I've always been a "solder" person for connecting cables to connectors, but I'm just in the process of putting some ring terminals on 4AG cable for the p/s caps. Soldering this size doesn't seem to really be an option. So will probably crimp, but I wanted to hear other views on pros/cons of crimping.
Thanks
Thanks
yes I know, blowtorch doesn't seem to do very well (because the air is not a good conductor of heat ?). I should've checked what insulation they use.
the bad thing about crimping is when the crimping connection is not perfect and develop oxidation at the contact point. so dissimilar metal could be troublesome on the long term.
another way is solder multiple smaller cable on separate ring and connect them together using copper bus bar.
OK, I picked up a 175W soldering iron today and the results are good. I can get a good connection with minimal damage to the insulation, so I think I'll go this way. Tries a few of the crimping options suggested and results are ok, but I'm still not convinced the connection is as good as solder...
Thanks for your comments
Thanks for your comments
Posts 13-33 moved from http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/145662-holmimpulse-measurements-practice.html____________________________________________________________________
I personally have never made a cold joint. May I ask who assembles your speakers for you, that you can't trust with such an easy task...?
A crimp will never be as robust, and effective as a solder joint. I'm just surprised that you consider crimps (assuming) a better approach.
I quite agree. Non-soldering technuiques are cost savers in a production line, not really good for revealing low level detail.
You could not be more mistaken.
Cold solder is only one failure mode of a solder joint, and probably the least common, at least long term.
I worked in automotive electronics for about 20 years, lots of reliability stuff. A car would never use a solder joint over a mechanical one. Solder was strictly for the low current very small parts. Any thing with high curent was stricly mechanical. Thats because the current drags along some of the metal on its travels - the metals in the joint migrate, but in opposite directions. Thats when the integrity of the joint gets brittle and vibrations cause it to fail. In some situations this was almost 100% guaranteed. Cost Ford billions one year - solder joint failure on the ignition module. Car dies on the road.
Nobody in the housing industry solders house wiring - there is a reason for that.
In the speakers in Thailand one of the biggest problems was the single solder joint at the input terminals. We made this meachanical and the problem went away.
Its mostly a high current situation - so low level stuff doesn't count - but solder is a problem waiting to happen. No matter how good you think that you are at it.
Speakers and crossovers take very high currents.
My speakers are 99% mechanical bonds, just like your home wiring. (Stupid input terminals don't come with screw terminals because nobody thinks they are reliable - DA!)
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....lesson learnt.
I've worked in the housing industry, and it's about spd, not function. Even if soldering were the better approach. Time is money in resi electrical, and soldering takes time. Resi electrical is the ditch digging of the trade IMO, and I feel confident in saying that the vast majority of tradesmen in that sector would not be proficient with an iron anyway.
House wiring lasts 40, 60 even 80 years without solder and without a problem. What more evidence do you need.
Oh, I forgot, the solder makes the joint "sound better".
I know quite a few electricians in the commercial sector who would heartily disagree with you, especially when they are digging ditches...
The residential slackers have it made.
lol... really...? I'm really confused then, because I have these vivid memories of service calls based on faulty wiring. Wonder how many times you'd have to tighten a solder joint over 80yrs. Cause I can tell ya that the mechanical recepticle connections should be adjusted every couple of years. I won't bother mentioning the pain in the a$$ Al wiring is.
Hell... I was just in at the plant I work at over the X-mas holidays, specifically to tighten the mechanical electircal connections on a couple pieces of machinery. (control cabinets not physically attached to the machinery, so vibration wasn't the issue) Mechanical joints relax over time. That's a fact based experience. Whether or not their use in loudspeakers is better than solder... well, that topic is your forte' so I'll bow to your insight.
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