I want to install a new mp3/CD player head unit for me 4 door 2001 Sunfire. I was wondering if i really need crimping tools or if i could just twist the bare copper wiring together from the Metra 70-2003 harness to the new deck and secure it with electical tape.
Thank you for your help in advance.
Of course you can do it that way. Its @!#$ty and cheap and may not hold up very well but it will work...
Just buy cheap crimpers and crimp it. or solder it and use some heat shrink...
IF you solder the wire, hook both wires into a fishhook shape, then twist them back around themselves.
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twisting the wires together and tightly wrapping in electrical tape willbe jsut fine. jsut wrap them well. soldering is the better alternatinve but sometimes not vaible.
personally im not big on crimping, thos connectors alway break or slip off eventually
My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again
crimping is 100x better than twisting and taping...
If your worried about them coming off...Crimp and Heat Shrink or Tape
i'm too lazy to solder most of the time. i almost always use crimp connectors and then tape them up (mainly because i forget to put on the heat shrink before i put on the connector. oops!) soldering is the best option. don't ever just twist and tape. they're horrible connections and will come apart the fastest. those "T" connector things that clip onto a wire are crappy too. i've seen tons of them fall off and have bad connections.
lol..okay okay, i guess i'll use crimping tools. I have no idea how to use soldering equipment, and im not too familiar with crimping tools. Does anyone have any good online tutorials or video's on how to use crimp tools? Or do they come with instructions when you buy them. Or am I making it more complicated than it really is =) Thank you all for such quick responses.
http://www.ehow.com/how_376_solder-wires.html
On crimping, well im not sure what to tell you. I doubt your gunna drop money on a good set of crimper's..I can tell you how to do it or I can send you a tutorial for it. But its not gunna help you when you pick up your walmart crimper's..
Theres nothing wrong with those, i wouldn't waste money on a good set if i was only gunna use em once either...
Soo..Strip the wire about 1/4 of an inch.. Stick first wire in one end...crush it right inside of the bell...Repeat on the other side..
By the way Machzel
A proper crimp will last a lonnnnnng time...longer than your car will
there is nothing wrong with tape!!! dont use cheap tape and wrap it tightly and you wont have any problems! Make sure you twist the wires together really good and tight and tape it tight with good tape and you wont have problems! Crimping is better but there is nothing wrong with tape....most alarms are done with tape...to solder a whole alarm is time consuming and not easy on some cars (depending on wire location) And those t connectors do suck! also if you crimp the caps wrong the will fall and break off.....
Rosario wrote:By the way Machzel
A proper crimp will last a lonnnnnng time...longer than your car will
well ive crimped connectors and ive seen wiring done by many professionals, and eventually the conenctors fall off or break or snap or.......
so i go based on personal experience. as such im with the guy above. i'll stick to tape.
My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again
Machzel08 (Teh Jew) wrote:Rosario wrote:By the way Machzel
A proper crimp will last a lonnnnnng time...longer than your car will
well ive crimped connectors and ive seen wiring done by many professionals, and eventually the conenctors fall off or break or snap or.......
so i go based on personal experience. as such im with the guy above. i'll stick to tape.
Ehh whatever, think what you want, but Iv prolly done more crimps in a day then youv seen the last 18 years of your life...And no im not joking.
If you really think that twisting the wire and electrical tape is the best method...somethings wrong...
Theres nothing wrong with the strip and tape method it will work but wont last as long as other means of connecting wires. For me whenever I get a chance to espically on my car I solder everything. As of late Ive been doing it with crimp and butt connectors since my weller p2c broke on me. But to me soldering is the best way to do it and last the longest out of the three imo, its also really easy to do once you get the hang of it. You can pick up a set of crimpers at your local car store(pepboys autozone etc)
Rosario wrote:Machzel08 (Teh Jew) wrote:Rosario wrote:By the way Machzel
A proper crimp will last a lonnnnnng time...longer than your car will
well ive crimped connectors and ive seen wiring done by many professionals, and eventually the conenctors fall off or break or snap or.......
so i go based on personal experience. as such im with the guy above. i'll stick to tape.
Ehh whatever, think what you want, but Iv prolly done more crimps in a day then youv seen the last 18 years of your life...And no im not joking.
If you really think that twisting the wire and electrical tape is the best method...somethings wrong...
19*
and i dont think its the best method, far from it. i solder any time i can, but twist and wrap works jsut fine if you take the time to do it right. sure it won't last 40 thousand years but i dont need any of these connections to. I don't like crimping because it costs money, and tools that dont always fit into tight spaces. but anyways, i'll stick to twist and wrap or solder and wrap and you can do your crimps. as long as the voltage makes it through we're both happy.
My car may run 18s, but I can do your taxes in 10 seconds flat.
JBO lube - they would never have enough in stock and we'd never see RodimusPrime again
Wonder why in Installation Manuals it states DO NOT USE CRIMP CONNECTORS!
