Solid or stranded ??

[robert3985]

I stand by my recommendation of genuine 3M IDC's.  I've had them in general use for 20+ years in some applications without any failures.  GENUINE 3M IDC's, not some Hong Kong knock-off.  My N-scale layouts have always been portable and taken several times to shows in a U-haul trailer. 

The new DCC wiring is now five years old and I have (once again ) ZERO failures with any pinch connector, either 3M or Anderson Power Poles.

I can't say the same for several soldered connections (especially those on Tortoises), which fail on a regular basis.

On 3M IDC's the metal "knife" is a corrosion resistant metal.  An assumption that it just naturally has to corrode is based on false information.  Low grade copper will corrode before 3M IDC knives.

Yup, having the proper tools to crimp is a good idea.  Anderson Power Poles simply cannot be crimped without a special crimping tool.  A cheap one that functions well is available from Harbor Freight Tools.

As to "computers" being stationary.  Let's see...hmmm...iPhones, iPads, Laptops, Tablets all get carried around.  My son even packs up his gaming desktop PC and takes it with him to LAN parties or to game with his friends.  So, the "stationary" logic doesn't hold water nowadays.

Do what ya gotta do, but I have had many more problems with soldered joints than with crimped joints.

Just sayin'....

[SkipGear]

As to "computers" being stationary.  Let's see...hmmm...iPhones, iPads, Laptops, Tablets all get carried around.  My son even packs up his gaming desktop PC and takes it with him to LAN parties or to game with his friends.  So, the "stationary" logic doesn't hold water nowadays.


Just sayin'....

When was the last time you were inside a modern portable device? I dare you to find wires with crimp connections doing anything more than running a fan or the vibrator motor in a phone. Even those are predominantly SMD now. At best you might find a flat flexible PC board style cable interconnecting two sub boards. I am working on my 10 year old laptop right now and the only wires in it run to the fans, the speakers and power to the high voltage driver for the screen backlighting. They are the only things in the PC that run at more than logic level power. Everything plugs into the main board via a soldered header card or is part of the main board to begin with.

[Chris333]

iPhones have a bunch of micro ribbons that plug into thin sockets, then a latch snaps down over it to hold in place.

[peteski]

iPhones have a bunch of micro ribbons that plug into thin sockets, then a latch snaps down over it to hold in place.

I have a feeling that Tony's rebuttal will be that those are gold plated contacts which won't oxidize. 

[SkipGear]

I have a feeling that Tony's rebuttal will be that those are gold plated contacts which won't oxidize. 

That...and they aren't really wires but a etched copper traces on a piece of mylar. No crimping going on there. As Chris mentioned, they have a clamping mechanism built into the socket to maintain contact pressure. Beyond that, they are so light, they don't have enough inertia to wiggle with the movement of the phone.

[robert3985]

When was the last time you were inside a modern portable device? I dare you to find wires with crimp connections doing anything more than running a fan or the vibrator motor in a phone. Even those are predominantly SMD now. At best you might find a flat flexible PC board style cable interconnecting two sub boards. I am working on my 10 year old laptop right now and the only wires in it run to the fans, the speakers and power to the high voltage driver for the screen backlighting. They are the only things in the PC that run at more than logic level power. Everything plugs into the main board via a soldered header card or is part of the main board to begin with.

Last month I replaced the screen on my 17" Gateway laptop, along with the inverter.  This month, I replaced the battery in my old Zire71 Palm device 'cause I use a ballistics program that's in it for my long range precision shooting.  Last week, I dropped my motorola GzOne dumb (but rugged) phone and it wasn't so rugged after all.  Had to take it apart to align everything back together.  It still works, but I think it's lost its water resistance.

That enough?  Lots of tiny connectors, cables and crimps.  I've never dropped a module from 6' onto a concrete floor like I did my phone, but there are plenty of G's generated by that little accident.

But, I've transported my modules up to 800 miles in a trailer (one way) and they still work, even if the DCC wiring is all connected by pinch connections.  No dreaded corrosion, no coming loose, no shorting.  PURR-FECT...

So although the reasoning sounds good, my reality is that my 3M IDC's and Power Poles have never failed me.  Can't say that about soldered joints...and I know how to solder.

You got your opinion, I've got mine (which is based on practical experience with portable modules being transported thousands of miles).

Along the same vein, I'd like hear if anybody has had major problems with correctly sized genuine 3M IDC's????  Just so I will have some advance warning when my DCC wiring starts to fall apart, corrode and self-destruct.   

[DKS]

When was the last time you were inside a modern portable device? I dare you to find wires with crimp connections doing anything more than running a fan or the vibrator motor in a phone. Even those are predominantly SMD now. At best you might find a flat flexible PC board style cable interconnecting two sub boards. I am working on my 10 year old laptop right now and the only wires in it run to the fans, the speakers and power to the high voltage driver for the screen backlighting. They are the only things in the PC that run at more than logic level power. Everything plugs into the main board via a soldered header card or is part of the main board to begin with.

As strange as it sounds, I am in agreement with Robert on this one. Been inside lots o' portable devices, including laptops and especially cameras. More particularly, I also used to service cameras and portable VCRs back in the days of U-Matic cassettes (remember those?)--there were almost as many wires as components, and often the components were DIPs plugged into sockets. The biggest problems I'd found were the IC sockets, followed by--wait for it--soldered connections. But I've never seen a crimp connection fail. As for today's devices having far fewer wires, my suspicion is that it's done for the sake of economy, versus reliability. Wires and connectors are more expensive than LSICs, hybrid boards and photo-etched ribbon cables.

I'd like hear if anybody has had major problems with correctly sized genuine 3M IDC's?

I used some incorrectly-sized, non-genuine suitcase-style connectors on a string of low-voltage ground lights along the driveway a few years ago. Buried in the dirt with no protection, they're subjected to extremes of temperature, humidity and contaminants. No failures yet.

[rsn48]

I use the blue suit case connectors (not my favourite) 18 to 14, in which I place two 22's in the 18 slot and 14 into the 14 slot, they have been working for years.  My philosophy was to get everything up and working, if I did have a suit case failure due to incorrect use, it would be one or two a year (none so far after ten years) which would be much easier to cope with than soldering 100 - 200 connections.