Crimp Alone -vs- Crimp + Solder

[12VoltInstalls]

I hydraulic crimp anything 10 gauge or smaller now and have always crimped 6 gauge or smaller in the past. I loath trying to crimp the smaller stuff since it requires using the pliers style crimpers and usually solder it since I can't get small non hydraulic crimps to work worth a flip.

I have a couple pair of different iwiss crimpers that are ok with 10ga through 16ga and the BougeRV the do ok for 8ga-12ga MC4 terminals. All ‘B’ crimps.
I use the bicep-builder pictured above for 1/0 through 6ga. I can ‘progressively’ finagle them on 2/0 but I think I’m ruining them doing that.

just get the impact crimper.
It does a good e'nuff job

I have one and I have used it on 2/0 and 3/0 but you sorta have to do three or four stages to get an acceptable crimp imho; one mighty wack with a 3lbs hammer will do the deed but not nicely swaged as I’d like. The hex crimpers for ~$35 do an acceptable or excellent job 99.44% of the time.

 

[Checkthisout]

I have a couple pair of different iwiss crimpers that are ok with 10ga through 16ga and the BougeRV the do ok for 8ga-12ga MC4 terminals. All ‘B’ crimps.
I use the bicep-builder pictured above for 1/0 through 6ga. I can ‘progressively’ finagle them on 2/0 but I think I’m ruining them doing that.

I have one and I have used it on 2/0 and 3/0 but you sorta have to do three or four stages to get an acceptable crimp imho; one mighty wack with a 3lbs hammer will do the deed but not nicely swaged as I’d like. The hex crimpers for ~$35 do an acceptable or excellent job 99.44% of the time.

Heat shrink hides the ugly.

 

[time2roll]

Solder is for small electronics boards. Power transmission should be crimped only. Otherwise we would be soldering our home wiring.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Heat shrink hides the ugly.

The esthetics is not my concern. It’s 100% contact that interests me.

 

[Checkthisout]

Solder is for small electronics boards. Power transmission should be crimped only. Otherwise we would be soldering our home wiring.

Mechanical clamping devices hold household wiring, not crimps.

 

[oldmaninsaline]

I'm in the middle of creating a series of posts detailing the design and build of my power station. This paragraph is included in it:

I'm sure someone will point out that crimping is better than soldering which is true but only in an environment where the connections are expected to flex (called flexion stress). This is because the heating of the copper strands during the solder process can make the strands brittle. This can also be mitigated by using 2 shrink tubing layers. I've bought products with and made far too many crimp connections to trust them at all. If I had a dime for every time a product I bought had a crappy crimp connection.

 

[Tomthumb62]

This can also be mitigated by using 2 shrink tubing layers.

That’sa great idea.

By the way, I recently found some 2awg cables I had crimped then soldered. Corroded and oxidized nearly all the way through the 2 feet of cable. My solder skills are poor and I’m pretty sure I overheated the wire. Just a warning to those who haven’t perfected their soldering skills…crimping is easier even if it’s not quite the best.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Mechanical clamping devices hold household wiring, not crimps.

Well that’s funny to me ?

Traditionally, my argument for wiring incorporates three elements: mechanical connection, electrical 100% contact, and environmental durability. Ptoper crimping and heat shrink sorta does all three simultaneously. A crimp is mechanical clamping.

 

[Checkthisout]

Well that’s funny to me ?

Traditionally, my argument for wiring incorporates three elements: mechanical connection, electrical 100% contact, and environmental durability. Ptoper crimping and heat shrink sorta does all three simultaneously. A crimp is mechanical clamping.

True.

 

[oldmaninsaline]

That’sa great idea.

By the way, I recently found some 2awg cables I had crimped then soldered. Corroded and oxidized nearly all the way through the 2 feet of cable. My solder skills are poor and I’m pretty sure I overheated the wire. Just a warning to those who haven’t perfected their soldering skills…crimping is easier even if it’s not quite the best.

I have found that to be the case on virtually every wire over a few years old for the past 55 years I've been soldering various bits and bobs. I suppose I have enough experience at this point to be considered something of an expert. I've never really researched it but I would think the gas permeability of the insulation plays a role. Not to mention that I've replaced cables on wet cell battery banks fairly often. I have high hopes now that I'm using lifepo4.

One part of the crimp/solder methodology that I use is to tin the wire, clamp the connector and heat the connection as little as possible to achieve the mechanical grip in the connection. It seems to work for me at any rate.

 

[Johno1066]

I dont know where heating copper makes it brittle, I always heat copper tubing to make it softer if it has been work hardened. I would say more likely the copper under pressure from a crimp would be work hardened and maybe more brittle. And while we talk about household stuff being crimped I dont see that very often with the hard single strand stuff used in the USA, now stranded conductors , that is another story where thay should be crimped or held in a captive clamp connecter.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

another story where thay should be crimped

Crimping solid is not typical nor recommended

 

[Johno1066]

Stranded conductors are what is mentioned for captive connecters or crimping, In the USA the solid is generally wrapped arpound a screw or even pushed into a spring blade connection, for a short period of time if that outlet has any reasonable load on it.

 

[hwy17]

Adding this to the biggest crimp vs crimp and solder thread we have:

I met an aerospace lug engineer the other day in the airport and I asked him what the verdict is.

So to settle the debate once and for all, his answer is: "(inhale) Well it depends..."