Hard soldering

[cycletech565]

All the bullet connectors on my bike have seen there better days so i was thinking of just hard soldering all the connections would there be anything wrong with this idea other than making it a pain to remove once soldered?

[BassCliff]

To crimp or not to crimp?

Hi Mr. cycletech565,

There's nothing electrically wrong with soldering the connectors to the wires. I would also think about crimping new connectors to the wires. Like you say, it would be less of a pain to replace the connectors if they are not soldered on, but the solder does make a better connection. I wouldn't solder the connectors themselves together. That would make replacing the subassembly much less convenient. Forgive me if I state the obvious.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

[walt]

If it were me, first I would clean both female and male ends with a wire brush and fine sand paper inside the female end. Hint, roll a small piece of sandpaper around a spray can tube. Then lightly squeeze the female end to get a tighter fit. Or buy all new bullet connects. I would never solder wiring on boats,cars or bikes. It only makes future work a PITA. Oh and don't forget to clean all the multi-pin connects, they will also need a cleaning too. By now the bulb sockets are in need of a clean-up as well. The one thing you may need to make new are the red and black battery wires. Corrosion will build up under the insulation. Making a jumper wire that goes between the Neg. battery post and to the eye on the ground wire from the R/R is a very important. That will help save the R/R.

[highmileage]

First of all, I always solder the wires from the stator to the reg/rec and all the other wires from the reg/rec.

Secondly, I moved my reg/rec by lengthening the wires so that I can mount it next to the horn on the front of the frame, where it is cooled by the wind and where that ground wire is bolted directly the frame.

[bakalorz]

All the bullet connectors on my bike have seen there better days so i was thinking of just hard soldering all the connections would there be anything wrong with this idea other than making it a pain to remove once soldered?

That seems to be a common fix, and is electrically ok, though it makes future work (and troubleshooting if you want to disconnect wires to do it)
much harder. Solder is also sometimes a bad thing in high vibration environments, the soldered wire is stiff, right till you get to the end of the solder, which is where it forms a stress concentration. The wire will tend to flex there and break.

I don't think you have to go that far. I suggest replacing the bullet type connectors with insulated spade (also called blade) type crimp on connectors.

Blade connectors are MUCH more reliable than the bullets.

Putting a dab of dielectric grease on all the connectors when you remate them is not a bad idea either.

Thats what I did to my bike.

[cycletech565]

Thanks for all the advice i think ill just put some new connectors on then.