Crimped connectors

[Jeremiah McCarthy-2]

Only to make a point, not an argument...I worked for 30 years at Grumman and we built most of the Navy's aircraft, which are subject to a highly corrosive environment...All connections, thousands of them, were crimped using "Stakons", the trade name for those little red, blue, and yellow terminal lugs...AMP was the manufacturer of both the tools and the terminals...Soldering was grounds for a "crab", or rejection of the connection...Solder can wick up the wire under the insulation causing a rigid condition subject to vibration fatigue...Also, the heat from soldering distorts  the red, blue, or yellow insulation sleeve on the terminal lug compromising it's integrity...Of course there were a few connectors that had pins that had to be soldered, but not many...The pins in most of the connectors by Cannon, Amphenol, Deutch, etc. were crimped...

Rivet and skin corrosion on the outside of the aircraft is much more of a problem than corrosion of crimped wire connections...

Jerry, wa2dkg_______________________________________________
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[w7aqk]

Jerry and All,

This seems to be pretty much the same rationale that I've
heard over the last few years as APP's became more popular.
A soldered connection can create something almost too stiff
or rigid, and can break more easily over time.  A properly
crimped connection leaves the wire strands naturally pliable
near the joint, and apparently this is much less subject to
failure.  I'm sure there is a right way and a wrong way to
solder a connection properly, but it does seem to me that
there are a lot of variables in making a good connection
such as iron temperature, wire size, surface area, etc. etc.
When I first got my good APP crimper, I tried a couple of
test connections to see if I could pull them apart.  I
couldn't!  I've also experienced more than once a soldered
connection that ultimately just snapped off.  So, maybe I'm
happy in my ignorance, but a properly crimped connections
seems pretty effective.

Dave W7AQK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremiah McCarthy" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 8:47 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Crimped connectors


Only to make a point, not an argument...I worked for 30
years at Grumman and we built most of the Navy's aircraft,
which are subject to a highly corrosive environment...All
connections, thousands of them, were crimped using
"Stakons", the trade name for those little red, blue, and
yellow terminal lugs...AMP was the manufacturer of both the
tools and the terminals...Soldering was grounds for a
"crab", or rejection of the connection...Solder can wick up
the wire under the insulation causing a rigid condition
subject to vibration fatigue...Also, the heat from soldering
distorts  the red, blue, or yellow insulation sleeve on the
terminal lug compromising it's integrity...Of course there
were a few connectors that had pins that had to be soldered,
but not many...The pins in most of the connectors by Cannon,
Amphenol, Deutch, etc. were crimped...

Rivet and skin corrosion on the outside of the aircraft is
much more of a problem than corrosion of crimped wire
connections...

Jerry, wa2dkg_______________________________________________
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[AC7AC]

CONTENTS DELETED

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[Chris Kantarjiev K6DBG]

Soldered connections avoid corrosion, but can cause an overly stiff
joint that will break from movement or vibration. Aircraft have lots of
vibration, so they count on crimping ... and, typically, tin- or
silver-plated wire.

Soldered connections should be supported with heatshrink to avoid early
fatigue failure. All wiring connections, crimped or soldered, should be
dressed to avoid strain!

Here's a post I saved from long ago:

http://www.dimebank.com/misc/soldered_connections.html

73 de chris K6DBG
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[k7svv]

I worked on the F-106 for 4 years and never saw a connection on a connector
that wasn't soldered.

John    [K7SVV]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremiah McCarthy" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 8:47 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Crimped connectors


Only to make a point, not an argument...I worked for 30 years at Grumman and
we built most of the Navy's aircraft, which are subject to a highly
corrosive environment...All connections, thousands of them, were crimped
using "Stakons", the trade name for those little red, blue, and yellow
terminal lugs...AMP was the manufacturer of both the tools and the
terminals...Soldering was grounds for a "crab", or rejection of the
connection...Solder can wick up the wire under the insulation causing a
rigid condition subject to vibration fatigue...Also, the heat from soldering
distorts  the red, blue, or yellow insulation sleeve on the terminal lug
compromising it's integrity...Of course there were a few connectors that had
pins that had to be soldered, but not many...The pins in most of the
connectors by Cannon, Amphenol, Deutch, etc. were crimped...

Rivet and skin corrosion on the outside of the aircraft is much more of a
problem than corrosion of crimped wire connections...

Jerry, wa2dkg_______________________________________________
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[Tom AK2B]

Every year on various forums this subject seems to come up at least twice. Every year the question is always answered by experts who always agree:

If you’re using your rig in an F-14 – crimp.
For home use – solder.

Tom, AK2B

[David Cutter]

Hi Tom

You make a good point.  I say offer both and let the market decide.

David
G3UNA



Tom said

Every year on various forums this subject seems to come up at least twice.
Every year the question is always answered by experts who always agree:

If you’re using your rig in an F-14 – crimp.
For home use – solder.

Tom, AK2B

--  

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[Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy]

Hi David,

Let me play the Devil's Advocate and offer a thought about soldering antenna
wire. Seems to me that the practice of soldering the wire loops at the end
insulators of a wire antenna, as suggested in the ARRL Antenna Handbook for
example, could result in the wire breaking prematurely at that point when
stressed by high wind. FWIW I use stranded Flexweave but do not solder the
end 'loops' which are secured by Ty-Wraps, with the end of the wire folded
over the first Ty-Wrap installed to prevent 'creep'. The Ty-Wraps and wire
loops are covered by a good dose of Vaseline (Petroleum Jelly) to keep out
moisture and to keep the wire clean, then covered by black tape to stop rain
washing away the Vaseline and perhaps provide a small amount of strain
relief. No breakage problems during the past 9 years in spite of some very
high winds which have taken down nearby tall pines, one of which fell across
an antenna blowing its catenary counterweight 'fuses' allowing that antenna
to fall under the tree, but otherwise undamaged.

73,
Geoff
GM4ESD


David Cutter G3UNA wrote:

> Hi Tom
>
> You make a good point.  I say offer both and let the market decide.
>
> David
> G3UNA

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[Ken Kopp-3]

As has been pointed out, soldering connections that may
be subject to flexing is likely to result in failure, so here's
a suggestion regarding connections of antenna wire to
feed lines and insulators ....

There is an electrical connector sometimes referred to as a
"split bolt" or "Kearney (SP?) nut.  These work well for this
task and, in reference to insulators, will allow easy length
adjustment.    I also use them to connect the open-wire
feeders of my Zepp to the dipole elements, and to terminate
ropes and guy wires ... again, length adjustments are easily
made.  They even come large enough to clamp copper
strap and wires to ground rods.

I can e-mail photos of these applications if you want.  Note:
I cannot e-mail to Comcast subscribers. (;-(.

73! Ken Kopp - K0PP
       [hidden email]

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