Quote:
Originally Posted by jkstill
Want the best of both worlds? Use some cheap bare crimps, and flow a little solder into it. You can get these at radio shack, and it makes it easier to make a good solder connection.
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Actually, contrary to common sense, this is not the best of both worlds. Its identical to soldering only and has none of the benefits of the crimp. The only reason to favor a crimp connection is when temps are over 400F (solder melts) or when the wire is under tension/stress.
The copper/solder alloy is more brittle than the regular copper and doesn't bend much before it will fracture. Many non-engineers will fixate and overreact to this fact but the truth is it usually doesn't matter as none of the wires in our wiring harness are under significant stress. Vibration alone does not matter as the flexible wire before and after the joint flex before the solder/copper alloy flexes -- it needs to be high vibration and under tension in such a way that the joint "feels" like its being bent. For instance, voice coils in speakers are soldered and they are under extreme vibration -- BUT -- there is slack in the wire so the solder joint is not effected and there is no stress to the copper/solder.
When you crimp + solder, your crimped connection now contains the brittle solder/copper alloy. All you did was waste time and a perfectly good crimp on a soldered joint and you didn't even save any time.