[TenTec] Cautionary Tale: Orion 13.8 V connector (long)

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson]

On Tue, 2007-05-29 at 14:48 -0700, Denton wrote:
> I don't crimp my APP connectors...I solder them...
> and I agree about the brass bolts

Solder and stranded wires has another problem. Industry has proven for
any time a wire is flexed, a crimp connection lasts much longer than a
soldered connection. That's because in the soldered connection, solder
wicks into the stranded wire making it stiff out beyond the strain
relief so there is where the flexed wire breaks.

Long ago, soldering was considered the best for electrical wiring
connections, but in the late 1930s mechanical connections were listed as
preferred with soldering barely accepted. The electrical code
committee's reasoning (according to their book) was that while a
soldered connection can be good, it takes skill, especially with the
larger conductors of a main feed to a panel, and an insufficient number
of persons employed to make such connections made good ones.
-- 
73, Jerry, K0CQ,
All content copyright Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer