To begin, I have nothing against DR1665's Ground Wire kit. I have never been a fan of crimp terminals however. I bought some solder terminals from NAPA as well as (probably) some of the most heavy duty heat shrink tubing available. 3 to 1 shrink ratio, and built in sealing gel that creates a water tight seal. The strain relief provided by this stuff is amazing too. Pricey though, at about 10 bucks for a 10 inch section.

The difficult part was soldering 4 gauge cable. This stuff has been sitting in a box for a few months at least because I did not have the tools to solder it. I brought it to work today, where I have a $1500.00 soldering station with variable temp. etc. and was able to heat it enough to solder the cable and terminals. It also took quite a while with a heat gun to fully shrink the tubing.

I am happy with the results.

oh so pretty
do mine

Where did you get that heatshrink from, never seen that shit before nice


As for solding 4ga.....use the Blazer torch man works much easier than ANY soldering station. Put the Term in a vise and heat it up with the torch as you melt solder into it like a cup, then slowly stick your wire in it and remove the heat. Thats how i have always done 4ga and 1/0 for my stereo.

Terry
96 Eagle Talon ESI....Daily driver

97 Eclipse.........

Got the heatshrink from NAPA as well. Not exactly the kind of thing they have on the shelf though. Sorry I could not get you a better focused pic. The number is 727613 and it is for 6 to 1 gauge wire. 10 inches H.D. heat shrink tubing. Out of the box the diameter is almost 3/4" (enough that I could almost stick two fingers inside :P) so it is definitely good for heavy gauge amp wiring.

just for info a "properly" crimped connection is JUST AS GOOD as a soldered connection, ie same voltage drop/resistance,same if not better pullout force etc..

Originally posted by mcgyvr
just for info a "properly" crimped connection is JUST AS GOOD as a soldered connection, ie same voltage drop/resistance,same if not better pullout force etc..

he's right, i used to solder all of the kits i made but stopped because there was no added value to it.

I made my own with solder and a crimp, best of both worlds, but like Star Turbo said, BUY A TORCH! They're like $35-$40 at OSH.

:wary

Originally posted by Ark
:wary

We specifically bought a torch for the job when we prototyped them. Of course, we didn't have pre-tinned terminals at hand, so I tried to solder the wire. You try to tin a 4AWG multi-strand with a Burnz-O-Matic. Say good bye to your insulation in the first couple inches and still be able to touch the center strands due to super efficient heat transfer properties. For what they do, I think our kits were the better of the two offered here back then. No rice. No bullshit. And no profit. It was all for the love of the community.

I was being :wary of the thread title.

All mine were sold crimped, but I did use heatshrink on them. In fact, I've got about 75 foot of it left if anyone wants any.

Originally posted by JWoodley
All mine were sold crimped, but I did use heatshrink on them. In fact, I've got about 75 foot of it left if anyone wants any.

You never give up do you? LOL

I am so sick of fucking ground wires and car bullshit. I think the best thing about finally getting Daisy turbo'd this spring is that I will finally be done with her and not have to worry about making more power. Just keeping her clean and gassed up. Back to when I just got in and drove her...

Originally posted by DR1665v2

Originally posted by JWoodley All mine were sold crimped, but I did use heatshrink on them. In fact, I've got about 75 foot of it left if anyone wants any.

You never give up do you? LOL I am so sick of fucking ground wires and car bullshit. I think the best thing about finally getting Daisy turbo'd this spring is that I will finally be done with her and not have to worry about making more power. Just keeping her clean and gassed up. Back to when I just got in and drove her...

And you keep us busy with never ending drama? :rolleyes

SOLDERING OFFERS NO ADDED VALUE HUH

you are all full of shit. crimped with about 2 winters of salt and snow wreak havok on electrical joints. How many of you have had to replace batt cables....especially on fords this is a problem. solding your conns provides protection and more secure conn once cables begin to age. This is basic electrical knowledge. Any mechanic will agree. I cant tell you how many 4ga batt conns have had to be replaced because idiots brought thier cars in with no stereo and cant figure it out. Now for those of you iving is sweet home Arizona solding does yield as many benefits.

I don't care how hard you crimp your wire i can pull it out of the termination, you wont be able to pull out my soldered connection

When i said torch i wasnt referring to a benz o matic torch.....that is way to big and unnecassary. "Blazer" torch is a manufacturer carried by most all Snap-on dealers and tool stores. It is commonly used for brazing a/c lines. And when you tin 4ga or 1/0 you dont heat the wire! use the connector liek a cup, fillit with solder and dip the wire into allowing the wire to soak upthe solder and become tinned. If you using a hollow connector then you crimp with the correct crimper and heat the tip of the termination as you apply sold at the base near the wire.

Terry

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
SOLDERING OFFERS NO ADDED VALUE HUH you are all full of shit.

Haha. What else is new, Terry?

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
crimped with about 2 winters of salt and snow wreak havok on electrical joints

Snow? Salt? You lost me there, chief. :shrug

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
Solding your conns provides protection and more secure conn once cables begin to age. This is basic electrical knowledge. Any mechanic will agree. I don't care how hard you crimp your wire i can pull it out of the termination, you wont be able to pull out my soldered connection.

I agree. I agree. I agree. I know, and I agree.

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
When i said torch i wasnt referring to a benz o matic torch.....that is way too big and unnecassary.

Maybe so, but I was of the foolish, bigger is better, frame of mind at the time, and didn't know any better.

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
when you tin 4ga or 1/0 you dont heat the wire! use the connector liek a cup, fillit with solder and dip the wire into allowing the wire to soak up the solder and become tinned. If you using a hollow connector then you crimp with the correct crimper and heat the tip of the termination as you apply sold at the base near the wire.

This is good to know. Thank you.

Originally posted by Star Turbo Talon
And when you tin 4ga or 1/0 you dont heat the wire! use the connector liek a cup, fillit with solder and dip the wire into allowing the wire to soak upthe solder and become tinned. If you using a hollow connector then you crimp with the correct crimper and heat the tip of the termination as you apply sold at the base near the wire. Terry

Yupp.... that's how to do it.
And the same technique can be used when soldering pain in the ass DB connectors...
Simply tin the CONNECTOR... fill the terminals with solder. Then heat the terminal, and push the wire in... keeping heat on for a second to make it flow nice.

You can't beat a nice solder join.
While crimping forks for most things fine, when dealing with bigger cables, soldering is a must... the voltage drop across a soldered 4ga wire is much less than a crimped 4ga wire... onc eyou get a lot of current flowing through it. ;)

Peace.