where to buy cheeeeap crimps??

[Mitchell_p]

Hey, i know its been posted on here before but i cannot find it. Anyone know where i can get some cheap as crimp connectors in bulk? Someone posted an asian site i think once and it listed every kind of connector youd want. Thats what im after.
Its stupid ridiculous how hard it is to find this shit in Australia. i recently bought a pack of 20 and it cost me $19......

 

[OakBehringer]

Don't crimp to splice. Solider and heat shrink. There is no substitute.

Or did you mean bullet connectors?

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[5twins]

I don't use many crimps, instead I clip wires from old harnesses with the crimps already factory installed. These get soldered and shrink tubed to my wires. If I do use a crimp, it gets crimped, soldered, and shrink tubed .....

 

[ClOckwOrk]

I wouldn't use crimps unless you use the melt-able style to ensure a tight seal. if you can solder/shrink wrap then do it. I've seen some pretty bad soldering jobs and its mostly because the person doing it got too excited and didn't get the wire hot enough. if your soldering job looks like ass, its probably going to hold like that too. Enough heat in the wire and it will suck the solder right on up and you're going to have the best results that way. As for a website for crimps i had the site saved in my favorites on my old computer. i'll have to see if it will work long enough to retrieve it.

 

[shotgunjoe]

In an environment where there is vibration a solder joint is MORE likely to fail. A proper crimp connection is actually superior to a solder joint.

I buy my connectors at trade shows, and swap meets.

If you are going to crimp, avoid the 'common' type crimping pliers;

Instead use the "professional" type that have a tang, they create a MUCH tighter connection that is not likely to fail. Mine look similar to the ones below except that they have 3 different sized tangs for different wire/connector guage;

I only use solder in current sensitive connections (fuel injection/sensors). Even then I do things just the way the factory designed them. I use to build custom wiring harnesses for fuel injected race cars/street cars... NEVER had a failure in 20 years.

 

[OakBehringer]

In an environment where there is vibration a solder joint is MORE likely to fail. A proper crimp connection is actually superior to a solder joint.

Then why aren't all of our throttle, clutch, and brake cables pulling out of their nipples? There are incredible forces put on them, they are exposed to constant vibration, and they're all soldered.

 

[Jezuz]

Then why aren't all of our throttle, clutch, and brake cables pulling out of their nipples? There are incredible forces put on them, they are exposed to constant vibration, and they're all soldered.

But usually wires are copper, not steel!

 

[OakBehringer]

But usually wires are copper, not steel!

Touche.

However, I still suspect solder to be a more dependable solution.

 

[gggGary]

IF you shrink wrap and it extends past the soldered part of the wire it absorbs and spreads out strain so the wire flexes over say 1/2" and not all at the end of the inflexable solder. An issue remarkably similar to the recent gusset thread. Aircraft SOP is no solder for the flex/break issue. On a recent search I saw several solder aircraft wiring articles so I don't know if the advice has changed or there is bad advice floating around out there...

 

[shotgunjoe]

Touche.

However, I still suspect solder to be a more dependable solution.

check out aviation and marine wiring regs some time... No solder allowed. Even a skilled tech can create a 'cold' solder joint or get contamination from flux. Both of which are bad news when soldering. The solder itself isn't likely to fail (though it can), but the copper wire itself is extremely weak when paired next to a solder joint. They will actually vibrate at different frequencys (harmonics is weird shit and can cause serious damage in the right situation).

Jezuz makes a good point, the steal or stainless steel braid is actually stronger than the solder.

The crimpers available at the local autoparts store I showed above only squeezes the connector which can lead to a wire falling out... the second type makes what can be considered a permanent connection, they dont fall out or become loose.

 

[Mitchell_p]

Yeah i mean bullet connectors like the ones shown above. Someone hook me up!

 

[OakBehringer]

check out aviation and marine wiring regs some time... No solder allowed. Even a skilled tech can create a 'cold' solder joint or get contamination from flux. Both of which are bad news when soldering. The solder itself isn't likely to fail (though it can), but the copper wire itself is extremely weak when paired next to a solder joint. They will actually vibrate at different frequencys (harmonics is weird shit and can cause serious damage in the right situation).

Jezuz makes a good point, the steal or stainless steel braid is actually stronger than the solder.

The crimpers available at the local autoparts store I showed above only squeezes the connector which can lead to a wire falling out... the second type makes what can be considered a permanent connection, they dont fall out or become loose.

This is all very interesting to me. Being a strange young kid, I asked and asked and asked and finally got my first soldering gun for my 5th birthday, so I have a lot of soldering experience under my belt and find it oddly comforting to work with. I've never had a problem from vibrations using soldiered connections (note: I don't own an airplane), I have had problems with crimped connections. That being said, I don't have a pimp crimper like that. It would be nice to make crimp connections and have confidence in them. Do you use special crimp connectors, or the standard kinda that I have always considered crap?

