Wire splicing

I did electrical systems from scratch on two cars. Always crimped them. The oldest was done 35 years ago. Never had a connection go sour on me and this car has a lot of miles on it.


I used a crimp tool similar in design to the one shown above.
 
I used to solder every connection on every wire.
Customers sent new customers because they liked my soldering.
I NEVER, never solder wires any more. Never.
If you solder battery cable terminals I won’t say anything bad about you.
Larger wires like no. 8 wires going to the alternator or generator and to get power off the soilinoid for the rest of the system will be the first to break.
I did a beautiful job on the bid red #6 or 8 wire going to the output terminal on my Volvo alternator.
It broke three times in two years.
Now it has a double #10 (2 wires) with CRIMPED terminals. been fine four years.
Similar thing happened on another of my cars that made me scared to drive it.
The soldered wire had broken off but was still touching the solenoid terminal.
At speed the alternator kept it running well. If it broke contact at idle I’d play hell sometimes getting it started again. Then I noticed it was broken off completely.
I ran two smaller wires down there with crimped ends and now it stars and runs like new.
That terminal was broke off maybe three years.
Get a good crimping tool,even if you have order it and wait.
I have three. One has large handles like a bolt cutters. Another one you hit with a hammer.
 
What I have done for years is crimp first then solder.
If you "tin" the wire first and then crimp it the possibility exist that if the wire gets hot enough to soften the solder the connection can pull apart.
If you crimp first you have a solid mechanical connection and the solder then makes for a excellent electrical connection. If the wire gets hot enough to melt the solder the mechanical connection should still be OK
If I had a connection getting hot enough to melt solder I would be worried about what's causing the issue !!!
 
51woodie said:
WBrown. If you remove the passenger courtesy light, you can disconnect the wire that comes from the dash/glovebox area. I had my glove box liner removed at the time, so it was easy to access the dash end of the wire. My wire was free to move when I pulled on it, so I connected a strong 6' piece of string to the light end, and pulled the wire out under the dash. I reversed the process to get the new wire in. Just make sure your wire/string splice is "smooth" with no knobs to get caught on anything. I hope this works for you.
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WOW! THANKS LARGE Nice to be able to preserve the headliner.:)
 
If you want to keep the cloth look, Ron Francis sells heat shrink tube with a black cloth otter lining. It looks and works pretty well.
 
If you want to keep the cloth look, Ron Francis sells heat shrink tube with a black cloth outer lining. It looks and works pretty well.
 
Way back when I was green and simple I pulled wires on Lears, Swearingens and Gulfstreams. We were taught to crimp, not solder (or soder) unless the solder joint is mechanically supported.

The reason given was the vibration effect on wires. At some point along the wire solder joints quickly transition from very stiff to very flexible and at can fail at this point if not supported. Crimp joints have a slightly more gradual transition from stiff to flexible.

Having said all this, I prefer to solder (and secure). It seems correct for the car I guess. Also there are some really dodgy automotive ratchet crimpers out there, and you don't always get the joint you think you're getting.

Back in the aviation days we would get the crimpers calibrated regularly for crimp force.
 
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