Vansconvert
Well Known Member
Which is the way to go? I heard solder is better, and I heard crimping is better (easier for sure, but better?). Anyone know what places like SteinAir and Aerotronics are doing?
Which is the way to go? I heard solder is better, and I heard crimping is better (easier for sure, but better?). Anyone know what places like SteinAir and Aerotronics are doing?
Both methods are reliable if done correctly. Use whichever one suits your skills, experience and equipment available.
I have noticed with Tefzel, it is difficult to tell if solder has wicked up the insulation compared to less stiff insulation material. Just an observation.
I have noticed with Tefzel, it is difficult to tell if solder has wicked up the insulation compared to less stiff insulation material. Just an observation.
And that matters because...? (Really analyse the full installation of the terminal and wire before answering.)
Those aren't crimp connectors, those are solder connectors. And heat shrink is a must when using this type.
I've seen plenty of broken soldered ends on pins. When you solder the wire in the pin it makes a solid peak to the flexible wire strands. Enough vibration and the strands will all break. Crimping allows some movement in the connector. The problem with some crimping is it's not done right and the wire can pull out of the hole. A good practice is to pull the wire a little after the crimp to make sure it's tight.
And the color bands? The crimp pins have color bands reminiscent of the color code system for resistors (BBROYGBVGW) (The mnemonic for remembering this sequence is NSFBSK).
But what do the color bands mean? Range of wire gauge accepted? A clue to which positioner to use? Code for brand name? Date of manufacture?
I'm whining because it is rare that I feel so left out from the anointed priesthood.
No need to be left out. You don't even have to join the secret society.
The color bands are part of the mil-spec and are on the good machined pins/sockets.
There is even no need to remember them though - or buy the secret decoder ring - since the three we use 99.9% of the time are sold by Stein so you can just use the pictures on his web site.
Tooling is also covered by Stein, one low cost tool for regular Dsub pins and a positioner for it (no fancy part number needed) for the Garmin High Density pins.
No need to be left out. You don't even have to join the secret society.
The color bands are part of the mil-spec and are on the good machined pins/sockets.
There is even no need to remember them though - or buy the secret decoder ring - since the three we use 99.9% of the time are sold by Stein so you can just use the pictures on his web site.
Tooling is also covered by Stein, one low cost tool for regular Dsub pins and a positioner for it (no fancy part number needed) for the Garmin High Density pins.
I remember two from the olden days. One starts with Bad Boys and the other describes Batman doing something nasty to Robin on Yonder Gotham Building. Giggle...(BBROYGBVGW) The mnemonic for remembering this sequence...
I bet we use 18 gage wire more than 0.1% of the time. Stein doesn't seem to have pins or positioners for those. I agree though, for MOST wiring, what he has is quite helpful.
And just to illustrate my bewilderment, note that Stein shows pictures of the data plates for the various positioners that he supplies to go with the DMC AFM8 crimper. But the Dsub contacts have M-numbers that do not appear on those data plates. So how does one know that that is the correct positioner for that contact, other than because Stein says so?
I wanted to use crimps, I really did. I can see how fast it is, how nice to be able to quickly remove the pins to reposition, or to pass the harness through a bulkhead and then re-assemble in the connector. I even had available to borrow from work the expensive crimping tool and an assortment of positoners.
Absent any mentoring from an experienced avionics technician, I confess I could not sort out the bewildering miriad of specifications for what positioner to use with what crimper for what pins. I had no confidence that I could produce quality crimps when I couldn't even sort out which combination of the tools I was supposed to use. Not every avionics device was very clear at all about which tools to use. ( I have to say Garmin does a pretty good job trying to help out with this). I used to say to my self that if a high-school graduate that joins the Air Force and becomes an avionics technician can figure this stuff out, why can't a PhD in Aerodynamics that has done all kinds of sophisticated instrumentation installation for wind tunnel testing figure this out?
So, in the end, I soldered everything. Having heard all the hangar tales, true or not, I was careful to have good strain relief clamping on the backshell of each connector. And yeah, in a few places, forced to apply heat for a long time, some of the plastic bodies of the connectors show a little bit of heat distress. Always tested good. Everything works, and continues to work fine after 500 hrs.
But I really wish I had someone to sit down and say, "use this positioner in this tool with these pins" and I would have crimped everything. And if/when I redo my panel, I will scream for help here, and maybe someone can tell me what tools to use.
Nice link Paul...thanks.I'm starting to believe that the solder vs. crimp threads should probably be moved to the never ending debates section!
The fancy positioners come into play when you want to crimp other connectors than Dsubs.
Since this thread is for Dsub connectors only, this relatively low cost tool will do the job for one or two RVs...
https://www.steinair.com/product/4-way-indent-crimper/
No need for tool envy over the multi-connector mil-spac crimpers.
Nice link Paul...thanks.I'm starting to believe that the solder vs. crimp threads should probably be moved to the never ending debates section!
That was my first thought when I saw the title of the thread! But I resonated with it because of my troubles.
And get the machined barrel crimp pins -
Not the cheaper stamped version -
They will be much easier to work with. Steinair has them.
Except, one of those is a pin, and the other is a socket...
Agree. No difference than Primer.
Except, one of those is a pin, and the other is a socket...
Heck, if splitting hairs, Rob, one is a round pin, the other is a square socket.
(Hmmm sounds vaguely like my life story... LoL)
Oh, you PhD?s can make things so difficult. You were just working for the wrong center, in the wrong program. We got trained on this stuff in order to properly do In-Flight Maintenance (and to understand what we were asking our ?meat servos? to do....). Good multi-day class in the labs at JSC. Fortunately, someone wrote this all down in a guide you can find online:
https://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp/2 books/frameset.html
I have re-pinned so many connectors as I do different avionics things to my airplanes, I shudder to think what it would be like to have to de-solder and then resolder all the time. Separate pins, sockets, and connector bodies are your friends!
Paul
I heard, if you use solder in your avionics it will 100% break and start a fire... Is this true?
Only if it's primed with ..............!