# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > RepRap Format Printer Forum >  Crimping vs Soldering

## MK-X

Which is recommended for extending wires such as motors and what not? Crimping or Soldering?

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## jaguarking11

Motors I would recommend soldering the wires. However for the hot end and I would recommend crimping.

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## ciutateivissa

For all machines with moving parts is criping not an option!

Printers move quite rapidly and have usually thin wires, especially at the extruder where the termistor is connected. If you have a wiring problem there the result would be a mess - hot end overheated, extruder melted and printer close to burning.

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## jaguarking11

You simply cannot solder the hot end wires. Soldering will melt again and disconnect. Crimping and then capton would work. The rest should all be soldered.

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## Roxy

> You simply cannot solder the hot end wires. Soldering will melt again and disconnect. Crimping and then capton would work. The rest should all be soldered.


Usually the case...  But I wanted my resistor in my hot end soldered.   I have my resistor leads come out 3/4" and bend upwards.   That lets things cool off enough the solder will hold and make a good electrical connection.

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## jstck

> For all machines with moving parts is criping not an option!


Why would that be the case? Both crimping and soldering works when done right, and both can fail when done wrong. Solder itself doesn't take to well to moving about (it cracks), but it is usually not a problem if the cables are properly secured.

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## ciutateivissa

> You simply cannot solder the hot end wires. Soldering will melt again and disconnect. Crimping and then capton would work. The rest should all be soldered.


All my hot end wires are soldered, thermistor or heater makes no difference. This parts working for month now and over 500 prints. As Roxy described above, the approx. 4 cm length of the heater cartridge or the thermistor are enough to ensure a propper connection.

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## Davo

> Why would that be the case? Both crimping and soldering works when done right, and both can fail when done wrong. Solder itself doesn't take to well to moving about (it cracks), but it is usually not a problem if the cables are properly secured.


Quoted for Truth.

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## MK-X

> For all machines with moving parts is criping not an option!
> 
> Printers move quite rapidly and have usually thin wires, especially at the extruder where the termistor is connected. If you have a wiring problem there the result would be a mess - hot end overheated, extruder melted and printer close to burning.



If you have a wiring problem either way it would lead to a mess. Also I am using a delta printer, none of the wired motor connections are moving. Still stand by your point?

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## ciutateivissa

> If you have a wiring problem either way it would lead to a mess. Also I am using a delta printer, none of the wired motor connections are moving. Still stand by your point?


After 23 years experience in preparing rallye cars, 15 years experience in electronics and mechatronics - yes I do!

And when we were using crimps (because we needed special connectors) we additionally soldered it, too.

The reason is simple: With crimping litz wires you´ll pressing them together in a certain order. At the first moment everything looks save, can´t move anything. But by the time (e.g. caused by temperature) and also with the movement the litzes beginns to move a bit and rearrange them. This can be the point where they start to get lose.

Unfortunately I had to learn this lesson on a hard way, had such failures in my rally cars which at the end costs me at least one time a win in a national championship. And in my business it costs me money...

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## nka

The most you can, Solder + Heat Shrink. Look clean, solid and it's protected.

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## Mjolinor

Why on earth would you use Litz wire?

I use it a lot but it is far too expensive to use where you don't need it. I can't think of anything on a rally car that would need it nor anything on a 3d printer.

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## nka

What? You're 3D Printer dosent go 200 km/h in a trail ?

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## ciutateivissa

> Why on earth would you use Litz wire?
> 
> I use it a lot but it is far too expensive to use where you don't need it. I can't think of anything on a rally car that would need it nor anything on a 3d printer.


Are you sure that we´re talking about the same thing? Unfortunately my English is not perfect and not sure if I´ve really written what I have in mind...

Hope the picture helps to understand... and please tell me how you would call it!

wires.jpg

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## Mjolinor

> Are you sure that we´re talking about the same thing? Unfortunately my English is not perfect and not sure if I´ve really written what I have in mind...
> 
> Hope the picture helps to understand... and please tell me how you would call it!
> 
> wires.jpg


That is stranded wire not Litz wire. Litz wire is a very specifically wound type of wire with insulated strands that is used in radio frequency builds to reduce losses through skin effect when using AC.

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## ciutateivissa

Thanks for clarification, it is never to late to learn something new ;-)

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## crowbar

http://workmanship.nasa.gov/lib/insp...uirements.html

Here is what NASA has to say about crimping.

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## printbus

My two cents worth - jstck pretty much has the best post - that both approaches can provide good results, or both can provide bad.  Both crimping and soldering are skills, and require the right tools.  

Crimping especially requires the right tool for the contact and the wire being used.  The color coded barrel contacts in the NASA reference are great to work with, but the crimp tools for them are quite expensive and any serious manufacturing house subjects them to a calibration regime that ensures the right amount of pressure is applied to the crimp.  The contacts are color coded so that the technician can ensure he's got the right crimp head for the contact.  Done improperly or with the wrong tool, crimped contacts can be unreliable and easy to pull from the wire, or can damage the wire by cutting into the strands.  

When I splice, I always solder since I don't have an assortment of crimp ferrule sizes or the right crimp tools.  Soldered splices get covered in heatshrink.  

On connector contacts, some I solder and some I crimp.  Contacts intended to be soldered always get soldered.  Crimp contacts will be crimped IF I have the right crimper, which I seldom do.  If I don't have the crimper the contact is carefully soldered, with any tabs meant to grab the insulated part of the wire bent manually with small needlenose.  Part of the skill here is to be careful in how much heat and solder is being applied and in manually bending the wire holding tabs.  It's easy to solder a crimp contact and then find the contact won't fit into the connector since there's too much solder or the tabs weren't bent right.  

An additional comment - solder slowly creeps when it is under pressure. This is why you should NEVER apply solder to a stranded wire that will be crimped or that will be tightened under a screw head (like on a power supply terminal block).  Doing so will guarantee a poor connection eventually.  What I have often done in at least personal work is add solder to the stranded wire, crimp the contact onto it, and then reflow the contact with a dab of additional solder.

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## CaptainObvious

I crimp and solder, but you have to be careful not to use too much solder or it can wick up the wire past the terminal, making it relatively brittle.

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