Do you solder or tape your connections?

Do you solder or tape your connections?

Tape.

Solder @ extra cost

when some guy only has 20bucks for a cheap deck to go in an omni.

and all you get is 15bucks for doing it 6oclock on a sat night..

Solder and heatshrink tube for insulation will give the cleanest and better looking connections. Second option would be the crimp terminals.

Twist wires together and tape them then is a bad design, just think about the vibrations in your car and how these connections might losen up over time, this sort of setup calls for all kinds of problems, there can be samll contact resistances that if they are in a high current connection will generate subsatnstial voltage drops etc,, not to speak of potential for short circuits.

Soldering is taking more time but on the long run will be better.

Welding and heat shrink tube will give the best contact and also best looking results. Next would be crimping. Twisted wire taped together is nothing i would do. It only calls for problems with bad connections, short circuits etc. In a vehicle there is quite some vibration that the wire connections will be exposed to so a welded conection is to prefer over the others and even more if it's a high end system

I solder everything, maybee overkill but I never have connection related problems. For HU harnesses, I solder all of the wires, then tape and zip-tie. Sometimes I use shrink tube, but I'm always running out of that stuff.

I always solder the terminals for the grounds and battery connections which are exposed to the elements (engine bay), I sweat the lugs on with about a foot of rosin core and a propane torch.  I connect the fuse holder with electrical grease and I tape it up real good, wire loom, the works....most people agree it's pretty hard to find the power wire in my installs. I really make it look like a part of the motor wiring.

robb420in323 wrote:

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when some guy only has 20bucks for a cheap deck to go in an omni.

and all you get is 15bucks for doing it 6oclock on a sat night..

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kidtransam wrote:

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Um, so basically the guy with the omni paid you 15 bux to make his car a mobile fire hazard?

With a torch and a big enough hammer...it WILL friggin fit!!

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Solder and heat shrink.

I don't know why people don't  twist, solder, and tape, , it takes me 5 min to do a complete deck harness.   All you need is a quality iron and its easy as spreading half melted butter.  It actually takes me longer to crimp , and i can't sleep an night if i crimp wires for a customer.

I even solder the spade terminals at the amp, , i crimp, solder, , then slide the insulation over top.

When people pay $60 a hour for me, they dam whell expect a A+++ install.

I ALWAYS solder and tape or heat shrink. And in situtations when i can't solder, I use crimp caps and heat shrink.

Sounds like soldering is a good idea and crimping is pretty good also.    Good info put out here.  Thanks.

As a partial aside, but perhaps of some interest to soldering people, I just came across  this report of a new development of soldering in outer space.  

https://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/16aug_solder.htm?list1096816

I agree that crimping is second to soldering.  However, to snub crimping (were applicable) is a bit snobbish IMO.  If you are soldering even the deck wires in a average install then you are going above and beyond.  Nothing wrong with that really, then again, nothing wrong with crimping.  Maybe I will switch to soldering in the near future though, the fact I admit it is better sort of takes the shine off crimping.  Tombrooklyn, cool link.

The problem with twist and tape, is it is not oxygen tight.  So, the connection will corrode, and will evenutally fail.  End of story.

Solder, can also fail, if you use bad technique.  If you know what you are doing, IMHO it is best.

The heatshrink with the solder preforms and hot melt on the ends is the very best, and expensive.  Check out Raychem.

Crimp, IF, repeat IF you use a quality crimper, not the $5.00 tools, the $100 +kind.  IF you use quality crimps, like Amp, 3M, T&B, Panduit.  You have to use the right size for the wire gage.  If you use the wrong size,  cheap crimper ,  cheap crimps, then worse than solder.  Never pre tin a wire when crimping.  And if crimped right, you NEVER have to backup solder.

For a no brainer, wire nuts with the metal spring insert, the proper size will squeeze the wires so tight,  it is oxygen tight, and if in doubt, a little grease, silicone is best, before screwing on is even better.  Use a wire tie or military lacing cord, to support the wires just under the wire nut.  Best when changing systems all the time.

My $.02

Rod