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Why electrical things go wrong
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34HF90



Joined: 07 Feb 2011
Posts: 62

PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a very infrequent poster here, but also a Series Land Rover owner, I can empathize with the conversation regarding Lucas. However.
The one thing that REALLY gets to me, above all other things wiring -wise- even surpassing the floppy, non-crimped ASDA DIY crimp connectors ...is...The SCOTCH_LOK.

Whoever invented these things ought to to be taken around outside and.... No. even that's too good for them. Evil or Very Mad

The times I've chased faults on cars over the years and it's all come down to one of those damn things. Tying wires together and shouting at it would probably make a better connection.

I'll give them 'insulation displacing', my a***!

I just look at these things and think..'Why???' Confused

Perhaps it's just as well that these days car electrics are just too frightening to mess with...but there's always one. Rolling Eyes
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Greg



Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 445
Location: Dreamland Margate

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 1:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Totally agree there's no place for them especially in a vehicle!.... I find it quite rewarding removing them and making a proper connection!
These have got to be the crudest, most unreliable commercially available excuse for an "electrical connection" designed!
Smile Smile
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victor 101



Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 446
Location: East Yorkshire

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Totally agree, scotchloks are a definite no no, would never use them, and remove any I come across
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Peter_L



Joined: 10 Apr 2008
Posts: 2680
Location: New Brunswick. Canada.

PostPosted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am a big believer in solder and shrink tubing. Don't remember ever having to go back to one.

I also solder mains connections. North America has a love of the "screw-it" connectors. Never liked them never will.
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34HF90



Joined: 07 Feb 2011
Posts: 62

PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I am a big believer in solder and shrink tubing. Don't remember ever having to go back to one.

I also solder mains connections.


It's the best way, isn't it? As you say, you will never have to go back to them. One thing that puzzles me is that insulating piercing (IDC) connections seem to be everywhere now, even- I discovered- in aircraft. Things like Airbusses are being steered automatically with wires terminated with spikey things pushed through the plastic insulation. Scarey! Shocked
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62rebel



Joined: 03 Dec 2007
Posts: 343
Location: Charleston, South Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

my apprenticeship and early ownership of an MG coincided, and my mentor introduced me to a tube of dielectric grease and Lucar connectors... take every blessed one apart, squirt in a bit of grease, jam them back together while giving it a good twist.... for one thing, it made you aware of ALL the connections, for another, it broke corroded joints and gave them a clean and a wipe of grease. now; with several MG's and Triumphs under my belt, it was not a British car that gave me electrical fits.... it was a FIAT. followed later on by a VW Rabbit (Golf) that had phantoms lurking in it.

Amurricans are not inveterate tinkers.... we like to get in, start up, and drive off, giving the car itself little to no attention.... if we had the habit of weekly once-overs, we'd have more ownership of British cars here.
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ukdave2002



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 4100
Location: South Cheshire

PostPosted: Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Morris Martin wrote:
Quote:
I am a big believer in solder and shrink tubing. Don't remember ever having to go back to one.

I also solder mains connections.


It's the best way, isn't it? As you say, you will never have to go back to them. One thing that puzzles me is that insulating piercing (IDC) connections seem to be everywhere now, even- I discovered- in aircraft. Things like Airbusses are being steered automatically with wires terminated with spikey things pushed through the plastic insulation. Scarey! Shocked


As well as planes, every phone call you make will rely on dozens if not hundereds of IDC connections, and they are considered as, if not more reliable than soldered joints! Shocked why?; because the correct IDC connector is used with the correct sized cable, the trouble with the scotch type connectors is that they try and be a "jack of many sizes" also on vehicles they are exposed, so eventually will corrode.

62rebel wrote:
my apprenticeship and early ownership of an MG coincided, and my mentor introduced me to a tube of dielectric grease and Lucar connectors... take every blessed one apart, squirt in a bit of grease, jam them back together while giving it a good twist.... for one thing, it made you aware of ALL the connections, for another, it broke corroded joints and gave them a clean and a wipe of grease. now; with several MG's and Triumphs under my belt, it was not a British car that gave me electrical fits.... it was a FIAT. followed later on by a VW Rabbit (Golf) that had phantoms lurking in it.

Amurricans are not inveterate tinkers.... we like to get in, start up, and drive off, giving the car itself little to no attention.... if we had the habit of weekly once-overs, we'd have more ownership of British cars here.


Hi 62Rebel totally agree, I use a grease called Contralube 770 on every electrical conection, saves a lot of future grief Very Happy

Dave
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34HF90



Joined: 07 Feb 2011
Posts: 62

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 9:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
As well as planes, every phone call you make will rely on dozens if not hundereds of IDC connections, and they are considered as, if not more reliable than soldered joints! Shocked why?; because the correct IDC connector is used with the correct sized cable, the trouble with the scotch type connectors is that they try and be a "jack of many sizes" also on vehicles they are exposed, so eventually will corrode.


I guess you are right, but even so I still believe that a properly soldered joint is the best, and can well last 80 years (as born out by the old radios that I restore).
The trouble is now, it's all about speed, quantity and production- as well as soldering joints in difficult and confined spaces- takes a level of skill. Why would anyone be bothered to train anyone to that level when you can just shove the wires in and squeeze the handles, and at that point the joint is as good as a soldered one? Also, equipment is so frequently changed and altered nowadays that there is no need for super-longevity. If the connections start playing up after 10 years, who cares? The equipment (or car) is probably redundent by then...

I'll stick with my iron though Wink
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pigtin



Joined: 23 Nov 2007
Posts: 1879
Location: Herne Bay

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 11:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's trying to force red amps down black wires that causes the smoke to escape. Wink
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Jim.Walker



Joined: 27 Dec 2008
Posts: 1229
Location: Chesterfield

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice one Pigtin, but get up to date!
All DC amps are black! The original belief that Amps are red has been disproved! Very Happy
Jim.
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