Mike W0MU wrote: I don't think we are subjected to the same issues as a Nuclear plant. I have had numerous crimped purchased cables fail because of a lousy crimp job covered up by heat shrink.
------------------------------------- That's why I'm a strong believer in "strain relief", especially wherever a cable flexes a lot or vibrates. No matter how the joint is made, if a wire is allowed to move at the transition from flexible wire to rigid contact, the metal will crystallize (fatigue) and break at that point. I've always found that using proper strain relief and support for the wires which assures that movement - including vibration - is spread over a length of the wire and so no at one spot prevents breaking - at least in this millennium. In work on aircraft and military vehicles we always ensured the wire could not move where it connected to the pin, no matter how that connection was made: screw, crimp, solder, etc. People familiar with power systems have told me that the reason soldering is not used (and illegal in many situations) is that wiring can get hot enough under extreme conditions to actually melt solder. If that happened, the resultant poor connection left once the solder is gone could heat enough to start a fire or melt the wires, all without drawing enough current to open the protective breakers. That can be catastrophic in many environments, not the least of which is inside the wall of a home. Ron AC7AC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
