dennis@home wrote:


"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
tony sayer wrote:
Mobile and static not aircraft tho;!. But apart from this solder
wicking
effect which might cause a mech fail if the joint was pulled around
enough, don't seem to be any other failure mode does there?...

Soldering is obviously fine on connectors designed for it. But on
cars and
in this case a camper, all the loom connectors are crimped. Of course on
such a large cable it may not make much difference in the end. Although
it's probably easier to make a reasonable solder joint than crimp, if
you
don't have the correct crimping tool. Assuming you can solder. ;-)

Cars are crimped because its cheaper than doing a proper supported
solder job. And its very good with automatic equipment. Soldering is a
more manual process.


They are crimped because it is more reliable in the environment.

I wonder if they solder the looms on aircraft?

That depends. The way I was taught in the 60's was to solder the loom
but absolutely to have a tie to tie the loom to the structure so it
couldn't flex with respect to the joint.

Crimps CAN be more reliable, but are prone to corrosion inside the crimp
itself.

As any car electrician can tell you.

I would say that solder is far more reliable than a mechanical
connection PROVIDED the strain relief is done properly. If it is not,
crimps are far more reliable.