I know this is a dead horse topic But I thought I would share my experinces on this topic.
First, I am a licsensed Airframe and powerplant technician with a GROL cert. and I/A. Although I no longer am employed as an avitaion tech. I continue to volunteer for various charities who use aircraft for medical or animal resue missions.
I have even used my certs to trade for some dental work!
If you care to read these two standards, even a layperson will understand that soldering has more room for error and has much more stringent control measures.
NASA-STD-8739.4 Crimps
NASA-STD-8739.3 Solder
The main difference you will see from these two doc's is that soldering is preferred for SMD, cabling and interconnections is nearly 99% crimped. The main benefit from crimping is repeatability and there is less room for error.
The average solder joint performed by the same technician on the same wire and terminal is 20% variation in uniformity to the standard. Most tech's fail the cert. or re-cert testing for two main reasons, voids and wicking. We all know what voids are, they most critically affect power connections where heat is the primary source of failure. As current is pushed through the circuit, the circuit will heat up. Under normal conditions, the wire and terminals will not be adversely affected by "normal" operating temperatures. But if there is a significant void (all solder joints will have voids), you will create a point of resistance and without any significant increase in voltage to push through the resistance (which wouldn't be much better), the joint will heat up further. I will only get worse from there.
I know, I know, "I have been soldering for years without a return for repair". I was a solder guy for years....... mostly in my younger years.
What is wicking? Wicking up sucks! and most don't even know how to ID it.
-> Solving a Solder Wicking Problem
For us car audio guys wicking doesn't usually impact us right away, it is a stealthy and troublesome bastard.....Why? as the solder wicks up the cunductor beyond the intended length of the joint (up into the insulator, beyond where you stripped the insulation off), this wicked area is now as brittle as the solder joint. That wicked area couls protrude quite far from the secure joint position. You may think that the connection is solid and it is, too solid! That solid bit that is sticking out......one bend and now you have broken many of the fundamental connection the solder has made between the strands.
How many of us have done this........when tinning a wire, we get a nice flow of solder magically being absorbed by the wire? Oh this is a good tinning here we thought and we keep going! BAD! There is a way to minimize wicking, use a heat sink applied to the wire so the heat does do not travel up the conductor beyond where you want it too. We all have and use heat sinks when soldering don't we? We all have the correct heat sink right? a round one? for the right size conductor?
Full disclosure, I do use solder. I am a big fan of "pig tailed" connectors to my speakers. I lean towards the XT 60 style, but I am picky when it comes to the manufacturer. I also use them as service points, i.e. where I have ran wire in places that would be hard to reach if I had to re-run a new length. I use these less frequently than before as I have learned the time tested practice of leaving service lengths at each end of EVERY wire except grounds. I use them primarily because of cost, high quality crimp plugs can add up quickly and they are usually bulky and may not fit in tight spots. You may also find yourself where you need to re-pin/repair and then don't have or can't find your insertion or extraction tools. I like the deep cups on the XT's and makes soldering much easier. I also know that once the tinning has just covered the exposed area of the wire, to stop!
As for crimping, I have seen in this forum and several others some practices that we use to crimp..............I cringe at most of them. Hammer and pin vice....ugh! Cheapo ring or spade terminals Ugh!
Here are some crimper that absolutely refuse to use;
First, I am a licsensed Airframe and powerplant technician with a GROL cert. and I/A. Although I no longer am employed as an avitaion tech. I continue to volunteer for various charities who use aircraft for medical or animal resue missions.
I have even used my certs to trade for some dental work!
If you care to read these two standards, even a layperson will understand that soldering has more room for error and has much more stringent control measures.
NASA-STD-8739.4 Crimps
NASA-STD-8739.3 Solder
The main difference you will see from these two doc's is that soldering is preferred for SMD, cabling and interconnections is nearly 99% crimped. The main benefit from crimping is repeatability and there is less room for error.
The average solder joint performed by the same technician on the same wire and terminal is 20% variation in uniformity to the standard. Most tech's fail the cert. or re-cert testing for two main reasons, voids and wicking. We all know what voids are, they most critically affect power connections where heat is the primary source of failure. As current is pushed through the circuit, the circuit will heat up. Under normal conditions, the wire and terminals will not be adversely affected by "normal" operating temperatures. But if there is a significant void (all solder joints will have voids), you will create a point of resistance and without any significant increase in voltage to push through the resistance (which wouldn't be much better), the joint will heat up further. I will only get worse from there.
I know, I know, "I have been soldering for years without a return for repair". I was a solder guy for years....... mostly in my younger years.
What is wicking? Wicking up sucks! and most don't even know how to ID it.
-> Solving a Solder Wicking Problem
For us car audio guys wicking doesn't usually impact us right away, it is a stealthy and troublesome bastard.....Why? as the solder wicks up the cunductor beyond the intended length of the joint (up into the insulator, beyond where you stripped the insulation off), this wicked area is now as brittle as the solder joint. That wicked area couls protrude quite far from the secure joint position. You may think that the connection is solid and it is, too solid! That solid bit that is sticking out......one bend and now you have broken many of the fundamental connection the solder has made between the strands.
How many of us have done this........when tinning a wire, we get a nice flow of solder magically being absorbed by the wire? Oh this is a good tinning here we thought and we keep going! BAD! There is a way to minimize wicking, use a heat sink applied to the wire so the heat does do not travel up the conductor beyond where you want it too. We all have and use heat sinks when soldering don't we? We all have the correct heat sink right? a round one? for the right size conductor?
Full disclosure, I do use solder. I am a big fan of "pig tailed" connectors to my speakers. I lean towards the XT 60 style, but I am picky when it comes to the manufacturer. I also use them as service points, i.e. where I have ran wire in places that would be hard to reach if I had to re-run a new length. I use these less frequently than before as I have learned the time tested practice of leaving service lengths at each end of EVERY wire except grounds. I use them primarily because of cost, high quality crimp plugs can add up quickly and they are usually bulky and may not fit in tight spots. You may also find yourself where you need to re-pin/repair and then don't have or can't find your insertion or extraction tools. I like the deep cups on the XT's and makes soldering much easier. I also know that once the tinning has just covered the exposed area of the wire, to stop!
As for crimping, I have seen in this forum and several others some practices that we use to crimp..............I cringe at most of them. Hammer and pin vice....ugh! Cheapo ring or spade terminals Ugh!
Here are some crimper that absolutely refuse to use;
