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do butt connections become loose?


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dlstech 
Member - Posts: 13
Member spacespace
Joined: December 15, 2011
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: December 19, 2011 at 12:39 AM / IP Logged  
I've seen a lot of posts with people really not liking butt/crimp connections and the main thing they talk about is the strength. I can see how they are bad if you use these cheap crimpers:
do butt connections become loose? -- posted image.
But what about good ratcheting crimpers? The ones I have crimp perfectly every time. And not just that, they crimp TIGHT. I take a piece of 18 gauge wire and crimp both sides together to make a circle. Then I try to break it apart. I usually can't with the hands and have to step on it and pull up to break. 90% of the time, the wiring rips somewhere but doesn't slide out of the crimped butt connector. Isn't that good enough for installs? I can't think of any situation where the wire would be pulled that hard under normal driving and operation. And this was done with good Metra Install Bay connectors, not cheap generic ones. Cheap ones use softer metal or something and the wiring pulls out easy.
So why do so many people seem to hate them. most people in the marine industry use crimp connections only. Solder corrodes and/or fails over time. I work in aviation maintenance and all I see are crimped connections because they are good with vibration and it's easier to calculate resistance with crimped connections since with solder there's human error(too much/too little) that can affect performance or signal.
So is it ok to make good crimp connections for alarms or is solder still better for some reason? Keep in mind that I use a good ratcheting crimp tool, not the cheap ones that flex and bend all over the place.
dlstech 
Member - Posts: 13
Member spacespace
Joined: December 15, 2011
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: December 19, 2011 at 12:52 AM / IP Logged  
Here's the ratcheting crimpers I was talking about (top ones):
do butt connections become loose? -- posted image.
howie ll 
Pot Metal - Posts: 16,466
Pot Metal spacespace
Joined: January 09, 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: December 19, 2011 at 10:41 AM / IP Logged  
I only use ratcheting crimpers but butt connectors even the super expensive adhesive filled crimp and heat types don't make as good a joint as a properly soldered joint.
Also, when you're doing this work intensively, it's cheaper to carry solder and sleeving, even if solder seems to have tripled in price over the last three years.
Remember most of the posters here are rank amateurs and would use a $5 crimper not a $150 amp unit.
howie ll 
Pot Metal - Posts: 16,466
Pot Metal spacespace
Joined: January 09, 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posted: December 19, 2011 at 10:44 AM / IP Logged  
Aviation and marine requirements versus corrosion are different, also less space in a car and start butt connecting will bulk the loom unacceptably.

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