Differences between amateur and professional wiring? Options

[Tdskip]

OK guys - we have some very talented people here and I'm hoping to bring my wiring skills up a level.

What separates amateur wiring from a pro level? One item that comes to mind - no use of Harbor Freight connectors (which I am guilt of).

What else comes to mind?

[bandjoey]

http://www.visioneng.com/wp-content/upload...rol.15SEP16.pdf

I learned a lot from this site. I'm kinda an advanced amateur.


....Soldering should not be used in an automotive strand wire application.
Why Not?

[ClayPerrine]

http://www.visioneng.com/wp-content/upload...rol.15SEP16.pdf

I learned a lot from this site. I'm kinda an advanced amateur.


....Soldering should not be used in an automotive strand wire application.
Why Not?

I completely disagree with the comment about not soldering the wires. That is an old wives tale. If you take a close look at a factory 914 harness, you will find that every connection on it is soldered. When I rebuilt the DME harness for the 4.0L motor, every connection on it was soldered when I disassembled it. If you do it right, soldering the connections is a very good, reliable connection.

[Superhawk996]

I completely disagree with the comment about not soldering the wires. That is an old wives tale. If you take a close look at a factory 914 harness, you will find that every connection on it is soldered. When I rebuilt the DME harness for the 4.0L motor, every connection on it was soldered when I disassembled it. If you do it right, soldering the connections is a very good, reliable connection.

There is material science behind the recommendation. It is not an old wives tale.

A stranded wire that is soldered esentially becomes a larger gauge solid wire. That singular wire then work hardens due to vibration. With enough time and vibration it will break.

The analogy is to take a coat hanger (single strand wire). Now begin bending it back and forth (i.e. low frequency vibration). Eventually it work hardens and breaks. if you speed up the the bending (vibration frequency) or the amount you bend the wire (the vibration amplitude) the faster it breaks.

Copper work hardens in the same way that steel does though it takes longer.

This is the reason automotive uses stranded wire. Multiple smaller gauge wires are more flexible than a singe larger strand and work harden over a much longer period of time.

I'm not sure what harness you're looking that is soldered. There are many crimped spade connectors that have a bit of insulation over the spade to prevent shorts but the connections underneath are crimped not soldered.

The sole exception that I'm aware of is I think the 14 way engine harness "bullets" are soldered at the very end. They are then inserted into the 14 way plastic connector and capped / clamped in position such that those little bullets are not exposed to vibration the way the rest of the spade connectors in the engine compartment are. The wires coming out of that 14 way harness are able to flex freely. I would go look to be sure but my engine harness is currently in storage. Going from memory the only other connector that uses those soldered bullets is the trans reverse switch which is notorious for breakage.