I'd agrre its better, you don't get corrosion with solder as you do inside the crimping, also they cannot work loose.

I re-did my boat about 7 years ago with soldered terminals and have never had a problem since. Wheras before I was constantly getting loose connections.

Also since doing it I have noticed that a (very) flat battery will still start my engine, with crimped terminals I found that even a half charged battery would struggle. So it is clear you far less voltage drop with soldered terminals, which of course is blindingly obvious if one thinks about it!

Well worth the extra effort/expense. I have mine done professionally as soldering is a skill I've never been up to.

For absolutely anything you need for rewiring-battery equip., marine isolator switches,wire ,terminals crimping tools etc etc.-and they also do a reasonable selection of stainless fastenings.Also v. useful for classic car and bike electrics.

Basically anything to do with DC 12v/24v electrics.

Vehicle Wiring Products

Tel 0115 9305454

e mail /forum/smilies/confused_smiley.gif[/img]ales@vehicleproducts.co.uk]sales@vehicleproducts.co.uk

Ask for catalogue

Phil

Excuse address email is sales at vehicleproducts.co.uk

Phil

The main disadvantages of soldering is that the solder wicks into the wire and stiffens it. This forms a stress raiser that is likely to lead to fatigue failure when the wire flexes or vibrates.

If you are not willing or able to use the correct tool, which can be expensive, it is probably better to solder the joint.

I think you'll find there isn't so much salt air involved in the aero or space industries and my experiences have been similar to Davids, so where possible I will solder and you'r right, I'll also ensure there is enough tail to take up movement and/or vibration. 

In modern boats there is a large amount of electrical gear and there is no getting away from it,  todays boats are probably drier than yesteryear,  keeping corrosion down a bit. However, many modern boats are made on very much mass production lines and for many it would add a huge amount of time and cost to solder everything.

I also think that some of the modern crimping tools do the crimp up so tight that they weaken the the wire immediatly alongside the crimp.

Well I am old enough to remember in the 1970s when I ran old bangers-and the crimped bullet connectors once perhaps over 10 years old were a total waste of time!If they had'nt corroded invariably when you tried to seperate them they disintegrated.

And I have experienced problems with crimped connectors on modern cars once a bit of water and road salt has got in there!

Also if you are working on site in confined space then a small electronics type soldering iron-electric or gas is far easier to use.

But everyone to their own.

Phil

---"Well I am old enough to remember in the 1970s when I ran old bangers-and the crimped bullet connectors once perhaps over 10 years old were a total waste of time!If they had'nt corroded invariably when you tried to seperate them they disintegrated."---

 Me too Phil but I think your memory may have become a little rose tinted your advancing years. My recollection of 10 year old cars in the 1970s (ie built in the 1960s) was that the whole bl00dy car had corroded by the time it was ten years old and if you tried separating anything at all; it would disintegrate!

Oh! and the wonderfful Haynes manuals - "slacken off the four retaining nuts" but what they didn't tell you was that one was almost impossible to get at and that one had always rusted up solid! The Haynes manual also omitted that it would always be raining when you tried to do the job.

Gentlemen, you'll need some soldering iron to do cables of more than about 10mm and good quality big crimpers definitly ain't cheap.

On smaller cables I believe there is a little paranoia about solderd joints; I've heard people say that "solder will melt and the joint will fall apart if there is a short circuit" but in the real world; the fuse or breaker should blow first. Take the back off of any of your boats equipment and you'll find plenty of soldered joints in there; guaranteed!

I know the theory about solder wicking into cables and creating hard points that are likely to fatigue but if the cable / wiring loom is well supported it wouldn't be a problem.

My personal preference is for crimped joints but I would most certianly be happy to use soldered joints where appropriate.

Off the point but yes-first of my mates to get a car when 17 bought a Truimph Herald Vitesse-you could watch the road either side of the front passenger seat flying past in a 30 speed limit at 90mph-Ouch!!!!

But-still prefer solder-learned my soldering,hydraulics, engineering and rigging!skills off my dad who applied them to Spitfires,Lancasters etc.

Phil

now we seem a little off the point........my first car in 1963 was a 1939 Ford 8 which i rewired with all soldered ends. never a connection problem.     I built a kitcar some 17 years ago and wired it with all crimped ends and had nothing but trouble with poor joints...lesson learnt!

see http://www.ahawerbung.de:80/nelsonindex.html for examples of the Nelson S350

All valid points made, but technology has moved on. Using tinned wire and marine crimps overcomes all the problems and is the preferred option.

 The following are Nigel Calder's words and I think we would agree that he knows a thing or two on the subject:

Hi Vyv, it wasn't til i just googled Nigel Calder that i  found out that this guy is some kind of Guru as far as boatbuilding and maintenance are concerned.

Best you keep on crimping, and i'll keep on soldering though.

Scotty

Hi Vyv

I certianly don't disagree with you on the use correctly crimped terminations but solder the terminals onto the battery cables?

Mine, for example, are 95 square mm cables. These are crimped using a tool that costs about £150 from RS Components (ouch! I said they weren't cheap) then covered in self adhesive shrink tube, then silicone greased.

I've got no idea how one would be supposed to apply sufficient heat to cables of this size to melt the solder without destroying the insulation and even less idea of what terminals could be used. Please explain in layman's terms as I am only a lowly mechanical engineer.

Are we taking about terminals to connect to battery posts?-mine currently are clamped using the two bolt/set screw system but was told off about this when I had boat surveyed for a British Waterways Boat Safety Certificate.I was told the terminal ends needed to be hard. Quite sucessfully achieved this using 8mm copper piping tinned then blow torch soldered over tinned multistrand wire tails-but you have to be very quick and careful to avoid solder bleeding up wire under insulation and melting wire-always remember that solder runs towards heat source so cleverthing is to make the tails longer than you need,apply heat to tip drawing solder that way.Cut of ends when done.

In my case this is part of a new three battery system I have put together-such that one,several or all starter capable batteries can be used to start in emergency but usually set as one dedicated start/two auxiliary/leisure.

The bottom line is down to whether you have the money/or like me little money but plenty of time!

RS components-great co. for electronic components-I get my electromechanical relays for my old sharps autopilot off them.

Phil

Scotty (and everyone else who has not heard of Nigel Calder) - every boat should BY LAW have a copy of Nigel Calders Boatowners Mechanical and Electrical Manual. My wife refers to it as the bible and whenever we get any problem her first question to me is always "what does Nigel say?"

I personally wouldn't sail anywhere without it - and agree with him on soldered terminals - we do a lot of long distance heavy sailing and the boat gets shaken up somewhat in big seas and I've had 3 soldered joints crack on me some 60 miles southwest of La Rochelle in the middle of the night with the wind about 30 - 35 knots on the nose- it made for a rather stressfull time of it until daylight broke and I could find the problem and grab my crimpers!!!