5$ Battery Terminal Crimper with professional results.

[liftlid]

Sorry to bring up a dead thread but I have a quick question guys. Whats wrong with solder?
I've always soldered larger lugs like these for automotive / marine applications and have never even considered crimping and never had any issues. Is there a negative to soldering large lugs like this.

Because solder fills the gap between the lug and the cable it can fail due to vibration or heat.

[Cuppa]

Sorry to bring up a dead thread but I have a quick question guys. Whats wrong with solder?
I've always soldered larger lugs like these for automotive / marine applications and have never even considered crimping and never had any issues. Is there a negative to soldering large lugs like this.

Solder can wick up the cable a little & over time & the vibration in a mobile environment can crack/fracture resulting in difficult to find electrical problems. At least that’s what I’ve read. I doubt it would be an issue on large diameter cables such as used on battery connections though, perhaps more of an issue on smaller gauge wires.
I did once have a soldered cable cause exactly this problem. Could not find the cause of lack of power. No amount of looking revealed anything but the sparks which flew as soon as the connection was physically disturbed was a dead giveaway. Mind you I believe the soldered joint was from the factory which would have made it over 20 years old.

Surprisingly in my ex Telstra Patrol I found a number of cable joins installed by Telstra, on smaller cables, which were soldered.

[liftlid]

By the way I like this tool for 2 reasons.
Nice and small so it's great for trail repairs.
All you blokes with low mount winches should have one of these to put the lug back on your winch cable when it comes off.
I off to supacheap !

[dysonest]

yeah solder can crack over time and u will be scratching ur head looking for an electrical problem.
a properly done crimp is better then solder anyway