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Originally posted by bwringer
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You can get the connectors and heat shrink tubing almost anywhere -- any hardware or home store. You do want to make sure you get a good, known brand, and not a cheap kit full of no-name junk.
You either need to use a good ratcheting crimper or remove the plastic from the connectors and solder them to the wires. Harbor Freight has a pretty good ratcheting crimper for less than $10.
However, get the connectors elsewhere -- HF sells very questionable no-name connectors. The connectors I most commonly are marked "K S".
I have a more expensive Paladin crimper I got from an electronics supply store (not Radio Shack -- all they sell is phones nowadays) and the HF crimper, as far as I can tell, looks identical and makes identical crimps.
Do NOT attempt to crimp anything you care about with crappy sheet metal crimpers like these: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-...ool-92410.html
If you have a pair of these, toss them in the trash. They have no safe use whatsoever.
There are some pliers-style crimpers that can make safe crimps, but until you develop the skill to use them with extreme consistency, most of your crimps will be defective. A ratchet crimper makes the exact same reliable crimp every time.
If you don't have $10 or time to get a good crimper and you have to solder, make sure you use the smallest possible amount of solder and good technique. The reason for this is that solder can easily wick its way up the wire before it solidifies. This makes the wire very brittle, and it can eventually break in a high-vibration environment like a motorcycle.
You either need to use a good ratcheting crimper or remove the plastic from the connectors and solder them to the wires. Harbor Freight has a pretty good ratcheting crimper for less than $10.
However, get the connectors elsewhere -- HF sells very questionable no-name connectors. The connectors I most commonly are marked "K S".
I have a more expensive Paladin crimper I got from an electronics supply store (not Radio Shack -- all they sell is phones nowadays) and the HF crimper, as far as I can tell, looks identical and makes identical crimps.
Do NOT attempt to crimp anything you care about with crappy sheet metal crimpers like these: http://www.harborfreight.com/8-inch-...ool-92410.html
If you have a pair of these, toss them in the trash. They have no safe use whatsoever.
There are some pliers-style crimpers that can make safe crimps, but until you develop the skill to use them with extreme consistency, most of your crimps will be defective. A ratchet crimper makes the exact same reliable crimp every time.
If you don't have $10 or time to get a good crimper and you have to solder, make sure you use the smallest possible amount of solder and good technique. The reason for this is that solder can easily wick its way up the wire before it solidifies. This makes the wire very brittle, and it can eventually break in a high-vibration environment like a motorcycle.
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