In a high vibration application, in moist conditions, what is the best way to splice wiring?
I cannot solder.
I have little faith in,crimped connectors.
Is there a better way?
Solder is only good for secure electrical connections. It should not be used to hold wires together.
Get the crimp connector, take off the plastic insulation. Slide the crimp on the wire. Also slide on a piece of shrink wrap.
Twist the wires together. Slide the crimp over the twisted wires and crimp. Solder the whole thing. Then slide the shrink wrap on the crimp and heat. Cover the shrink wrap with water resistant RTV.
A set of Lüsterklemmen will give you a good connection that can withstand vibration and can be used in a moist environment by using shrink wrap or electrical tape.
If you've got good equipment, crimping can be more secure than soldering. The good stuff ain't cheap, and the cheap stuff ain't good, though.
--DD
Wiring experts say that the process of soldering will make the splice rigid and thus susceptible to vibrations which can create an open circuit. Properly crimped connections maintain flexibility and are thus preferred.
Sherwood
Yep. Ask an A&P. Failure will occur at the point where the solder joint ends and the bare wire begins. One side is ridged and the other flexes. Just a matter of time. I like Andy's approach.
Not all soldering is equal, though. Some solder joints are acceptable (or required!) in aerospace applications as well! But there are some pretty stringent requirements about the results. Probably beyond the skill (or at least knowledge) of most of us, though.
--DD
In the Marine Corps we used solder crimps with built in shrink tube. They work great in jet fighters and heilos.
They don't contain much solder and the shrink tube supports the wire so the joint will not flex and break.
Usually in Aerospace we solder then pot it. Or what mike talked about.
I forget the product name but as with anything its not cheap.
Generally pep boys water proof heat shrink crimp connects work really well for most applications.
depends on what you are doing and how dedicated you want to be.
How about instead of dozens of connectors I use a water proof plug.
Something in range of 10-20 different connections.
Where would I find those?
Here is the commercial version of out military solder crimp...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmZ8Ry99TMs
Similar product...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24FjjIVpk9U
Marine Corps sent me to a week long solder school similar to this... Thing is, I already knew how to solder...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPkc6k5uWUQ
Are you working on a mars lander or something? It's a car for cripes sake! Strip of 1/4 inch of insulation on each end, push them in a splice and crimp them.
Good crimps should outlast most anything. A good crimp (typically made with nice ratcheting crimpers, see Paladin Crimp-All as an example) cold welds the wire stands and pin together resulting in an environmentally secure connection without the brittleness at the insulation joint associated with soldering. The PO of your boat likely poorly crimped everything with no fusion of strands so corrosion in the salt and hot environment happens pretty readily.
You can see the difference between good and bad (but not terrible) crimps in this picture. The one on the left is totally fused while you can see stranding on the right side which will let air in and corrosion start.
I like to buy non-insulated terminals and then add adhesive heat shrink to them to add another level of strain relief and environmental protection to the connection. It also looks a little neater (IMHO) having single color terminals throughout the entire loom.
The solder splices Mike posted above are really nice though. I like using them for putting drain wires on shielded cables which do not have drains.
This website has a bunch of interesting articles on marine wiring.
http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/wire_termination&page=1
So,
With lots of smart people doing EFI systems, does anyone have a good suggestion for waterproof plugs of various sizes?
Connectors are supplied by harness guys and panel builders for convienience, not because they are the best sulution for vibration and corrosion. I still think hard wiring an SO or SJO cord set to a power distribution block is your best bet.
If you do want to look at good stuff, look at machine tool and mining connectors, start with companies like Brad Harrison, they do a molded multi conductor series of weatherproof and oil resistant SO pig tail connectors
What does SO and SJO stand for?
Flexible Power cord multi conductor.
Oil resistsnt, flexible, Brad Harrison and Wiremold mold weatherproof connectors to it
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