Crimped vs soldering

[Jeremiah McCarthy-2]

Regardless of our personal experiences, the fact remains that soldering a crimped connection is unacceptable in Mil-Spec work...There are good reasons, not the least of which is premature failure away from the connector, back inside the wire's insulation where the rigid solder wick condition ends and morphs to a flexible condition...Military black boxes get a lot of maintenance and cables are being disconnected and re-connected often resulting in a lot of flexing...Exposed areas of stranded wire between the wire's insulation and the connector are also unacceptable...It can lead to a condition called "bird-caging"...I don't think bird-caging needs explanation...As far as strain relief is concerned, I haven't seen any strain relief on APP connectors, which is where this discussion started...

Jerry, wa2dkg_______________________________________________
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Jerry,

What you say is true, but the conditions expected for Mil-Spec equipment
are not typical for the average hamshack - the wires are not subject to
excessive vibration and flexing and are not handled on a daily basis.  
As a result, I regard soldering APP connectors for ham station use a
suitable and durable solution.  For use in a mobile environment,
vibration is a concern, so frequent (maybe monthly) examination of
soldered wires may be in order, or bite the bullet and buy, beg or
borrow a GOOD crimping tool and crimp the connections for mobile use.

For those concerned about strain relief, slip a 2 inch length of heat
shrink over the wires before installing the APP housings and shrink it
up close to the housing after assembly.  Even a single layer of heat
shrink will afford a lot of protection for the wires.

73,
Don W3FPR

Jeremiah McCarthy wrote:
> Regardless of our personal experiences, the fact remains that soldering a crimped connection is unacceptable in Mil-Spec work...There are good reasons, not the least of which is premature failure away from the connector, back inside the wire's insulation where the rigid solder wick condition ends and morphs to a flexible condition...Military black boxes get a lot of maintenance and cables are being disconnected and re-connected often resulting in a lot of flexing...Exposed areas of stranded wire between the wire's insulation and the connector are also unacceptable...It can lead to a condition called "bird-caging"...I don't think bird-caging needs explanation...As far as strain relief is concerned, I haven't seen any strain relief on APP connectors, which is where this discussion started...
>
>  
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[David Cutter]

Here's my bottom line:

If a crimped cable was offerred as an accessory with my K3 for a couple of extra $ I would have added it to the long list of other accessories.  

I have made or supervised being made or contracted to be made millions of crimped and soldered wires and I know what I prefer.  I would put my $ where my mouth is.  Your mileage may vary.

David
G3UNA

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[AC7AC]

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[Joe Subich, W4TV-3]

Both Powerwerx (www.powerwerx.com) and Quicksilver Radio
(www.qsradio.com) offer 5 or 6 foot power cables with APP
on one end and 1/4" ring terminals on the other for those
who do not wish to assemble their own.

73,

   ... Joe, W4TV
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Ron
> D'Eau Claire
> Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 11:52 AM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Crimped vs soldering
>
>
> Don wrote:
>
>  slip a 2 inch length of heat
> shrink over the wires before installing the APP housings and
> shrink it
> up close to the housing after assembly.  Even a single layer of heat
> shrink will afford a lot of protection for the wires.
>
> ------------------------
>
> Excellent suggestion. The objective is to make sure the
> flexing that does occur isn't concentrated on a small area of
> exposed strands between the insulation and the connector,
> whatever form of attachment to the connector is used.
>
> Shrink tubing that keeps that area at least as stiff as the
> rest of the wire will avoid that.
>
> Ron AC7AC
>
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[Darwin, Keith]

 

-----Original Message-----
Both Powerwerx (www.powerwerx.com) and Quicksilver Radio
(www.qsradio.com) offer 5 or 6 foot power cables with APP on one end and
1/4" ring terminals on the other for those who do not wish to assemble
their own.
--------------------------

So does Elecraft.  Elecraft's cables are VERY expensive and you wait 4+
months for them, but they come with a free K3   :-)

- Keith N1AS -
- K2 5411.ssb.100 -
- K3 TBD -
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