, I have been trying to educate this lot for years but some just love solder

itchyfeet wrote:

bigbadbob76 wrote:At work (defence contract) we have certain joints that we must crimp not solder, this is due to solder wicking up the wire strands and making the joint prone to cracking when flexed. We have a standard we must adhere to and crimp tools are calibrated annually, we also check them every 6 months with a go/no-go tool. So I check my own crimp tool every so often too.

Thanks Bob, I have been trying to educate this lot for years but some just love solder

Probably to tight to buy the correct tools

Some of the smaller specialized crimp tools we have at work are £250-£300 each but the generic crimp tools for the standard spade type crimps are only about £50, although you can pay alot more. A soldering iron is cheaper

Agree with the anti soldering argument.

Trouble with crimping is the fact that even when people (like me) buy stupidly expensive elpress / TE crimp tools, if the cable is even marginally off the intended wire gauge, the crimp fails to engage properly.

To do it right you need the right connectors for the cable size and then the right jaws on the right tool. Crimp tools fail in DIY circles because people just assume that if it fits in the 'blue' connector then it'll crimp nicely.

Often I find bare terminals (subsequently fitted with a slide on boot) with a set of these http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/p ... rn-handles are most versatile on the van.

surely one of the worst culprits are those awful insulated terminals, bloody horrible things

I use both - EXCEPT when I have to make a connection outside the vehicle, and then I use solder as the extra protective layer helps delay corrosion of copper strands.

I have seen and used just about every type of connection method as an electrical and electronics engineer. Same as CovKid, I use both crimp and solder, sometimes a combination of both depending on the connectors exposure to the elements. E.g, behind the dash is a very different environment to the chassis or engine bay. Bullet cnx always soldered.

Oddly, last week I picked up some crimpers on a second hand tool stall for a fiver. Seemed incredibly well engineered - main reason I bought them. Turns out they're 'F' crimpers - £500 new and just short of £100 second-hand.

I have those crimpers like those RS ones. They are good make a decent crimp. They also have adjustment if required.

These are the ones I use. Made by Marksman (whoever that is). Under £10. Work well but I ignore the colour coding - just use the red slot