george4
Well-known member
Been using that crimper for a few years now. Uninsulated crimp terminals with adhesive lined shrink tubing made a strong connection.
Best soldering iron
- Thread starter metaleltr
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george4
Well-known member
Nor does it have a die for terminals that come with the shrink tubing attached to the terminal.
Where can I purchase one to avoid getting stuck with the Chinese knockoff?
The 936 was a workhorse. Out of production of course, and on occasion, you might see one on eBay, but with most sellers not knowing enough, it's too easy to get a dud. And at ~$100 or perhaps a bit less, the FX-888 (left over stock at this point) or 888D can be had.
As per US made irons, there aren't that many, and the only ones I'd probably even consider, would be Pace or Metcal. Weller no longer makes irons in the US (Mexico or Germany <with Asian produced PCB's in them>).
Not a fan of American Beauty at all.
Nor should you get hung up on the wattage. JBC's 40W irons can beat the **** out of stuff double or better due to the fact it gets the heat transfered better than the higher power competitors (why they work so well; just not cheap, but at this level, you're not looking at bargain basement stuff anyway).
This isn't actually recommended as a general rule, as it can anneal the terminal.
There are terminals that do this, and instances that these are required, but there was a lot of engineering that went into them (i.e. pre-measured amounts of solder and flux, and the alloy composition has a lower melting point than off the shelf solder <think similar to Chip Quick>). The entire idea is that the solder cannot wick in past the insulation, and that the heat gun used (at the temp specification) is hot enough to melt the solder at the same temperature that's used for the heat shrink.
Absolutely.
Good terminals are required, which means they're not the cheapest thing that can be found. It's also necessary to make sure the tooling and terminals work together properly (no over or under crimping going on).
It's similar, but it's missing the insulation crimp. The reason for this, is heat shrink tubing is not supposed to be pinched at all, so it seals properly (pinch points can leave an open gap for moisture/liquids to penetrate into the the terminal).
What you did "works", but from a technical standpoint, it qualifies as a failed crimp.
Get it from an authorized distributor or directly from HakkoUSA. Even Amazon has the real deal.
Biggest thing that will prevent you from getting a clone is stay off of eBay, aliexpress, dealextreme, ... sorts of sites.
george4
Well-known member
It is a smoother jaw like these.
http://www.sailorssolutions.com/index.asp?page=ProductDetails&Item=WP042
Seems like it would a natural die for that crimper. I tried most of the dies that come with it but they usually would put a tear in the insulation. It works fine on the hard plastic insulated terminals but I tend to stay away from those.
peterbilr98
Well-known member
I don't know much about soldering irons but I wish I had 69 camaro to solder on
Steinmetz
Well-known member
It all depends. I do quite a bit of antenna work outside in the winter for my ham radio stations. 100W does the trick on just about anything, even outside. If you need smaller, then fine. I have them down to about 15w, which I use on printed circuit boards.
lilscorpion
Well-known member
I have the Weller 550PK. Never needed or wanted anything else. Hopefully the last one I ever buy. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00002N7S1/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Toolhorder
Well-known member
I have a Hakko 936 and it's my favorite solder gun/station ever. Weller ***** in comparison.
I've used it to fix tons of vintage arcade/pinball machine PCB's and monitor PCB's when I was into that and plenty of automotive projects and what not. I bought the vacuum desolder gun to go with it too at the same time. I'm set...That was probably 4 years ago and I haven't replaced the tip yet. I use it then clean it then cover it in solder and let it cool off.
I've used it to fix tons of vintage arcade/pinball machine PCB's and monitor PCB's when I was into that and plenty of automotive projects and what not. I bought the vacuum desolder gun to go with it too at the same time. I'm set...That was probably 4 years ago and I haven't replaced the tip yet. I use it then clean it then cover it in solder and let it cool off.
Totally agree, soldering has no place in an automotive wiring harness.
That said, my 35 or so year old Weller goes to the grave with me, although in that situation a butane portasol might work better. OTOH where I'm going the heat makes solder unreliable vs crimp.
Steinmetz
Well-known member
Yes.
Brownsfan
Well-known member
I wouldn't say it has no place. Like I said you couldn't reliably crimp the heavy gauge wires at the ignition harness when doing a remote start. You couldn't get the column shroud back on if you tried to crimp them becuase the crimp connectors would be huge. Crimp a data bus wire when installing a remote start and let me know how well it works even if its a perfect crimp. Saying it has no place is just wrong
Dieselbutterfly
Well-known member
im an uppfitter of ford trucks,and we crimp 1/0 and bigger everyday,it is the preferred method
Get a Hakko 936!
I've been using Hakko soldering irons for several years now and love them. I like the 936 model. So much so that I have two of them! I do a lot of soldering. I found the Weller's to not be nearly as reliable and the heat control is not nearly as sensitive as it is on the Hakko unit.
Ed
I've been using Hakko soldering irons for several years now and love them. I like the 936 model. So much so that I have two of them! I do a lot of soldering. I found the Weller's to not be nearly as reliable and the heat control is not nearly as sensitive as it is on the Hakko unit.
Ed
454ragtop
Well-known member
Interesting, I have a factory GM wire harness repair kit, part #12085264. It comes with a real nice manual, that I have sitting right in front of me, showing all the types of connectors and how they are repaired. GM says all crimped terminals should be soldered after crimping, they even include a butane soldering torch in the kit. I suspect the difference is crimps made in the field versus machine crimps in production use.
Jim
Less skill in the field = variable results, so they're trying to improve matters with solder.
Problem is, the copper in the terminals can end up being annealed during the soldering process as well as the solder joint-stranded wire transition causing problems (wire breakage), especially if it's wicked it's way under the wire's insulation.
As per annealing the copper, it softens/relaxes it (takes the fractures out after it's been worked awhile, and the fractures actually strengthen it, which is necessary to create a cold weld when the terminal ends are slid into one another). Thus this is more likely to create issues, such as intermittent contact over time in particular (and a royal PITA to locate the issue). Bending & breaking due to vibration is another (remember, the annealing has changed the physical behavior from what came off of the manufacturing line).
Technically possible to do without issues, but it takes a lot of skill, especially with the soldering portion (make sure the solder does not wick past the insulation, and since it's done after the crimp, it's harder to control), and keeping the terminal from getting hot enough for the right amount of time to anneal. Not worth the headache if it goes wrong IMHO, especially when a proper crimp does exactly what's needed.
Special all-in-one terminals are made for crimp, solder, and shrink, but keep in mind there was a lot of engineering that went into them. Primarily aimed at aerospace field repair, the flux and solder are pre-measured to make sure it can't wick under the insulation, and the alloy's melting point was designed to occur within the temperature the heat shrink tubing is performed.