drivesafe posted:

Hi Utemad, we do about 30,000 crimp termination a year and never have a problem, but you raise a very good point that I should have mentioned in my previous posting. You should use the correct crimping tool and by that I don’t mean the one that came in the assorted crimp terminal pack.
We use the spring tensioned ratchet type so that the correct pressure is applied to the terminal.
I have no problem with soldering after you crimp and all the connections in my own vehicles are done that way but this will only slow the corrosion. If you want to do a corrosion proof and water resistant connection, after you finish the termination, and if you have also soldered it, clean the joint and then coat it with a lanolin bases product. Great stuff even for protecting bear metal too.
If you have a look around your vehicle, no matter what make it is I’ll bet every connection is a crimp terminal type with maybe two exceptions and they are the two battery terminals as they are usually screw terminations.
Someone also mentioned putting heat shrink on the joint and this is another good idea as long as you again clean it first.
By the way I’m referring more to wire connections that are going to be carrying high currents.
Regards and Thanks for that reminder Utemad.

Utemad posted:

Drivesafe,

30,000 crimps/yr!!! Remind me never to shake your hand. I don't want mine broken from your crimp muscles LOL.

I also use Lanolin on my car. I use it everywhere. From on bolt threads to general rust proofing and giving extra life to electric motors.

I have only had two solder joints fail in my vehicles (that I know of). One was from mechanical stress. It was not a good joint to start with as it was in a bugger of a spot up under the dash and it snapped as solder joints are rigid unlike the rest of the cable.
The other was as you have mentioned, from corrosion. Although it was on a boat trailer. It was an untinned section of the copper cable that snapped right in line with the edge of the insulation.

In the past I have lanolinned some joints but not all (generally because I cannot find my lanolin bottle). It is an excellent idea to put a squirt or two in your trailer connector (trailer and vehicle) as there is nothing more annoying then opening someones connector to see why a connection isn't working and finding it all corroded with rusty screws.

I agree that those ratchet crimpers are the way to go. I have a set and they are great. Although my favourite are the plier crimped terminals. The ones that fall off when you touch them LOL.

I borrowed from an old workplace those big (can't remember the name) crimpers for the battery cables with the rotating jaws to get the right size crimper. Look like bolt cutters. I used them for my dual battery setup as I have 32mm square cable.

What I do find interesting is that the corroded solder joint is something I discovered while playing with my vehicle and was never warned about it by the more learned guys where I used to work (don't do that stuff anymore. Chucked it all in to go back to uni).

Thanks for the reminder about corroded solder joints. I used to solder thinking I was being good but now we know there is more to it than that.

Cheers,

Utemad

drivesafe posted:

Hi Crazie, It was meant to be amusing but I do apologise to all.
This is not the place for personal quips but I could not help myself.
The point was actually about an incorrect statement and if anyone is going to be doing any work as was covered in the postings, if your not sure go and talk to a professional before you do a thing.
You could save yourself a lot of money.
Thanks for the reply Crazie and I am glad you got a laugh, Regards

drivesafe posted:

Hi wisey, I have never used the liquid type solders but as long as it has a good quality flux mixed with it and you have an iron that can generate a fairly high heat, I should imagine it will do most jobs well.
Sorry i can’t be of more help.
Regards

Utemad posted:

Is this the stuff you can put on the join and then melt with a lighter?

I once used normal 60/40 cored solder and a lighter to fix someones wiring while away. Just wrapped the solder around the join and heated it til it looked good. As far as I know he still has left it like that.