"That's why soldering is typically not used in concealed wiring in buildings, aircraft and other sensitive locations."
Interesting point, Ron. Don't think I've ever seen that mentioned before. Logical, when you think about it. Thanks and 73 Bob N6WG ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Darwin, Keith'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 9:24 AM Subject: RE: [Elecraft] APP crimp tool Keith N1AS wrote: They should be crimped but the crimper is $50 or something like that. The can be soldered but everyone agrees that is not the preferred attachment method. ----------------------------------------- Not so, Keith. Wayne and many others (including myself for what it's worth) prefer SOLDERING over crimping. Crimping works fine, if you use the right tool and know how to use it properly, but soldering produces a joint that is just as good - electrically and mechanically - as the best crimp. The one caveat about soldering is that if you have an extreme short circuit that is melting the wires and starting a fire the heat might also melt the solder causing it to run out of the connector causing another poor, high resistance connection that can create even more heat. That's why soldering is typically not used in concealed wiring in buildings, aircraft and other sensitive locations. While crimping is generally used in hidden locations, a less-than-perfect crimp in a conductor carrying significant current is sure to cause a hot spot and possible fire. Concerns with fires and melting solder shouldn't be a concern with the connectors plugged into the back of radios in our ham shacks. Hopefully we have fuses, breakers and other safeguards against fire-causing short circuits. I never saw any hesitation to solder power leads in other exposed places in commercial work either. The reason some such cables are crimped instead of soldered is to cut labor costs. Properly done, crimping produces a good connection and one can crimp several connectors in the same length of time it takes to solder one properly. The small savings in time is hardly a concern for most of us working in our ham shacks. Ron AC7AC _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
