Gary Sack wrote: > I would like to see a better way to make terminals. I solder mine.
I solder mine as well, despite all the admonitions NOT to solder. Why do they say not to solder connections on an airplane? Because if you apply too much solder, it will wick down the wire and create a brittle zone outside of the connector, which vibration or just plain "rearranging" of the wire will break. Gary probably does it like I do, because it's the obvious answer to solder wicking down the wire and later breaking.
I strip enough insulation so the bare wire extends past the crimping area of the terminal about a sixteenth of an inch, crimp it there and in two other places, then apply the soldering gun to the end of the crimp zone closest to the bare wire (and the ring), then put one little bit of solder on the very end of the wire when it's hot enough. That yields a huge "transfer area", and guarantees that it will not be pulled through the sleeve with any reasonable force. I've never had a wire break, nor a joint fail, on the plane or any other "system" I've soldered wires on. It's worth noting that I also apply one or two layers of shrink tubing that cover that interface between insulated wire and the end of the terminal, which takes potential fatigue loads off the wire/terminal interface. If there's a plastic sleeve on the terminal, I remove it, but mostly, I buy terminals without those stupid plastic sleeves on them. My experience (and an admission that I am not Charles Atlas, nor have spent big dollars on expensive crimpers) is that those sleeves just diminish the pressure applied to the sleeve, resulting in insufficient clamping force between wire and terminal (or connector).
My two cents worth. I'm convinced I'm right, and it works for me, so don't bother trying to convince to do it differently.....
Mark Langford m...@n56ml.com http://www.n56ml.com Huntsville, AL -- KRnet mailing list KRnet@list.krnet.org https://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet
