I'm inlining

[Fusion]

Not skates. Haven't had them since I was 13.

I tore out the Dremel gas torch/iron that's been in my shelf and got to work. I'm not really happy with the wiring in my car so before I screw it all up, I wanted to practice a little.
My ADHD alarm goes of when I see shitty wiring and tape. I hate pigtailed joints, so I've been learning inline wire soldering and it's actually coming along well. Thought it'd be much harder.
Some of the sleeving should've been longer.









Comments and tips welcome. There isn't a soldering thread here, is there?

[AndrewBird]

Just a heads up, this thread will likely turn into a debate about which is better, soldering or crimping. I'm on the crimping side of the debate.

That being said, your solder joints look good.

[jlevie]

A good solder beats crimps any time. But in confined areas it can be difficult to properly execute a solder joint, which is where a crimp fitting makes things easier. The best of both is to use an uninsulated crimp fitting and then solder the joint.

I prefer to use an electrical soldering gun to avoid melting insulation or damaging adjacent parts.

[AndrewBird]

The argument is that over time (years) the flux used in soldering can cause corrosion and the solder joint itself can actually crack/break due to vibration.

Add to that the fact that most people can't solder for shit, or like you said, it's hard to solder in some areas and the fact that crimping is 10x faster, I'm definitely pro crimp.

You can however get crimp connectors with heat shrink tubing AND low temp solder then solders the joint when you use a heat gun to shrink the shrink tubing. Best of both words I suppose. But they are like $2 a piece.

[Fusion]

Sweet stuff. Good to know. I have done some crimping, but more on new stuff, not repairs.
What would you guys use in terms of harness or harness branch sleeving? The usual braided automotive stuff? Are there inflammable options?
The wires in my car are curently covered in some hockey-stick-ish crap. Seems like a textile core. Not the 3M rubber self healing stuff.
My worst nightmare is removing el.tape and getting everything sticky.

[Nsquared97]

Looking pretty good! For those that haven't seen it, here is a great thread on the classic crimp vs solder debate:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=176790&highlight=solder

[ForcedFirebird]

Soldering > crimping based on experience.

So a poor solder joint may break if done improperly, but generally speaking a crimp joint will break more rapidly due to the "crimp" it leaves on individual strands.

Fusion, just an FYI, when soldering a wye, there is a greater risk of the joint getting corroded by water/humidity when using standard heat shrink alone. It works much better when using a plasticized filler on the bare wires prior to heat shrink tubing. There are expensive shrink tubing's that have it built in, but using "liquid electric tape" on the bare copper before shrinking works quite well in making a good weather-proof seal.

[ForcedFirebird]

After skimming that thread, I will add that Luke is correct in many situations. IF you DO crimp, the correct tool should be used. I personally don't solder eyelet, male/female, or spade connectors, but use a proper tool (see post #18 in the link) to get a good joint (just like the starter leads in OEM conditions), but when it comes to splicing a singe/wyes with copper-on-copper, I prefer a proper solder and heat wrap over butt-connectors.

[b*saint]

NASA says Crimping > Soldering especially for something like a car that sees extreme changes in ambient and local temperatures

[ForcedFirebird]

NASA says Crimping > Soldering especially for something like a car that sees extreme changes in ambient and local temperatures

Are you sure?

I saw Luke's post a while back - I know what you're referring to.

Luke is wrong. (sorry Luke!!!)

If I was installing stereos for a living - I'd use them, they would save time, and let me move more cars. But they are far from "best practice" - if it's you own car, take the time to do it right.

But, he got me thinking about it - so I started asking a few people. I asked two MIT engineers (one that works building medical devices - crazy stuff) And I asked a third engineer that is an actual god damn NASA solder instructor.

All of them said that it's fine and normal practice to solder wire. The only time there is an issue is then you don't have the wire supported and it does a ton of bending right next to the solder joint. Basically - anything on your e30 will be fine. Any quality solder made for electronics is fine - solder till your heart is content. NASA requires RMA solder, and that's what all the wiring that is soldered on the space shuttle uses.

I'm not really a fan of butt connectors either. You're suppose to do a 5 pound pull test after you splice them - and you should be fine. I'll tell you something I've become a HUGE fan of - these "quick splices". I buy them from 3M by the 100's - and like everything else 3M makes - they are kinda awesome. Really easy to tap(t-into) or extend a wire. You can remove them with a screwdriver it's almost like they were never installed. Once removed there will be a small nick on two sides of the wire's insulation that usually closes up on it's own. Or a bit of electrical tap on the wire if you're really worried about it. But much better/faster/quicker than a butt connector.

Give them a go - almost any hardware store sells them. I've started including them in the gauges I sell cause they just make such a good connection, carry tons of current if need be, and don't f-up your wiring. Not as good as soldering - but great when you need a quick splice and don't want to hack into anything.

[TobyB]

I can't crimp shit, because the best crimper I have cost me $4.99.

However, I solder for a living and steal the adhesive lined shrink from work.

So guess what I do?

hee

t

[kway]

I'm all about soldering, been at it since I was 11 years old messing around with R/C cars. To me soldered and heatshrunk just looks so much cleaner than big clunky crimp connectors.

I've been surprised reading on here about people not knowing how to solder; never really thought it was something people had trouble with. I do use crimp connectors here and there, but I usually try to stick to the heat shrink ones, which I haven't seen at any regular parts store.

[b*saint]

Are you sure?

No. I guess never believe what you read on Garage Journal.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/doctree/87394.pdf

[jlevie]

A properly executed crimp, using the exactly correct size uninsulated sleeve and a properly calibrated crimp tool dedicated for that sleeve, will make a gas tight connection and the result will be as good as a solder joint. But, when working on cars few, if any, have the full assortment of sleeves (one size for each possible wire size) and the set of crimpers (one for each sleeve size @~$150/ea). That is what is used for Mil-Spec crimping and it works great.

When using the plastic insulated crimp fittings, and the generic crimpers always make sure that the sleeve is full of wire, even if you have to stuff in another piece of wire. And over crimp the fitting by finishing with the next smaller crimp setting to account for crush in the plastic sleeve. Test the connection by pulling on the sleeve and wire very hard. If the wire pulls out you did not make a gas tight connection and the joint may cause problems later.