[Elecraft] Power Poles solder or crimp

Thu Jun 13 09:50:01 2002

Hi

The reason crimp lugs are used is because if the right tool and proper si=
ze wire is used the crimp is more reliable than a soldered connection. Th=
e reason for this is soldering requires a certain amount of skill and jud=
gment to do properly. A crimp lug can be installed by a machine requiring=
 no skill. Very few of us have the proper tool to do a crimp right so we =
must use a cheep tool not designed for the terminal or solder the termina=
l. =20

When soldering the terminal you must use a very small amount of solder or=
 the pin will not insert into the housing. The solder must not get on the=
 contact area of the terminal and it is best if the solder does not wick =
up under the insulation. =20

I like to use the GB tool to make the crimp and then heat the terminal an=
d apply a very small amount of solder so it just wicks up under the termi=
nal. This is only about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of .031 solder applied to the ter=
minal.

Don Brown
KD5NDB

----- Original Message -----
From: Don Wilhelm
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2002 11:24 PM
To: [email protected]; Steve Lawrence
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Re: Oh where, oh where, has my little tone gone?-=
 PowerPoles

Folks,
I have had no problems crimping the APP connectors when using #12 wire, b=
ut
have had NOTHING BUT trouble doing the same with #16 wire.
I do use the Gardner Bender crimp tool, and find that the crimping proces=
s
doew distort the 'roundness of the connector.  after doing the initial
crimp, I rotate the connector pin by 90 degrees and squeeze it a bit in t=
he
rounded part of the crimper tool - after that I have no problem inserting
the pin into the connector body.

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message -----

> Looking over the stock of Gardner Bender crip tools at the West Mountai=
n
> Radio booth at Dayton Hamvention, I saw a considerable variation in the
> shape of the "crimp region" in the tool.  Variations included:  shallow=
 or
> deep U (die portion), and grossly off centered crimp prong V.  This was
> also true of a rack of similar GB tools in my local Lowes.  As such, I
> hand selected a tool with the nicest looking U and with a coresponding
> centered crimp prong V.    I suspect, the real issue is you get what yo=
u
> pay for.  The GB tool is $ 10 - $20, while the "official" AP crimp tool
> costs well more than $100.
>

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