Crimp connections
For those of you that make your own cables do you use anything on the wire before you crimp?
Forum Discussion
Problem with soldering lugs is that it can make the soldered joint brittle. With coach vibration, the wiring can break. That is the reason you don't find soldered connections in aircraft wiring.
HORSE
PUCKY
I've held an FAA PMA license for electrical systems and a second license for aircraft starter motor and alternator rebuilding for 29 years.
Most mechanics cannot solder worth two-cents. And the regulation goes back to the days when bikinis were illegal. It isn't about brittle it's about eliminating a threat because there are no guarantees that the mechanic can solder worth snot.
There are at least six to as many as twenty factory soldered connections in each and every alternator or starter motor. But the FAA steps in and demands high altitude brushes and special rectifiers that is strictly enforced.
Modern? Why does FAA still demand separate OVL control for voltage regulators? The OVL means OVER VOLTAGE LIMITER. Right out of the days of Newsreel shorts in a movie theater.
Vibration? I've never seen a broken soldered point in an alternator but I have seen an uncrimped solder joint fail on a prestolite starter. The solder joint looked like a gob of dried chrome aluminum paint. In my work I used 100 percent silver to solder these joints.
Wear protective clothing, remove the cowling on a Beechcraft with a Lycoming engine, advance the throttle and feel the vibration. About 10 to 20 times more intense than an automotive engine.
This is why wiring on the outside uses factory placed Adel clamps. And an FAA surveyor should note this on an annual. I have found rat's nest next to instrument clusters and frays in wiring next to fuel changeover switches.
If 3 to 1 adhesive heat shrink tubing is used properly on a properly soldered terminal it will have a longer more secure lifespan then any crimped terminals.
The problem is for those PMA mechanics who can't past 10 on their fingers without unzipping their pants. The The Federal Aviation administration would have to test each and every PMA applicant up front and personal. Impossible. Therefore the general ban on soldering wiring. Carmakers operate the same way for the same reason as the FAA.
HORSE
PUCKY
I've held an FAA PMA license for electrical systems and a second license for aircraft starter motor and alternator rebuilding for 29 years.
Most mechanics cannot solder worth two-cents. And the regulation goes back to the days when bikinis were illegal. It isn't about brittle it's about eliminating a threat because there are no guarantees that the mechanic can solder worth snot.
There are at least six to as many as twenty factory soldered connections in each and every alternator or starter motor. But the FAA steps in and demands high altitude brushes and special rectifiers that is strictly enforced.
Modern? Why does FAA still demand separate OVL control for voltage regulators? The OVL means OVER VOLTAGE LIMITER. Right out of the days of Newsreel shorts in a movie theater.
Vibration? I've never seen a broken soldered point in an alternator but I have seen an uncrimped solder joint fail on a prestolite starter. The solder joint looked like a gob of dried chrome aluminum paint. In my work I used 100 percent silver to solder these joints.
Wear protective clothing, remove the cowling on a Beechcraft with a Lycoming engine, advance the throttle and feel the vibration. About 10 to 20 times more intense than an automotive engine.
This is why wiring on the outside uses factory placed Adel clamps. And an FAA surveyor should note this on an annual. I have found rat's nest next to instrument clusters and frays in wiring next to fuel changeover switches.
If 3 to 1 adhesive heat shrink tubing is used properly on a properly soldered terminal it will have a longer more secure lifespan then any crimped terminals.
The problem is for those PMA mechanics who can't past 10 on their fingers without unzipping their pants. The The Federal Aviation administration would have to test each and every PMA applicant up front and personal. Impossible. Therefore the general ban on soldering wiring. Carmakers operate the same way for the same reason as the FAA.
