"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2017-03-13, Larry Jaques
wrote:
On Sun, 12 Mar 2017 10:30:01 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


My system uses non-gendered Anderson Powerpoles to connect the
components and a meter like this can be temporarily inserted to
measure voltage and current.

Wish I had the good luck you guys seem to with those, but the lone
pair I've used has been trouble 2 out of 3 times I've used it.

If you have the right crimper for the wire you are using (and
there are various sized pins to match, all of which fit the same
blocks), they can be very good. The one trouble which I was
fighting in
the power input to a 2-meter transceiver was eventually traced to an
intermittent fuse in an inline holder just upstream of the PowerPole
connector.

Soldering the pins is bad news, however. It makes them rotate
at strange angles in the block and makes for intermittent
connections.

Soldering works if done right. I use extra flexible silicone 'noodle'
wire for the short pigtail at the device and don't apply enough solder
to reach the entrance of the crimp barrel. Long, loosely twisted
extension cords have less problem with misalignment. I've had more
trouble with crimped pins than soldered ones. I learned to solder to
NSA standards in 1970.

When I was making electric vehicle cable harnesses the company paid
for the specified crimper. It's less critical on stationary wiring
that doesn't vibrate, just pull-test the pin. A few weeks ago I had a
stranded wire in a 1970ish Maytag motor finally break at the solder
joint. It had been hand-soldered into a tubular rivet that was too big
to strain-relieve it.

There's this:
http://www.westmountainradio.com/pro...ts_id=PWRcrimp
It gives the contact retention force specs. At Mitre we had a jig with
a tension gauge to test aircraft connector pins.
-jsw