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?

[ClayPerrine]

Having been professionally trained on alll methods and techniques of soldering, and having repaired thousands of wiring harnesses over the years, I will continue to disagree with you.

The problem with soldering connections is not with the soldering. If you do it right, and don't extend the solder past the end of the metal on the connector, you don't damage the copper strands when you strip the wire, and you put proper strain reliefs on the wire, then you will have a good connection.

[Superhawk996]

Having been professionally trained on alll methods and techniques of soldering, and having repaired thousands of wiring harnesses over the years, I will continue to disagree with you.

The problem with soldering connections is not with the soldering. If you do it right, and don't extend the solder past the end of the metal on the connector, you don't damage the copper strands when you strip the wire, and you put proper strain reliefs on the wire, then you will have a good connection.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/grouphug.gif) That's OK. The beautiful thing is that each of us is free to do as we see fit on our personal vehciles. I have nothing but respect for the you and the vehicles you've built. You do awesome work and I don't mean to imply anything negative about your craftsmanship. It is impressive!

Honestly, I'm aligned to what you are saying that if soldering is done PROPERLY there is little risk in automotive applications IF the wire isn't subject to vibration stress.

However, the reality is that most people are not competent at soldering. The tools and the techniqes are far more complicated than the tools required for crimping. It takes training and lots of practice to get soldering right. I say that as USAF trained electronics technician. Nicked wiring from improper stripping, seen it. Overheated wires that melt and degrade the wire insulation, seen it. Underheated wires with a blob of solder just basically sticking two wires together in a high resistance joint, seen it. Improperly designed stress relief that is bent too tightly, and creates intermittent connections as wires vibrate, seen it. Too much solder flux and not cleaned leading to corrosion later on, seen it. Not enough flux, seen it. The list of potential soldering flaws goes on and on.

But let's at least be factual about this. A proper crimp is superior and this isn't just my personal opinion or a desire to disagree with you personally or any of the other posters in favor of soldering. The fact that crimping is superior is based on unimaginable test hours conducted by NASA, automotive OEM's, and the global aviation industry on vibration tables and wiring harness test rigs that most readers of this forum have never seen. It is not just a personal opinion or old wives tale.

"Crimping is an efficient and highly reliable method to assemble and terminate conductors, and typically provides a stronger, more reliable termination method than that achieved by soldering." Excerpted from NASA document.



https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2%20b...s/frameset.html
See section 2.01 for source of the quote and the graphic.

The previous post from @AZBanks on high end motorsports wiring was priceless. Long but incredibly thorough so i won't rehash that one but it was worth reading in full. The craftsmanship & planning that is required to produce F1 level wiring harness is amazing. That truly is what separates professional from amatuer work which was the point of the OP.

Great wiring write-up.

https://www.rbracing-rsr.com/wiring_ecu.html

Here is an example of a medium sized vibration test table. There are tables used that are much larger than this. Now envision that with a complete wiring harness with representative wiring harness attachments and/or instrument panel and other related modules mounted to it and subjected to known road load vibration profiles and duty cycle testing. Sorry I couldn't find one with wiring on it (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etUNYZP_yHA


And of course for automotive, 4 post shakers are commonly used by all OEM's for testing and development of full vehicles. Typically 4 posters are not used for durability work like proving out a wiring harness but it gives you some insight into the massive size of some of the vibration test equipment available and the vibration stress that the harness will be subjected to. Here is a neat 7 post shaker being used for suspension development. Skip the first 20 seconds of the nose cone testing.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SPflUyT1rQ