28 May
2002
28 May
'02
3:39 a.m.
On Tue, 28 May 2002, Tony Duell wrote:
In general, factory-fitted connectors will be crimped.
It's quicker
_if you have the special crimp tool_. It's unreliable if you don't,
and the crimp tool is expensive. I would advise you to replace the
connectors by solder types. Much has been written on the relative
reliability of crimped and soldered connections -- suffice it to say
that either, done properly, is relaible enough for any of us :-).
Of course, with larger connectors such as these, soldering them tends to
be difficult for folks without lots of practice and the proper iron. It is
easy to melt the dialectic if too much heat is used, and the connection
will be unreliable if the solder does not bond properly due to low heat.
For one or two connections, a crimp tool might seem a little expensive,
but the types that use interchangeable die sets are not a bad investment.
For "budget" use, I find the Paladin Tools [http://www.paladin-tools.com/]
1300 series crimper outfitted with the proper die set will do a very nice
crimp job. Another crimper that is virtually identical (and appears to use
the same dies) is the Crimpmaster crimp tool made by Ideal Industries
[http://www.idealindustries.com/]. Typically the crimper (either one) can
be had without a die set for under US $35, and the die sets range from US
$8-20, depending on the type of connector(s) they are designed for. If the
die set you want is a common one, a prepackaged crimper+die set is usually
available at a slightly discounted price.
-Toth