zlacker

>>anothe+(OP)
Tangent, but related:

My dad is restoring a 1969 MG Midget. The right turn signal stopped working. Using nothing more than a voltmeter, I found a disconnected wire and a short to the frame.

I replaced the entire length of wire that was failing with $3 worth of wire, solder, and heat shrink tubing.

The lesson here is repairability and simplicity.

We’re constantly lectured to be “environmentally aware” by companies that no longer ensure their products will last a lifetime. There is 0 reason a modern phone couldn’t be used for the rest of your life. My Brother printer is nearing 12 years and is still on the same damn print cartridge. My Neato robotics vacuum has had countless parts replaced and is about the same age.

If you truly want to be a good steward of the earth, stop demanding/consuming latest and greatest, endless product and UI refreshes, and instead demand 30+ years out of a product (with small repairs).

>>exabri+7R
I used to work as an electronics technician.

To do some wiring that'll be bulletproof and last:

1. get wiring rated for under-the-hood heat (the wiring sold at auto parts stores is no good for that)

2. get crimp-on connectors

3. cut the plastic off the crimp-ons

4. put heat shrink tubing on the wire, well away from the end

5. crimp the connector on

6. solder the crimp joint using a thermostat controlled soldering iron

7. move the heat shrink tubing over the joint, and heat it with a bic cigarette lighter to shrink it on

8. voila!

P.S. Crimped connections don't last. After about a year, they'll work loose a bit from vibration, and corrosion will creep in, and you'll get a loose connection that is very frustrating to find. Soldering it prevents that from happening.

>>Walter+Wa2
Soldering crimp connectors (that are not otherwise designed for it) will reduce the flexibility of the wire and introduce stress concentrations. Those stress concentrations will reduce the fatigue life of the harness.

>>SlickN+CD2
I've been under the impression that soldering crimped connections was a general no-no as well, since it doesn't actually help a good crimp with cold welds, and does make any stranded wire more likely to break where the solder stops.

I've studied this a little since it effects my work, but I don't claim to be an EE. Sadly, I'm not finding any definitive authorities on the subject with a quick googling, though all the top hits tend to agree with the sentiment of not soldering crimped connections.

This was a short article that I ran across, dealing with the topic. As usual, the comments on hackaday are all over the place, but I still find them useful.

https://hackaday.com/2017/02/09/good-in-a-pinch-the-physics-...

Interestingly, I thought nasa banned soldering crimped connections, but as far as I can tell, rereading this doc now with a quick skim for the string crimp, they only ban crimping tinned connections.

https://s3vi.ndc.nasa.gov/ssri-kb/static/resources/nasa-std-...