crimp or solder thick cables?

[Rob]

i will be doing my split charge system and im reluctant to by a 50mm^2 crimp tool due to the price. my dad suggested that i can solder the wires instead of crimping. is this a reliable alternative? if not where can anyone recommend a cheap crimp tool?

 

[Andy Harvey]

Solder and a pair of pliers will do it fine, however you will need a decent soldering Iron to get the connector hot enough - one of the littel blow torch ones or a decent butane one will do it. The way I learnt to solder this kind of thing is that you need to get the connector hot rather than the cable and as long as you have a good connection between them then just let the solder run into the connector - do it from both ends and you will get a really nice connection. And actually done right, a solder connection should be a lot more reliable than a crimp one as you are excluding the air from the wires in the connector which stops any oxidation. If you really want to make a nea job get some large heat shrink tubing and shrink that around the connection.

 

[Jon Wildsmith]

I crush them a bit in the vice and then solder, but you need a decent heat source or you won't make very good connections.

 

[Crispin]

like they said.

I got a £13 blow torch from B&Q for that. If your iron cannot give enough heat it'll sink into the cable and you'll have a dry joint. Bad for many reasons.

 

[pugwash]

Crimp for me-

you can do it with a hammer and a pair of pliers- basically you put the crimp in the pliers and hammer until flat- works surprisingly well. Alternatively invest in a crimp tool and rent out as and when people on forums need it!

 

[Andy Harvey]

Or a big pair of pliers to start the bend and then a hammer and blunt cold chisel to criimp in two bars across the joint. Still prefer the blowtorch and solder technique though - probably a bit of a pyromaniac

 

[Paul]

People like Vehicle Wiring Products do pre made soldered cable, you just tell them the length and what ends and it arrives done.
When i did my defender i just ordered them up and they were about the same price as doing it yourself. The only downside was if you were trying to pass through holes that were only as big as the cable itself.

 

[Gary Stockton]

Crimp the large stuff - I bought an hydraulic crimper on fleabay like this one:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HYDRAULIC-CRIMPIN ... 439eeb1bd7

and it works perfectly ... not bad for under £30

Cheers

 

[AndyCook]

I got an ebay hydraulic crimp tool, the other week too - for under £30
Well worth the investment, with wiring up split charging relay, inverter and for winch, and andersen plug at front and jump-start cables, I have had to crimp about 20 joints, mixed 50mm2 and 25mm2 so far.

 

[Andy Harvey]

Thanks for the pointer Gary. Just bought one - excellent price.

 

[Chris]

Mine arrived this morning. Having seen Gary's I thought, Hmm that saves effort. But on the soldering front, I do it a different way. I pre heat the connector, but melt the solder in a little pan, then hot pour them. Just pre heat the cable strands quickly before immersion to prevent cold lapping the joint. Pretty effective and doesn't need quite the effort.

Chris

 

[Rob]

Just ordered one too, thanks for the tip Gary.

 

[Ian Rubie]

I've ordered to. Is the list of people ordering these the same as those who have just bought dirty great inverters

 

[Rob]

i assume so

 

[Steve Wright]

Crimp for me-

you can do it with a hammer and a pair of pliers- basically you put the crimp in the pliers and hammer until flat- works surprisingly well. Alternatively invest in a crimp tool and rent out as and when people on forums need it!

you can do it with a hammer and a pair of pliers- basically you put the crimp in the pliers and hammer until flat

Thats a big no no, when you are talking of hundreds of amps, that will just cause a high resistance and will just heat
up.

Soldering a connector is fine and with the right crimper is ok too, but never just hammer it (it will let you down)

Steve

 

[pugwash]

agree its not ideal, but it can work- did one about 2 years ago in the field and its still going strong.

 

[Andy Harvey]

Yep done right it will do a good job and I have done a few like that with never a problem. Just make sure you get it good and crimped. Agree a crimper is best or Solder but the old cold chisel does work like a charm - actually get far lower resistance across that than on most fairly uncared for battery posts.