On 27/01/2010 16:08, David J wrote:
On Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:36:42 -0800 (PST), Andy Dingley
wrote:

On 27 Jan, 12:17, wrote:

What do DIYers do?

I buy decent fittings. Well machined cable clamp screws give far fewer
problems than loose rattly ones.

I always used to 'tin' the ends of my DIY house wiring after stripping
it to the right length and before poking into a fitting. So often I
found that wiring by 'professionals' was merely making contact via a
few strands because of unravelling at the ends.

DJ


Maybe, but tinning was never the answer. Solder exhibits a mechanical
property called "cold flow". If you tin the end of a wire and then trap
the tinned wire in a compression terminal, the solder will flow away
from the pressure points and the joint will become loose. Copper does
not exhibit this effect.

This equally applies to power and low voltage (data) wiring.

HTH
DaveyOz.