Cable "connectors"

[cambelt]

Glen? huh





tttttttt

[gianttomato]

Ya, Glenn, when I got the Motec.

[Mos]

I'm not entirely convinced about the notion of soldering being moved away from - many newer toyota looms have soldered up crimps, especially on larger cables (evidence can be supplied, as early as ST205).

Having said that, the theory is that solder doesn't do well under vibration, hence the majority is crimped only, as it provides the better compromise (solder provides lower electrical resistance).

Having said that last bit, I've had soldered stuff last 8-9 years (that's how long ago it was done with no sign of problems on a daily driver) and I've had crimps fail after 2 years. I'm fairly convinced a good solder joint will last at least 10 years in a car - dare I say, those cars likely to be kept for longer than 10 years are also those cars that are likely to never see 10 years' worth of vibration in 20-30 years....

A good quality crimp is hard to do without a good quality crimper. Maybe someone else can jump in, but I would suggest you need to spend $500-1000 on a crimper to get a good quality result. The cheap $100ish crimpers do acceptable jobs.

On another note, it seems toyota no longer uses crimps to splice individual wires in looms together - they actually weld them (ie the individual strands seem to be melted together) - evidence can also be supplied (source: 1UZ-FE VVTi loom).

And finally to answer the original question, I'd stay away from insulation displacing, scotch lock etc style splices as I believe they are far far worse under movement than soldering.
As a suggestion, I've used standard non-insulated crimp spade connectors, cut the spade off and just used the crimp portion using an "acceptable" crimper to get acceptable crimped splices.

Mos.

[takai]

I do a triple stage job with connecting my wires.

Firstly i get a few packets of these:

And cut the spade lug off so you are just left with the crimping bits on the lower RHS.
Simple twist of stripped wires together and i crimp the brass connector down:

Followed by some solder:

(that one is pretty bodgy)
And then heatshrink:


And Robert is your mothers crossdressing sexchanged sister.

Really quite easy and quick to do once you get the hang of it all. I was finding that in the heat of an engine bay that fine solder joins, such as CAS wires were breaking under the heat and vibration, while these new joins have been fine for the last year and a bit of racing.

P.s. Those orange wire strippers are garbage.

[gearb0x]

As a suggestion, I've used standard non-insulated crimp spade connectors, cut the spade off and just used the crimp portion using an "acceptable" crimper to get acceptable crimped splices

Whats an acceptable crimper? I've only used the shitty ones that come in supatool kits and they are next to useless to make anything that holds

[clubagreenie]

Anything that rolls the legs rather than just crushing them flat.

[o_man_ra23]

I picked up a rolling crimper (almost acceptable) for $8 at either Jaycar or DS (cant remember now, was in poor uni stupid days)... still going, and does actually do semi reasonable crimps. One day I will go and get a good crimper and a good stripper (maybe an insulation remover too ).

I certainly will say that a solder join on its own is not a good option, and can agree that poor crimps fail... even factory ones do after a number of years. I do like option 3 with the soldered crimp join... but remember that this is only for 2 purposes... splicing a loom (ie quick engine conversion) or Tee-ing off wires where no other method is practical. It shouldnt be used when re-wiring a car, all wires should be unbroken from plug to plug... so if you buy a sensor etc that is pre-wired, put a plug on the thing, makes it easier for removing for servicing too

[The Witzl]

I'm with Mos 100%.

[The Witzl]

Just adding to this now that ive got a little time....

Personally, my thoughts are that using a glue-impregnated heat shrink on a solder joint is going to be just as reliable as a home-done crimp.
If anyone has used glue-lined heatshrink, they will know just how freaken awesome the stuff is.

We've got it at Jaycar now, it shrinks down to 1/4 it's original size, and as it is heated, it released the glue which seals the whole joint, ensuring there is no moisture ingress and thus your solder joint is protected from the elements.

As for vibration killing a solder joint - if you chose where to solder with a little bit of foresight, you should never have this problem. Personally, i try to only solder a joint at a location where it is supported by other wires in a loom.... like as the loom travels over the intake manifold - this is where i do all my soldering, as the solder joints are all supported by other wires in the loom, and the entire loom is clamped to the manifold with "P-style" clamps.
From there, i try to run full length, uncut wires direct to connectors. I'm making good use of these connectors we now stock at Jaycar (in 2way, 3way, 4way and 6way)



If you combine this planning of WHERE you do your solder joints, full length wires to connrectors, and use glue-lined heatshrink, then i think you will see a long life out of your wiring loom.

[clubagreenie]

Try http://www.lemo.co.uk/ for the ultimate connectors.

40 connectors in a 26mm od connector or 50 in 36mm!

[Kebin]

P.s. Those orange wire strippers are garbage.

Are they the ones from Dick Smith?
I use them everyday for work and i wouldnt use anything else. Everything else i have tried is either ghey or too fiddly to use. What problems do you have with them? The trick with them is that you have to have them tensioned the right way.

On a note about soldering, i find that solder joints last so long as they are soldered correctly. I have seen too many joints crack under vibration due to the fact that too much solder was used in the joint. You only need a touch of it to soak through the strands. You can also start going on about whats the ideal wattage soldering iron, type of solder, thickness of solder blah blah blah. The majority of solder available has acid in it and that surely wont help a join over time if too much is used.

[Kebin]

From there, i try to run full length, uncut wires direct to connectors. I'm making good use of these connectors we now stock at Jaycar (in 2way, 3way, 4way and 6way)

Also available through Narva reasonably cheap through trade of course
http://www.narva.com.au/Terminals_9.html

[The Witzl]

Kebin - $2.95, $3.45, $3.95 and $4.45 for 2, 3, 4 and 6 way connector sets respectively.
Thats male and female housings and all crimp pins.
... yes i priced them lower than supercheap.

Also... i SERIOUSLY recommend these wire strippers. They are awesome, i have used nothing but these for the last 6 years.
They are the absolute best for stripping a wire mid length for doing a splice connection, and always do a clean strip, no need to ajust them, EVER.




Also, correct soldering is a MUST.
Heat the wire, then touch the solder to the WIRES, not the soldering iron, so that the solder is "sucked" into the cables. This ensures a good solder joint.

[o_man_ra23]

A gas soldering iron is going to help your soldering to no end. The crapola electric one I have is good for not much.

[The Witzl]

electric irons are good, if you get a good enough one.
I use the 40W Orange jaycar iron.... it's lasted me the past 6 years also. TS1475
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView...Max=&SUBCATID=