Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 06:45:59 -0600
Reply-To: Darrell Boehler <midwesty@MIDWEST.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Darrell Boehler <midwesty@MIDWEST.NET>
Subject: Re: Soldered Connections
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Hi Volks,
I feel solder is better. I also feel if one has no soldering experience
that a crimp splice joint is probably better, but I don't like them or wire
nuts either for that mater. I learned to solder as a radar technician in the
usn. The best advice I can offer is what a cwo ( chief warrant officer) told
me in 1960 and the basics have not changed much since then, the secret to a
good electrical connection is to first have a good mechanical connection.
I prefer shrink tubing, however there is some much improved electrical
tape out there. I find the new 3m / scotch super 33 hard to beat for most
things I need tape for. It is not cheap around $4 a roll but then some for
$0.50 can be more expensive it it fails you.
Darrell
-----Original Message-----
From: Otmar Ebenhoech <Otmar@EVCL.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Sunday, January 31, 1999 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: Soldered Connections
>At 11:38 PM -0800 1/30/99, David Marshall wrote:
>>I think you are missing the point with soldering - or you have never seen
>>it done correctly. Your examples of failing solders are not from a wire
to
>>wire connection but a wire to a component / circuit board connection. If
>>you are soldering two wires together you must do what is called a "western
>>union" connection first. This is where you strip the wires say 1.5 to
>>2.0cm and put them parallel to each other so the cut end of one wire is
>>next to the begining of the plastic covering of the other. Then twist the
>>wires so they make a mechanical connection first. The wires should be
able
>>to hold together without solder. The next step is to do a propper
>>soldering job where you heat the wire and not the solder thus advoiding a
>>cold solder. Use decent solder that contains a very small amount of flux.
>>I use the Radio Shack stuff. After you make this connection I will bet
>>anyone one hundred bucks that it will NOT break. If you waterproof it
with
>>lithium greese and seal it with very snug heat shrink it is almost as good
>>as an uncut wire - just a little stiffer where the connection is made.
>>
>>Crimps do have their place and work well when done with the right tools.
>>They do tend to leave some part of the connection open to the atmosphere
>>which makes it prone to rust and eventually failure.
>
>Maybe I was misdirected here, I was thinking of a crimp joint to something
>like a 1/4" faston connector for going to the back of the light. You are
>right that I was thinking of a wire to component connection.
>
>I would agree that in the case of wire to wire connections, using a western
>union connection in a non flexing area it would be a very good connection.
>This used to be done in the ECU harnesses of some cars (I think I remember
>them in a '87 ford), but in my 97 jetta harness they were crimps.
>
>The lithium grease trick sounds good (if messy). There exists a type of
>heatshrink that has a sealer inside it to seal connections from the
>atmosphere. Usually it's called high voltage heatshrink and I've seen it in
>three weights. Basically it's heatshrink with a hot glue like substance
>inside it that oozes out when it is shrunk. This is fantastic stuff for
>both crimped and soldered joints. Unfortunatly it's quite expensive. You
>can make your own by laying down some hot glue on the joint and then using
>ordinary shrink tubing over it. When the tubing gets hot enough it melts
>the glue. Makes for a great sealed joint, but it will eventually crack and
>compromise the seal if it's flexed enough.
>
>
>
>
> -Otmar-
>86 Syncro (front) 82 (rear) Stretch GTI Westfalia. "Power of two"
>Several EVs (Electric Vehicles)
>http://www.evcl.com/strvan/strvan.html
>http://www.evcl.com/Picprev.html
>Electric Vehicle Components Ltd. (650) 494-9255
>
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