Absolutely right! I have cut apart factory crimp connections on 35-year-old VWs and found the wire within to be perfectly clean!

However, and this is a _big_ however, you need the proper crimp connectors and tools to produce these perfect connections. The common crimp connectors and tools at your FLAPS or RS do not make good connections. The proper tools are expensive and the good connectors are not easy to find.

With the commonly available materials, the best connections that can be made are done with uninsulated crimp connectors that are soldered and then covered with heat shrink tubing. Solder improves the connection and prevents corrosion, as well as making sure that the mechanical connection won't come apart.

Don't get me started on Scotchlock connectors...

George

 

Isn't that like saying clamping metal together is better than welding it?

 

not true.. dont know if i can argue this point very well but hers my 2 cents. i work electronics and enviromental systems on mh-53 helicopters aka "pave lows". helicopters have vibrations 100 times worse than your car, yet 95 % of wire connections are crimped, not soldered. why would this be? if crimping was so horrible, why would we trust multi million dollar aircraft with these shotty connections? hmmm


like i said, i too work avionics, and i am not partial to solder. im curious to as why you are?

 

The government is cheap

 

Aside from the $200 wrenches and $500 toilet seats.

 

im pretty sure the technical answer to that question is " ease of maintenance" .

soldering and crimping are equally good connections, so why not do the easier of the 2.

does that boil it down?

 

Well if you really think about it, the material in crimps have come a long way. 10 years ago, people swore that crimps were lousy and that they would never use them. But like any new technology, it gets refined better and better, either by using better materials or manufacturing process. I'm a solder fan myself but I wouldn't go as far as to say I have to do a 100% of my work by soldering. Soldering to me is an art. It takes time, skill, and experience to be a master of this craft, and even then you can always learn something new. Like my wife's navi LED's, I wouldn't have been able to do anything like that w/o experience nor would I have been able to do that with crimps either. Crimps just provide an easier and quicker way of joining wires. The reason why most of the industry uses them is basically for the sake of convenience. You're not sacrificing anything noticeable when using crimps. So when manufacturers are putting stuff together, crimps are used because it's faster and easier than it is to hand solder every connection. And also because the difference in terms of conductivity and resistivity is so small it's negligable. I think in the end it really just depends on what your application is. If you feel comfortable with crimps go with crimps, if you feel like soldering is better, than just solder. Everyone's advice is pretty much opinions to make your decision. But you're the only one that can make your own decision about which method you want to use. And also, if you bring it to a professional, what makes you think they're not going to use crimps? Like I said, convenience...

 

god i could not agree more. summing it up: theres almost no difference between the two. it depends on personal preference and convience. this thread should be LOCKED!

 

redneck....a few good points, it does boil dow to personal preference. I also work avionics for the Navy. We use crimp connectors in some places and solder in others. Thes best I have ever seen is a crimp connector that has solder inside. You crimp the connector then heat it to melt the solder and shrink wrap. Unfortunatley these connectors are very expensive.