Solder or Crimp - Lessons in connections for RVs, Cars, but especially Boats

[@aarondavis5535]

Wow great video I didn't know they had double wall with glue heat shrink normally just get whatever they have at HF

[@GoldenChannels]

Hi Aaron. Thanks for the comments. Glad to be of help. Heat Shrink even drives our engineers nuts. There are thousands of different variations, depending on specific application. Each connection we do gets at least an hour or two on heat shrink selection alone, depending on it's use. All the best!

[@aarondavis5535]

@@GoldenChannels thanks I'm working on a dune buggy all my switches so far are the water proof shack proof kind you find in the off road world I'm have some of that heat shrink coming my way from Amazon thank for you for telling about it

[@GoldenChannels]

@@aarondavis5535 You're very welcome, Aaron. Sounds like a very interesting project!

[@garylozowski1419]

Excellent excellent informative video

[@GoldenChannels]

Thanks, Gary!

[@GoldenChannels]

Hi Gary. Thanks! Glad to be of help.

[@garylozowski1419]

Would you consider making a video that discusses the proper electronic solder to use, fluxcore or other and show the procedure using a small butane torch as the heat source for soldering and heat shrinking. This could be used as the reference for at the marina / field work rather than bench work. I prefer soldering for the lowest connection resistance but to meet ABYC standards, you have to crimp first, then solder.

[@GoldenChannels]

Gary, thanks for the comment. I will work on putting something together to talk more about this. I always have to be careful about exactly what I mean when this topic comes up, so here is what I will say for now. There are two aspects of an electrical connection. Electrical and mechanical. When installed in a marine environment, a perfectly crimped connection without soldering will beat a perfectly soldered connection due to ability to withstand vibration at the connection point, retention of the insulation properties, due to not being stressed during heat exposure during solder, and no flux wicking into the wire in the opposite direction of the connection, which is almost impossible to clean out and over time can cause corrosion in a hidden spot on the wire itself. However, the reason soldering is generally used by a number of techs is the lack of tools available that would qualify as one being absolutely designed for the crimp job at hand. The other issues I've described are addressed through creative use of black heat shrink, and use of cable ties, or similar, to restrain the connection to limit affects of vibration on the joint. The best analogy I can think of is every piece of electronics in a boat has a PCB with components soldered on to the PCB board, and all of the cable harnesses with crimped pins in them. Each style of harness has its individual wires crimped on, with crimpers costing a few hundred, or as high as thousands of dollars. The question of how to set up a shop to do field work with dozens of different electrical connection types is a very, very, good question. I would assume the ABYC reco is based on this practical approach. I'll try to put a video together than talks more about this. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@bc4yt]

Seems like the ultimate solution would be to crimp and then add a little solder at the exposed end? That way the connection has the vibration resistance of the crimp, plus the moisture proofing and electrical connectivity of solder?

[@GoldenChannels]

In theory, yes. However, the braid of the wire in the terminal will act like a wick, pulling the solder into the connection, including the end going to the wire itself, creating a stress point where the vibration can create issues later. An alternative is a crimp, covered by glued heat shrink or a seal on the wire inside the connector housing, and use of proper 1426 and SAE rated, tinned wire.

[@bc4yt]

@@GoldenChannels noted! Thanks.

[@GoldenChannels]

@@bc4yt You're very welcome! Glad to help.