The Great Solder vs Crimp Question

[JZH]

The OEM wiring harness on my '93 Honda uses unsoldered crimps within the loom and insulates them with blue 1.5" electrical tape.  Not very high tech... 

 

 

I've long been a crimp-solder-shrinkwrap kind of guy, but I'm thinking of omitting the soldering [when I modify the harness this time].  I have "proper" crimps and a "proper" crimp tool, and I use adhesive-lined heatshrink, so the connections will be sealed regardless. 

 

 

Thoughts?

 

Cheers,

[V4 Rosso]

The joints using the proper non insulated crimp have far superior strength and conductivity compared to insulated crimps you buy at most diy stores, no need to solder. I put some grease on the joint for moisture protection and cover it with either shrink tube or self vulcanising tape.

[Auspanglish]

The joints using the proper non insulated crimp have far superior strength and conductivity compared to insulated crimps you buy at most diy stores, no need to solder. I put some grease on the joint for moisture protection and cover it with either shrink tube or self vulcanising tape.

+1 on some dialectic grease or specific electrical moisture protection (I had this excellent spray on one in an orange and white can which worked well, H2O I think it was called).

Crimping avoids possible cold solders and the bike subsequently giving you the consequent cold shoulder.

I often find that soldering thin wires often leaves them brittle either side and the filaments prone to cracking from the vibrations motorcycles inherently suffer.

I guess I would judge each connection you intend to make on its own merits. Larger wires I might be more inclined to solder.

[Lorne]

Unfortunately I can't find an online reference, but a documentary about the the BMW Mini rally program (Prodrive) noted that they build a complete wiring harness for the race cars and that all the connections used mil spec/aviation quality crimps. 

[mello dude]

I have been a crimp it/heat shrink it guy for a lot a years. To go with that though I have probly 4 or 5 high quality crimp tools, some have the ratchet, some dont. I have never run into a problem with it as long as I do a good inspection of my crimp.... (Also, it comes down to, I cant solder worth a damn.. lol) 

[burnes45]

Nice tool JZH no worries you'll be good. +1 mello dude. Recommended repair method from recently attended Lexus factory electrical diagnostic and repair class is the crimp or butt connector. Reason being that wires are so thin some only having 4-5 strands in multiplex wiring and components so sensitive that heat from solder would do more harm than good. Also crimps allow for flexibility solder is to ridged. I use crimps and butt connectors and have never had an issue with any repair. 

 

[JZH]

[How do you mark a "question" answered?]

 

Thanks, guys.  As I said, I've always soldered, but with the OEM-type crimps I've now got I was thinking I could avoid any potential "brittleness" problems by omitting that step.  I'll throw in some anti-corrosion stuff before heat shrinking.

 

Cheers,

[Madsen]

Hi.

Take a look at this side whit connectors.

http://www.cycleterminal.com/index.html

There is all you need.

[JZH]

I recently purchased some "open barrel splice connectors" from Kojaycat in the UK, and I see that Cycle Terminal in the USA also has them, as well as Eastern Beaver in Japan (wish I'd noticed that when I placed my last order with Jim a week ago!)  Before I found these sources I have used uninsulated ring connectors off eBay before (by snipping off the rings--presto!--open barrel splices). 

 

Ciao,