[HeyLaughingBoy]

I'm confused as to why you would think about soldering a crimped connection

Because most crimped connections (at least in the hobbyist/DIY world) are crap. So after crimping, the only way they hold together is with solder.

There are no applications where this is better. Every connector manufacturer I know recommends against doing it. You can get away with doing it if you support the soldered end against vibration, but you should do that anyway.

It's really a training issue. People haven't been taught better and there is a lot of bad advice floating around hobbyist forums. I have only been using good crimping tools for the last few years since I started making a product with a 50-conductor harness. Until I spent $200 on a crimping tool and took the time to research how to make good crimps (Molex has an excellent document), I never realized how they were supposed to look. Now most of my tools are used, purchased at auctions of dead companies, but I have $400 crimping tools I paid pennies on the dollar for. Even so, I normally farm out crimping to a company that does it with automated machinery, better and faster than I can do by hand.

[asynchronous13]

Most of the crimpers I use are $1000+. I was totally shocked at the expense when I first switched from home hobby to professional work, but the quality of the crimps is simply incomparable. Very much worth it for reliability.

[HeyLaughingBoy]

I don't think I've seen a manual tool that was so expensive. Are you using some kind of pneumatic crimper? I thought of getting even better tools, but I found an outfit that will cut and strip wire to my spec. and crimp on any contacts I need, and they do it cheaper and faster than I can.

[engi_nerd]

No, that's about how much a good manual crimper costs. But man, the results you can get out of them are fantastic.

[engi_nerd]

Yeah, this is the difference between the hobbyist world and the aerospace world. As I've said before, that's where I spend my time...But I can understand why people don't have crimp tools and dies at home because just the die for a certain type of crimp connection can be several hundred dollars. That's just not doable for the vast majority of hobbyists.

Thanks for pointing this other side of the equation out.