How I make my connections

[D_man1987]

The Performer Posted Jan 10 2010, 04:17 PM

Word.

Basically when satan is taking his morning shit, T-taps are what comes out.

yeah, the little red ones on 12ga or bigger wire.... damn i see too many of those.....

And i agree with soldering and i solder all connections on mine as well as any other vehicle i work on, BUT... i am a solder nazi!

but basically i think it all sums up to soldering skill as well i am sure that a proper solderless joint is better than an improper soldered joint that is going to poke through tape, be brittle and break, or just get soldered on one side not thoroughly by someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

so yeah for most people or if you are just unsure, the solderless joint it the way to go

[qu1cks1lver56]

Basically when satan is taking his morning shit, T-taps are what comes out.

lmao sig worthy

[jbondox]

I challenge you to got pull every plug and switch in your house out and see if all those connections are soldered.

I also challenge you to search every joint and connection in a car and show me that they are all soldered.

As stated above your trolling and should be smacked by David for being a douche.

As for corroding as long as the elements are not allowed to get to the wires you are golden and wont have any problems.

well a home isn't moving down the road at 60 mph, nor does the electrical use wire strands as it is a solid wire.

I think this is getting crazy so I will give my 2 pennies to summarize it up

the way that Shayne originally posted is acceptable, very acceptable in fact as you most likely will break the wire before pulling it off

if you can add some solder, that is great, if you can't well just tape it very well i recommend 3M super 33+

if you are joining 2 wires together, and not using a butt splice, I would hope you solder it vs just twist and tape

butt splices, well they work, but are not my cup of tea and besides the crimp caps have a likely chance to fail or come out if improperly crimped, and I have pulled many wires out of a butt splice in my time

t-taps, well if the right wire the right size, they are just like butt splices

next comes selection of the method... if you are banging out $99 remote starts, then you are not going to be monkeying around with a solder iron for every connection, the person is obviously not worried about quality... and they get what they paid for, hell I bill by the hour and like the techs it is $118/hr.

if you are a specialty shop then you are doing the above on the main harness and soldering.

if you are extreme then you are soldering everything

and it also comes down to what the company standard is

then comes some other considerations, such as location... if you are near the ocean or in the rust belt, you want to make sure your wires are well insulated, as salt and salt spray corrodes the wires over a period of time, might be years... might be months

now the vehicles that I work on or specialize in, all have properly terminated ends or connections that are mostly crimped; such as every pin that is in a factory harness from airbags to ABS to the speaker, the grounds... they are crimped, the exterior grounds are dipped in a rubber clear coat to insulate (except for where the bolt is attached)

so many ways, and it comes down to a few options... I can't see crapping on anyone over it.

HOWEVER

I seen some abortions from professionals... that I can't fathom why they are in the business or even touching a car...

[Shyne151]

next comes selection of the method... if you are banging out $99 remote starts, then you are not going to be monkeying around with a solder iron for every connection, the person is obviously not worried about quality... and they get what they paid for, hell I bill by the hour and like the techs it is $118/hr.

I agree 110% with that statement. Prime example right now I'm doing a 2010 camaro(about $1600 in labor)... we charged him $80/hour for custom work... and you better believe every wire in that vehicle is soldered. Now liek you said when I'm whipping out our $159 remote starts... the old eyelet and wrap method works fine!

It all depends on the situation and what the customer is willing to pay for. I've had customers ask if I can solder the wires for their remote start and I tell them an extra $25 to do it(we charge $50 and hour and I figure a half hour is enough time for me to make sure every soldered connection is perfect).

[huh?do-what?]

do what works for you. I was just being a dick in my earlier posts. I didn't know DEI taught the method mentioned regarding wrapping the wires. I personally hate t-taps. I used one on a brake wire for a cruise control on a Silverado and it eventually cut the wire in half from moving back and forth. Maybe I used to small of a t-tap. Who knows.

Anyway, for all you solder nazis, I saw a bad ass soldering gun at a shop I used to work at. They did interlock breathalyzers for vehicles. The woman cut each wire in half, crimped on an uninsulated butt splice, then slid a piece of heat shrink down the wire. She had a resistance soldering unit that looked like a pair of pliers. When you squeeze the handle the tips of the unit send high current low voltage across the tips. That fucker melted solder in about 1-2 seconds. Slide heat shrink back up. Finished. The coolest connection I have seen in a car. The unit was made by Triton. you can get one at micromark.com for about 200 bucks.