#25. My buddy says that I should be soldering all of my connections. I was going to just crimp them. What do you think?
I think your buddy should volunteer to do it for you...that’s a lot of work and, in my opinion, not necessary. In fact, a bad solder joint is prone to break if flexed or vibrated excessively.
If you check almost any brand new car or truck, you will find that almost all electrical connections are crimped, even, in some cases, major battery connections and grounds. Only electronic components are usually soldered.
I could get into a detailed comparison and do’s-and-don’ts but the bottom line is that a proper crimp joint and a proper solder joint are both good. The crimp joint requires the right parts, tool(s) and technique to make as does the solder joint. However the crimp joint is easier to “master” and a lot easier to test - if you crimp a terminal on the wire and then give it a good tug (a Neanderthal yank is not required, just a little pull will suffice) you can be assured that it is secure. Good crimp terminals are “tinned”, which means that they have a corrosion resisting coating of solder on them. When the crimp is made, that solder comes in intimate contact with the wire to form an air-tight bond. Air-tight, also referred to as oxygen-free, means no corrosion and a long electrical life.
Steve Watson, Watson's StreetWorks, http://www.watsons-streetworks.com
I will leave it to the experts to decide, but there are a few of us who recall a lesson taught to us by our dear friend Aluminum from back in the early 1970's out of the Homebuilder's Industry. I don't know the backstory for why this occurred perhaps Copper prices were sky high and another element was deemed more cost effective, but Electrician's were re-trained to wire the average American 3-2-2 with Aluminum wire, there was either none OR very little actual history with Aluminum in this role because Aluminum presented a issue not seen before with the use of Copper. Aluminum tends to heat up much more rapidly than Copper plus the same size Aluminum wire out expands Copper wire so as you can imagine over time the rapid expansion then subsequent cooling causes light switch connection's to be come extremely loose so that serious arcing occurred each time a light switch was flipped to the 'ON' position which led to numerous fires before Congress outlawed Aluminum wiring in homes in '74-'75...
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By the time Aluminum was outlawed Home Builder's had begun using spring loaded connector's behind switch plates to absorb all of the expansion & cooling to cutdown on fires. fyi martin
Hank, I'm quite familiar having been in that industry in 1978. However, the aluminum household wire issue wasn't solder vs. crimp at all. If fact the issue as I know it had nothing to due with aluminum heating up due to normal conductivity - it had to due with joints heating up. The aluminum wire was still being connected to copper base alloy fixtures, such as outlets. Two different metals (dissimilar metals), especially if they are in damp environments, cause galvanic corrosion. Aluminum is notorious for this. The oxidized corroded surface of the aluminum doesn't conduct electricity well and becomes a point of resistance and creates heat and the heat increases the rate of corrosion and more resistance and heat... sometime enough to set an outlet on fire. Inspectors would walk through a house and place their hand on every outlet to feel for heat and find the problem. The cure, then, was to separate every connection and apply dielectric grease. When the connection was retightened, the metals would come together and conduct but the grease would keep out moisture and prevent further problems.
DeleteSteve Watson, Watson's StreetWorks, http://www.watsons-streetworks.com