Should I solder these connections?

[nastyjones]

These are my new connectors for the pos. & neg. on my Bandit coils for my 80 gs100 conversion. i haven't used these kind of connectors before. Should I be soldering them? They don't look like crimp connectors to me.

[Nessism]

How would you solder such things? They look like crimp-ons, although I'm not sure if regular terminal crimp pliers would provide a secure attachment - be sure to do a pull test.

[bonanzadave]

Those look like the cheap, auto store, crimp on connectors that people use on trailer lights.....that never work. Look for nylon or PDGI connectors from AMP and use the proper crimp tool. Do it right so you dont have to try to re-do it on the side of the road.

[Macguyver]

Connector identification

Those are called flag terminals, and yes they are crimp connectors.
Just insert your wire in the end and grip the middle of the barrel and crimp them with a pair of vice-grips tensioned to crush the barrel on full lock, this will not perforate the casing if done properly, unlike the "real" crimp tool meant for these which, in my experience, 100% of the time cuts a line through the casing.

Those little guys should be dielectric greased before crimping too.

If you really need to solder them, push a drill bit through the barrel and remove the meterial on the other end of the casing so it is a pass-through, and stick the very tip of the soldering iron through the new hole and feed the solder in from the wire end to quickly tin the inside of the barrel. Tin the wires before inserting them, and once again insert the tip of the soldering iron in the new hole to solder the connections together.

Fill the new hole with some silicone sealant after soldering.

It is very easy to destroy the plastic sheathing due to excessive heat, so it is not recommended to solder this type of connector.

These connectors work just fine if you dielectric grease the connector before crimping to keep the elements out. Dielectric grease is heavily under-rated and under-used. Just because auto manufacturers don't use it like they should doesn't mean it shouldn't be used on every single electrical connection made.

One of my teachers had a saying, "Blessed be God, the three Jaw Chuck, and Dielectric Grease!"

[nastyjones]

Ok, I crimped them with vise grips & that seems to have worked.