I've had the same observation Knut. People in the power and aerospace industries tell me they now avoid soldered connections in hidden locations because of the danger of an overheated circuit actually melting the solder, which causes a rapid heating and failure of connections where they can't be seen.
I've seen a lot of BAD crimps out there. Crimping is so very easy to do wrong even using the "right" tools. Working on large ships, I so commonly encountered bad crimps that I kept my portable soldering iron busy simply fixing all the sloppy ones: power leads, audio leads, antenna connectors, you name it. I fixed a great many "intermittents" that way and won the favor of a number of Captains who had lived for long periods of time with a radio, radio or autopilot that seemed to have a "mind of its own" ;-) In theory crimping is just as good as solder. Properly done, the metals are pressed together so hard there is no air (and so no moisture) between the surfaces. No air means no corrosion so the resistance is stable over time. That's the theory. Practice out here in the real world seems to be something different. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- I have been told throughout my professional career that a crimped joint is more reliable than a soldered one but I am skeptical. Maybe a perfectly executed crimp is theoretically better but my own experience shows otherwise. Cars, industrial installations come to mind. I have witnessed plenty of bad crimps but frankly very few bad soldered connections. Knut - AB2TC _______________________________________________ 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