Yeah i mean bullet connectors like the ones shown above. Someone hook me up!

HAHA - How's the responses treating you? I'm also interested in finding a place to buy a big kit to hold me over for a while...

 

[gggGary]

Check trade a plane or search at the EAA convention, the fly market has thousands and thousands of them by the bags full. I have noticed them at the local steam and gas flea market also so maybe the local car show markets will have them?

 

[Yamakazi]

Sorry, don't remember WHO offered these sites, but I know I found these links HERE...so it had to be a XS650 member.

http://www.vintageconnections.com/

http://www.riwire.com/

http://www.pacergroup.net/Categories3.aspx?Id=Terminals_Lugs_Connectors

http://www.easternbeaver.com/Main/Elec__Products/Connectors/connectors.html

 

[mrriggs]

If you insist on buying the cheapest connectors you can find, then you should step up and buy a nice pair of shoes so your feet don't hurt too bad from the walk home.

Crimp connectors have a bad rap because there is a lot of junk out there. If you want dependable connections then you need to buy good connectors and install them with good tools. Those cheap "insulated" (red,blue,yellow) connectors you get from auto part stores and tool vendors are junk, do not use them. Instead, buy the industrial grade non-insulated connectors from electrical suppliers and heat shrink them with marine tubing (has glue inside that seals it up). If you have good connectors then you will have no choice but to buy a nice forged crimping tool since the cheesy stamped ones, like shotgunjoe posted above, will bend trying to crimp them.

The next step up would be the factory style open-barrel connectors. They are quick and easy to put on, and hold extremely well. But again, you need to spend some money for a nice open-barrel crimping tool or you will have nothing but troubles down the road.

 

[shotgunjoe]

This is all very interesting to me. Being a strange young kid, I asked and asked and asked and finally got my first soldering gun for my 5th birthday, so I have a lot of soldering experience under my belt and find it oddly comforting to work with. I've never had a problem from vibrations using soldiered connections (note: I don't own an airplane), I have had problems with crimped connections. That being said, I don't have a pimp crimper like that. It would be nice to make crimp connections and have confidence in them. Do you use special crimp connectors, or the standard kinda that I have always considered crap?

I buy different types based on its use. I use the normal "cheap" ones most of the time, but will step up to the water tight shrinkable ones when necessary. The crimp tool you use makes the biggest difference.

I have found REALLY cheap connectors, which have a glossy finish on the plastic part... those are TRASH. To be honest, even with a good crimper they fail. The insulation actually breaks instead of squishes like the non glossy connectors... and the actual metal they are made from breaks very easily instead of bending.

I have nothing against soldering... it has its uses. Some connections require soldering. Circuit boards for example, good luck successfully crimping those. I took 3 years of electronics in high school, and 2 years in college, so I know how to use a soldering iron as well, i just use it sparingly.

I have found that the connectors available at auto/4x4/motorcycle swap meets are of a decent quality... at least the guy who I usually buy from (its a local guy and he does all the swap meets here). I buy 200pc packs for $5! Its a great deal. I usually only have to fill up each bin once a year or every two years.

 

[XSLeo]

I get my crimp on stuff at the parts store, but i don't get the cheapest stuff. I get the mid grade stuff. The top dollar stuff is just a bit to much.
I picked up a good crimp tool like the second one in shotgunjoes pics. Harbor Freight, Around $5. Works very well.
I pull the plastic of the wire ends. If they are the kind that completely cover the connector I slide it on the wire. If not I chuck it, and use heat shrink.
I use the good tool to crimp, then solder the joint. Slide the plastic back up. If heat shrink I slide it up and use my $10 Harbor Freight heat gun to shrink the tubeing.
Sometimes I even use the heat shrink over the plastic cover.
I have been soldering for a long time and seldom make a bad joint. If I do I cut it off and redo it.
Leo

 

[xjwmx]

Then why aren't all of our throttle, clutch, and brake cables pulling out of their nipples? There are incredible forces put on them, they are exposed to constant vibration, and they're all soldered.

The problem with soldered connectors is the stranded wire wicks up the solder, and right where the solder ends there's a spot that's brittle. Bend it back and forth a few times and it will break!

If you're in a tight engine compartment like an airplane's and you move some wires far out of the way to get to something and then move them back to look neat, that would only have to happen a few times before you had a non-connection.

If you soldered ahead of the crimp so that behind the crimp there was no solder, you'd be okay. But...that's a bit of artistic soldering. Not hard to do maybe, but an invitation to production problems

The soldered cable ends like you mention, that's a whole different thing, not subject to the same problem.