[Elecraft] Questions from a Liberal Arts Major

[Don Wilhelm]

Brian,

What you say is true, a soldered connection used in a high vibration 
application will fail at the point where the solder has wicked up into 
the (stranded) wire.  This is an important consideration in aircraft and 
other mobile applications.

In ham home station applications where the wire is not subjected to 
severe vibration, a soldered connection is often more reliable than a 
crimped connection.  That is especially true if the crimping tool is not 
exactly the proper type for the connector in use.  A good crimping tool 
is a rather expensive tool - it must be matched to the connector and the 
wire to be crimped.  Inexpensive substitutes may work for a while, but 
will result in a connection that is more unreliable than a soldered 
connection.

The *real* answer is "it all depends ...".

73,
Don W3FPR

Brian Lloyd wrote:
>
> On Nov 14, 2008, at 10:06 AM, Joe Spencer wrote:
>
>> I have several Crimper tools but do not really trust crimped power 
>> connectors so...I solder all my PowerPoles connectors. It is easy to 
>> do...they work everytime and never a crimp problem.
>
> Crimp-only connections last longer than do crimp-and-solder 
> connections and are just as low resistance. When you solder the 
> crimped connection the solder wicks up the wire and creates fatigue 
> point where the wire will fail first.
>
> Of course, that does presume you have the correct crimp tool and you 
> are using the proper terminal for the size of wire.
>
> (This information comes from having wired aircraft.)
>
>
> Brian Lloyd
> Granite Bay Montessori School          9330 Sierra College Bl
> brian AT gbmontessori DOT com          Roseville, CA 95661
> +1.916.367.2131 (voice)                +1.791.912.8170 (fax)
>
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