Butt Connector vs Solder

[zeehag]

listen to maine sail. he is smart

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by sdowney717

I suppose all those soldered circuit boards should have all the components crimped on or the high resistance solder will prevent them from working.

That sums it up quite thoroughly. Clearly, you are not an internet expert!

[Lake-Effect]

Re spliced stranded wire...I've seen some fail, and heat up enough to shed their solder . So I won't use soldered splices except for splicing of small signal-carrying wires (sensors etc)

Re euro style terminal blocks - in the better ones, the wire is compressed by a tinned tab, which the screw presses down on. The screw does not bear directly on the wire, so there's no twisting/grinding force applied to the wire. I also believe that the terminal bodies are decent: nickel-plated brass or copper, or similar, not chromed steel. So I'm pretty confident using them in our boat. I also note that Furuno uses such blocks on alot of their units.

Originally Posted by sdowney717

I suppose all those soldered circuit boards should have all the components crimped on or the high resistance solder will prevent them from working.

In a well-designed electronic device, the solder traces and pads are designed to provide a reliable soldered connection for the expected currents. Most electrical codes (UL, NEC, ISO etc) require that AC power-carrying conductors in equipment are mechanically secured before soldering (eg wrapped around terminals). Also, most manufacturers ensure that high-current DC paths are similarly robust before soldering.

Finally, yes I've seen some spectacular failures on PC boards where a solder joint fails, the solder melts, and the heat burns a nice little crater on the PC board. But the failure is contained by the unit's chassis (hopefully) and the device's internal or external over-current protection protects the power wiring.

Do not put soldered splices into your boat power wiring. Just don't.