Is it better to choose crimping or soldering for the connector terminals?

In the connector industry, it is often encountered when customers choose terminals to consider whether they are crimping or soldering. The following Elecbee professional electronic engineers will analyze the differences and benefits of crimping terminals and soldering terminals based on actual operating conditions.

Crimping technology can replace welding technology to provide low-cost, high-quality connections between terminals and wires. Whether a manual crimping tool or a fully automated crimping system is used depends on the construction site, the number of conductor connections, and the range of conductor sizes.

We can use necessary manual crimping tools, crimping machines and molds, wire stripping and crimping machines, or fully automatic wire handling systems for crimping operations. However, in order to obtain a high-quality connection, no matter what kind of tools and equipment are used, its settings are very important.

Today, many original equipment manufacturers use statistical process control (SPC) to continuously improve the quality of terminal crimping. Terminal crimping is a complex process. To ensure consistent quality, it is necessary to understand various specific conditions and the interaction between the elements involved in this technology.

If you do not fully understand the crimping process and all the factors that affect crimping, you may not be able to obtain the desired crimping effect. The three key elements in the crimping process are: terminals, wires and tools.

Terminal

In most applications, it is necessary for the connector manufacturer to design various special terminals for each wire diameter, each core wire strand number, each insulation sheath diameter (UL type) and specific military specifications. It is economically unrealistic. Most terminals are used to fit a variety of wire sizes, core wire strands, and multiple insulation diameter ranges. The terminal should be able to connect all the wires within its design range.

Wire

Wires of the same size may have very different core strands and insulation types. For example, the same wire size is AWG 18. The 19-strand core wire uses 18% more material than the 16-strand core wire. The diameter of the insulation sheath can be as small as 1.78 mm (0.070 inches) and as large as 4.57 mm (0.180 inches). ). The core wire material can be copper, tinned copper, thick coated copper core wire, and thin coated copper core wire. Different application occasions require different wire hardness.

Mould

What kind of tools are needed for construction occasions? Do I need a manual peeling tool (for a small amount of peeling operation) or an automatic peeling machine for a large number of peeling operations? For construction occasions and crimping workload, should you use a combination of hand tools, crimping machines, and molds, or use automatic wire handling equipment? For different crimping tools, we have to adjust the operation method to varying degrees. The types of terminals, wires, tools, and crimping tools all affect the crimp quality of the terminal.

To learn more about connectors, please pay attention to us. Elecbee is fully capable of meeting the needs of a variety of high-end customers. If you have any questions, please contact us. Elecbee electronics engineers provide the most professional answers to help you choose the right and safe connector.