Solder or Crimp

Send the specs to Genuine Dealz. They will supply the proper wire in the proper color, cut. crimp, and heat shrink for a nominal charge. Those guys are great.

http://www.genuinedealz.com/

Moonstruck said:

Send the specs to Genuine Dealz. They will supply the proper wire in the proper color, cut. crimp, and heat shrink for a nominal charge. Those guys are great.

Marine Wiring, Boat Cable and Electrical Genuinedealz.com

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Agree wholeheartedly.

And cheap too!

To what point do you say enough? I mean all the examples are of battery cables. Is that the only area that needs this much attention or should it be across all wiring? Not being argumentative, genuinely curious.


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Hendo78 said:

To what point do you say enough? I mean all the examples are of battery cables. Is that the only area that needs this much attention or should it be across all wiring? Not being argumentative, genuinely curious.


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Like many things manufactured...it's a question more of how long do you want it to last or how many oceans does it need to cross????

Many of the guidelines presented by safety organizations have one "opinion"...this opinion is supposed to cover almost every boat from fresh water lakes to hurricane prone seas....from ocean racers to rowboats.

It also fails to account for owners that eyeball most things on a regular basis...to other's who are oblivious to standards.

So all in all..just like boat manufacturers who chose the best or the worst of products...as long as they aren't "unsafe"...they ARE good enough. You just might have a heavier maintenance schedule than the owner of a $2mil setup.

I have had many systems fail on boats...often they are the newest...not the 30 year old...untinned wire with hand made crimps and no special heat shrink/glue filled crimps either.

It's all about application, your boat, how you use it, how often you check the system in question...etc...etc...

Even space craft fail...and I don't wear a hairnet in a clean room with top of the line components when I make every crimp on my boat....wow...

I just completed 5000 miles of cruising without a single failure from my hand...only manufactured parts. So let the "only the best" types slay me...I'm laughing all the way.....

The reality is...you just have to know when it's time for the "best equipment and best practice".

I go through life figuring I'll spend the money on a heart surgeon...not my tailor (to a point)....

Enough what? I think we got off on battery cables because 1) they require a big crimper to do properly, that is very rarely needed otherwise 2) it is a connection that ABYC allows soldering as an exception to its guideline.

caltexflanc said:

Enough what? .

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Attention to detail. Do you pay the same amount of attention ( crimp type, adhesive shrink etc etc) to a wire for a Nav light?

We don't have that ABYC Marine Code requirement/regulation over here so I'm curious as to how far you all go with detail.

Do you crimp all wires or say only crimp to ones that are 5mm thick and solder everything else smaller?




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jukesy said:

No offence to anyone. But you can debate this one all you want. Here is what "I" know. On every boat I have built, repaired and owned. Both commercial and recreational over many years. I have always soldered my joints and NEVER had a failure. I don't care what ABYC says or any other junk science that exists on the net. I know what has worked and will continue to work long after I'm gone.

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this has been my exact experience serious and I have rigged 120 mile an hour race boats

Wire an entire boat and solder every joint and that will take forevahhh!!. It took me long enough to wire my boat just using normal crimps. Lots of wires, a crimp on each end.

I did seal up (heat shrink) the ones exposed to damp areas like nav lights, but the rest just got a crimp. All high amp cables (above say 10ga), all bonding got heat shrink.

I think the soldered ones are better, but better enough to make it worth it? Not to me.

I think the soldered ones should be avoided on terminals directly mounted to engine, as the vibe issue is real there. Elsewhere on the boat, can't see vibes and fatique being an issue.

I have replaced enough broken soldered joints on boats and automotive applications to disagree. Soldering is more difficult, especially in cramped quarters, messy, dangerous (burns) and complicated, requiring additional support be added. And not any better electrically. So me, I used solder in exactly one place among miles of wiring and thousands of different connections and terminals. There is a reason ABYC doesn't like it, and a reason you don't see it used even on old, high quality boat builds.

Crimp.

Cheers,

Conall

I used a hydraulic crimper I got from Harbor Freight to do all the cables on the boat. Can't beat the price at $53, and that includes several of the most common die sizes. Comes in a nice case, too.

Hydraulic Wire Crimping Tool

Here is what I replace on Skinny Dippin'





This is an example of the new (before the shrink):

ktischler said:

I used a hydraulic crimper I got from Harbor Freight to do all the cables on the boat. Can't beat the price at $53, and that includes several of the most common die sizes. Comes in a nice case, too.

Hydraulic Wire Crimping Tool

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Ken, I hope it is a different HF model than the one reviewed on page 3 here:

Making Your Own Battery Cables Photo Gallery by Compass Marine How To at pbase.com

Hmmm, looking at the picture on page 4 I see it is the same model#. Hopefully they have corrected it since fall of last year?

caltexflanc said:

I have replaced enough broken soldered joints on boats and automotive applications to disagree. Soldering is more difficult, especially in cramped quarters, messy, dangerous (burns) and complicated, requiring additional support be added. And not any better electrically. So me, I used solder in exactly one place among miles of wiring and thousands of different connections and terminals. There is a reason ABYC doesn't like it, and a reason you don't see it used even on old, high quality boat builds.

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Soldering should not be used. The solder wicks its way past the lug and makes the connection rigid. A degree of flexibility is needed in the marine environment. Make sure you use a compression style crimp tool with the correct dye and use heat shrink. You shouldn't have any issues if the connections are clean and the wire is sized correctly using crimp marine grade wire and connectors is the only way to do it in my opinion.
Bill Lentz