Crimping teeny tiny wires

[knockabout]

only crimp tinned wire/ if it is untinned copper the moisture in the air may be enough to corrode your join and spoil all your hard work / solder holds the components to the boards in the electronics equipment without altering resistance too much / shrink tube / self amalgamating tape even finger nail polish to re insulate the join to avoid accidental short or earth / your work should last as long as the electronics / we were just having a laugh , we have 8 GPS's / none of them have soldered or crimped wires unless it's factory joins / over the years we have lengthened GPS wiring to get the receiver out of the cabin / made up plugs to fit laptops / we had one factory GPS aerial fill with salt water and dissolve the electronics inside of it / cut off a USB connection from a puck type, twitched the wires together , taped them with plastic tape and the signal went to the plotter just the same / next time we made landfall we bought another factory GPS receiver and this time made sure the base was sealed down properly

[nigelmercier]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

Those auto store crimpers should be given the float test. If they float keep them...

The first sensible advice in this thread.

Get the smallest crimps you can, fold the wire over if necessary. Ideally use the non-insulated type that wrap the join.

No solder.
No insulation Displacement Connectors.
No chocolate blocks. OMG no chocolate blocks.

[roberthowell]

good ole vice grips will do fine as a crimping tool

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by roberthowell

good ole vice grips will do fine as a crimping tool

Sure and a pair of pliers can be used instead of a wrench or socket but is not the best tool for the job.

[Boulter]

The wires coming out of my GPS and VHF were something like #26 or #30. So first I soldered and heat shrunk #22 wire extenders, then heat shrink ring terminals.

I would be quite happy to pay $10 more for my gear to have an extra $0.25 of copper in #22 wires. This is a safety issue. If I have to push the DSC in an emergency one day, I really want the GPS info to make it to the coast guard.

The other reason I would be happy to pay that extra $10 is to save the ~hour it takes to carefully splice the 6 or so wires such that they have a chance of still being sound 5 or 10 years out.

This is serious false economy on the part of the Industry.

Boulter

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[masonc]

You should be using a ferrule crimper to add a ferrule to the wire, then you can crimp or terminate without problems. Amazon has furrule crimpers for $17

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[nigelmercier]

Originally Posted by masonc

You should be using a ferrule crimper to add a ferrule to the wire, then you can crimp or terminate without problems...

There should be no need to crimp a ferrule onto a wire before crimping an almost identical terminal on top.

Ferrules are for screwed connectors.

[masonc]

Correct. Crimp a ferrule on before terminating small wires.

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[Rorzech]

Get a good pair of Stakon Cutter / crimpers and they'll last for ever (unless you start cutting live wires). They have the best crimping power. Use the res Connectors and strip them twice the length you need , Twist the fine threads tight then fold in half , now stick it in the connector and crimp it hard, then give it a good "tug test" to make sure its a good connection. Don't put silicone to seal the ends of the connector (corrosion issue). Use shrink tube. Klien strippers work good for stripping tiny wire. If any fine threads get damaged then cut them off and try again

[Rorzech]

Along with your methods ,I like to use "Liquid electrical tape" in small can. But you need to use it up in a month or two no matter how tight you screw the lid back on the can. I paint battery posts and other exposed electrical connections to use it up . I'm sure you can get real creative with this material.