Best way to split a wire two ways

[RA35GT]

I use this crimper with this die

You need to get a non-insulated terminal crimper for those terminals, theres a fair few different types out there all for different prices.

[Mos]

As everyone has said, the right crimper, with the right size die, with the right size crimp pin, with the right size wire will do more than a fine job.

A good crimp is better than a bad solder joint, and a good solder joint is better than a bad crimp. They each have their applications but in the later models toyots tends to solder the larger crimps, so it can't be all that bad for vibration.

Personally I would choose the method of splitting the wire depending on where the split is happening. For instance if the joint is in the loom, I'd solder. If I wanted to have flexibility I might choose to crimp a plug somewhere else, but definitely not inside a loom.
I guess you're doing exactly what I needed - 4 ignition outputs to 8 coils I used an 8 pin connector and crimped each of the ignitor inputs into one pin each. I then ran the 4 ignition outputs into this 8 pin connector, with 4 loops joining the correct cylinders. The reason I did that is because at the time I hadn't decided if I was going to use a multiplexor and I had to get the car running - the 8 pin plug gave me the flexibility of installing a multiplexor at a later date, and also to repin plugs if I screwed up the phasing for some silly reason (like Linden yelling at me to hurry up ).

Mos.

[Slim]

I tend to crimp AND solder. The reason i use the solder in addition to the crimping is to protect against dust and moisture getting in amongst the wires which could cause corrosion and potentially compromise the connection. The solder both provides a better electrical connection, it locks the wires in place even if you haven't crimped it hard enough and it also keeps moisture out of the joint. I think for the 2min extra time it takes it's worth doing for peace of mind.

[Chrisso]

Another vote for crimp and soldering. I noticed that the late 80s 4age looms were just crimped for things like communal earths, and split power (12v & 5v).

[stradlater]

What the devil does the 'die' thing do combined with the crimp tool linked above?

[YLD-16L]

Fit the die to the tool, and each of those valley/mountain corresponds to a terminal size. Opne the cimper, sit the terminal in the correct way and close the crimper. It then rolls a the leaves of the the terminal over and presses them into the wire or insulation as seen in the pic of the crimped terminal earlier.

That style of crimper also means you buy one crimper and whatever dies you need rather than a number of crimpers to suit the terminals you use.

[stradlater]

Hrm.. Might be worth the investment then.

[YLD-16L]

If you need to do some wiring then it will be very much worth the investment.

The price of crimpers and dies, not much.

Knowing the job is done right, priceless.


You could always crimp like a bogan and use multi-grips

Or even easier is the Strathfield twist

[Norbie]

I have the same crimping tool linked above with a variety of dies for all sorts of stuff, eg F-type connectors for AV cabling and RJ45 connectors for telecomms cabling. Very useful for automotive and household duties.

[Draven]

The solder both provides a better electrical connection,

afaik solder provides a pretty shitty connection, which is one of the reasons why you have to ensure you have good wire-wire contact when soldering (obviously wnot necessary when crimping). better to think of solder as glue than a conductor. (ready to be shot down here by any electrical hot shots)

[takai]

Yeah, solder makes a pretty damn good glue, with the added bonus of it being electrically conductive.
For critical connections i use twist, crimp, solder, heatshrink.

Like so:

[Slim]

afaik solder provides a pretty shitty connection, which is one of the reasons why you have to ensure you have good wire-wire contact when soldering (obviously wnot necessary when crimping). better to think of solder as glue than a conductor. (ready to be shot down here by any electrical hot shots)

In the case of a crimped connector I was thinking that the solder will fill up (flow into) any areas where there's not already firm contact between the wire and the connector. The theory being that that the increased area of contact improves the electrical connection.

[Esteban]

Nobody has mentioned supported joints... Most joints that fail, do so due to fatigue from dynamic loading, and this is where the problem lies with soldered joints in vehicles. If you solder a joint such that it has a solid joint ending with a flexible wire, the failed joint will often occur at the interface between the wire and the terminal. Solder wicks up the stranded wire and creates further rigidity which nullifies the point of stranded wire to begin with - ie that it be flexible. Increased wire rigidity increases the suceptability to fatigue by dynamic loading.

If however you support the joint, either by a crimped joint behind the solder/wire interface, and/or by using insulation material that supports the joint .... this greatly reduces the chance of this happening. While crimped joints often create a solid joint there is no solder wicking and the un-crimped portion of the connector often provides joint support.

That said, I love electrical engineering, and soldering is dear to my heart. To satisfy my love of soldering, I often do both when I can.

I dont have the resources at work to draw a pretty picture, but take for example a simple spade terminal - LHS from terminal to wire RHS you have:
Spade, heatshrink starts, end of wire + solder blob, crimp, remainging crimp tube, heatshrink ends, wire...

This way the wire end is protected from moisture, and the soldered joint is supported by both the crimp, the remaining crimp tube, and the heatshrink. It is important to crimp the terminal before soldering the wire end, otherwise crimping may fail due to solder ingress of the wire. Also, the heatshrink should support the wire past the end of the uncrimped crimp tube. This provides a flexible interface between the solid and fully flexible.

Hope this helps!

[Esteban]

In addition, when it comes to spliced joints I'm trying to steer clear of the solder splice. I'm planning on using a tyco raychem AD1522 crimper, and Duraseal inline crimps.

The Duraseals are probably not designed for what I plan on doing with them, but they should work beautifully. In addition, there will be less bulk on the joint, which is important when splicing lots of wires in close quarters.



I should have done an Ed and put a beer bottle in that pic for scale ...

Anyway I'm hoping the AWG's I have will take two wires in one side and one wire folded in the other. This way I have a supported insulated joint on either side, and crimps in the middle. There are other cheaper crimps out there eg. Standard red, blue, yellow stuff, but they're a little bulky, These should come out smaller.

Crimps are easy to find, but so far I've had two ebay failures on the crimper (both from the US - wankers) so I'll probably end up buying the crimper from raychemsupply direct (and pay through the anoos)

[Mos]

I've had the inline crimps fail in about two years - they disintegrated to a powder (both insulation and copper). Admittedly they were of inferior quality compared to the Duraseal product but I'm still not a fan of this type of crimp - the rolled tab pins imho are much better for both pressure on the electrical contact and insulator support. You can cut the spade off the crimp section and just use the crimp for a splice, covered with heatshrink.

On the other hand, I've had soldered connections survive in excess of ten years and are still going strong.
BTW, the factory now welds conductors together, but the insulation is supported up to an inch away from the joint.

Mos.