Crimp vs Solder ?
I am a self-proclaimed expert when it comes to truck electrical and I have had my own way of doing things for years; probably wrong; but it's the way I do things.
Anything bigger than 10-AWG, I CRIMP and I mean CRIMP; and, I slather and saturate the wires in Vaseline prior to crimping, especially anything that goes in one of those copper-lug hollow-tube-type terminals.
I have one of those Forney crimpers where you hit it with a sledge-hammer; you can't get any more crimped than that.
For smaller wires, I have an old Harbor Freight crimper that I wouldn't trade to that guy for two pair of his Snap-On ones; they are that good; if you have a good grip, and I do, you can liquify the copper with a set of those.
Anything 12-AWG or less, I have always been adamant about soldering; however, every time I solder such a joint, I get this nagging feeling that I am doing more harm than good.
I even solder any small crimped connections; I crimp and then I solder.
It looks good and I believe a good coat of solder prevents anything getting into my connection.
However, and this is where I am in 100% agreement with the guy on the video, and why I never solder anything bigger than 10-AWG, especially battery-cable size, no matter how expert one claims to be at soldering, there is no way to prevent the solder wicking way back in the wires, way past the connection, and making that wire on both sides stiff and brittle.
My intentions are to change my life and quit soldering everywhere that I can; I know there are times and places where soldering is about the only choice.
I intend to ask ol' Saintie Claws for some of those good two-stage crimpers and procure myself a huge assortment of the various necessary crimp terminals.
I noticed that one set of crimpers ain't gonna cut it as they are pretty much specific to only three sizes of wire.
As for the Vaseline, I have used and tried all the expensive purpose-made treatments out there and I will stick with the Vaseline as I know for fact that it is better than anything else on Copper wire.
I have slathered and dipped in Vaseline old reddened green-corroded corrupted Copper cables that most would throw away --- poor people have to make do --- and then crimped the living daylights out of the connection and ten years later that old corrupted Copper wire will look better than new; shiny as a brand-new penny and flexible as a good welding cable.
Yes, I have been a firm believer in soldering; but, in my mind, I have always known it was not the best choice.
If one could somehow prevent that solder creeping way back past the joint, then I would be an adamant proclaimer for the superiority of soldering anything smaller than 10-AWG.
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KJCHRIS wrote:
