Why I Crimp And Never Solder

[John McFarlane]

Re: Why I Crimp And Never Solder

Would not a better way to approach this topic, seeing as it came about due to a possible 'Insurance Claim' nightmare, be to ask your insurance company, or all insurance companies/brokers/organisations, to clarify where they see are the soldering/crimping requirements for boats? Given that either soldering or crimping, when done properly seems to be acceptable to all on this forum. <br /><br />We can quote military/aviation/NASA/Plutonian etc. specs til the cows come home, but at the end of the day it is the Insurance Companies interpretation of the rules, not ours.

 

[chuckz]

Re: Why I Crimp And Never Solder

Just for clarification,<br /><br />1. I included the NASA spec as an independnent, scientific evaluation of crimping not as an example of boat wiring. Duh!<br /><br />2. Spec interpretation: I believe when NASA says "solder-tinned" this is referencing a type of wire and not a process. "Solder tinned" would be as opposed to tinning with some other type of metal or plating (i.e. gold plated wire).<br /><br />3. The issue of tinned wire was approached because many users of this board have specifically asked for tinned marine grade wire.<br /><br />4. I fully agree with David. My point being there is more than one school of thought.<br /><br />5. Crimping was invented to replace soldering and soldered connection was the benchmark used to evaluate a crimp. So, a properly soldered connection or a properly crimped connection is fine.<br /><br />6. Single crimp connectors are designed for soldering. If using double crimp marine grade, soldering is not necessary.<br /><br />7. The insurance company is out to make money. If they start looking at the terminations on your wiring, they've already decided to deny the claim.

 

[18rabbit]

Re: Why I Crimp And Never Solder

‘Solder-tinned’ wire is not the same as ‘tin-plated’ wire. ‘Solder-tinning’ and ‘solder-tinned’ are common expressions (respectively) used to describe the process or product of the process I mentioned above. Gold-plated wire that has solder applied to it is solder-tinned.<br /><br />Fwiw, tin is a soft metal that deforms quite nicely when crimped. Not necessarily so with solder. As I mentioned above, crimping solder-tinned wire has the potential to be a worst connection than either crimping, soldering, or crimping then soldering.

 

[JohnRuff]

Re: Why I Crimp And Never Solder

And just when you think you understand the rules -- the rules changed. Next year will see the removal of lead from solder. That is a boon for our company because we sell all kinds of soldering equipment and solder.<br /><br />Solder without lead has different temperature requirements to be able to use it.

 

[Tatorbug]

Re: Why I Crimp And Never Solder

Due to vibration in marine applications, a crimped termination will stand up to flexing when a soldered wire may break at the connection. Large conductors such as battery cables may withstand the vibration without failure. Solder is an alloy of tin and lead, when exposed to moisture, corrosion is likely. If you do solder, never use acid core fluxed solder on electrical connections.