Twist and Tape might not be better than solder, BUT I would use it before using Crimp connectors. What do I know?
And IF you DO NOT use heat shrink tubing over the crimp connectors then you have your copper wires exposed to corrosion.
Rosario wrote:crimping is 100x better than twisting and taping...
If your worried about them coming off...Crimp and Heat Shrink or Tape
So using your comparison:
If you pull on the two wires connected with the crimped on connectors and wires that are twisted and taped.
By your comment above if it takes 1lb of force to pull apart the taped wires it will take 100lbs of force to pull apart the the crimped connection?
Also if a taped connection lasts for 1 year the crimped connection will last for 100years?
I'm guessing you haven't researched it that much and you are suggesting the way "YOU DO IT" not always meaning it is the best.
Cant we all just get along? lol
I know where both arguments are coming from. I used to build robots for robotics comeptitions and never used crimpers because we had very little room to work with. The robots never had a problem of getting loose connection or anything and those suckers were fast and had a relatively large amount of stress apllied to them (robot deatch matches =P)
I have no idea what the conditions behind a car stereo are (heat, wire tension,etc.) , but i presumed it wasnt enough that a good old twist and tape couldnt handle (done properly that is). I dont take my car offroad or anything and the roads around here arent very bumpy, so i doubt it would jar the connections out until years from now, and i dont think my car can last that long anyway (150k and counting)
Debates was the best way to show both sides of an arguemt.
You're right, you actually should NOT have ANY tension on your wires behind the car stereo.
Also, there isn't EXACLTY ALOT of room behind the stereo for a WAD of connectors to fit easily.
my current stereo's wires are twisted and taped. normally i would use crimp connections but i thought i would only have this head unit temporarily. I ended up just keeping the head unit and it's been fine for over 2 years now. Although i'll probably never tape any connections ever again, I don't think it's a horrible method of doing things. It's just quicker and easier.
I've soldered, crimped, and used wire nuts with dogeared pieces of safety tape with no failures. I've never just twisted the wires and used tape though. If you're going to just twist and tape at least use good tape like scotch super 33+ instead of the cheap stuff. If you decide to crimp don't get those sorry stripper/crimper combos either. I use gardner bender
8" crimping pliers. Kleins are probably a little better, but the GBs do a good job.
I twist and tape.
Why?
Because I pull my stereo equipment out monthly to change things. I cant bother with heat shrinking and soldering.
James (ROLN19S) (JuicyJ) wrote:Rosario wrote:crimping is 100x better than twisting and taping...
If your worried about them coming off...Crimp and Heat Shrink or Tape
So using your comparison:
If you pull on the two wires connected with the crimped on connectors and wires that are twisted and taped.
By your comment above if it takes 1lb of force to pull apart the taped wires it will take 100lbs of force to pull apart the the crimped connection?
Also if a taped connection lasts for 1 year the crimped connection will last for 100years?
I'm guessing you haven't researched it that much and you are suggesting the way "YOU DO IT" not always meaning it is the best.
Wowww good argument..
Guess what..ITS NOT THE WAY I DO IT, I use Solder. I just happen to know its alot better than twisting wires and taping it together. I can tell you this much though, yes its very easy to pull wires apart when they are taped and twisted, however, on a proper crimp, the wire will break before the crimp pulls apart..
And what research do I need? Iv been doing it for three years at work...Theres a reason people don't twist and tape wires together...its weak..
And as for your Wad Of connectors comment...Well theres alot more room and its alot cleaner using some small connectors then it is to have a ball of @!#$ tape on each wire.
I do this every @!#$ day, even when i was layed off, i had jobs as an electrician once building cranes and the other time on Metro Cars..I know a little bit about the subject..
Machzel08 (Teh Jew) wrote:Rosario wrote:Machzel08 (Teh Jew) wrote:Rosario wrote:By the way Machzel
A proper crimp will last a lonnnnnng time...longer than your car will
well ive crimped connectors and ive seen wiring done by many professionals, and eventually the conenctors fall off or break or snap or.......
so i go based on personal experience. as such im with the guy above. i'll stick to tape.
Ehh whatever, think what you want, but Iv prolly done more crimps in a day then youv seen the last 18 years of your life...And no im not joking.
If you really think that twisting the wire and electrical tape is the best method...somethings wrong...
19*
and i dont think its the best method, far from it. i solder any time i can, but twist and wrap works jsut fine if you take the time to do it right. sure it won't last 40 thousand years but i dont need any of these connections to. I don't like crimping because it costs money, and tools that dont always fit into tight spaces. but anyways, i'll stick to twist and wrap or solder and wrap and you can do your crimps. as long as the voltage makes it through we're both happy.
Just noticed what you said. I think personally Solder is the way to go...Im just talking about crimping over tape and wrap...lol sorry for the confusion...
Good thing I don't install for a living.
