Minor Update
05-03-2003, 05:28 PM
#1
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: IL
Posts: 2,930
last weekend pics
I'm in the process of wiring the haltech, had to make a phenolic spacer for the UIM, bought a drill press to make that a bit easier to do (you can see it's unfinished in the pics, probably going to buy a band saw to make cutting the periphery easier, but it will work as it sits)
also some pics of the 350 and the fiero with the cover pulled pretty far down not much to see. While at DRE bought some redline oils and I now have a bag of leftover hose ends resulting from poor planning and my tendency to constantly change my mnid
enjoy the pics, if any of you have a bosch 3 wire TPS you can sell me, PM me, looks like thats what the TWM tbody uses.
I'm in the process of wiring the haltech, had to make a phenolic spacer for the UIM, bought a drill press to make that a bit easier to do (you can see it's unfinished in the pics, probably going to buy a band saw to make cutting the periphery easier, but it will work as it sits)
also some pics of the 350 and the fiero with the cover pulled pretty far down not much to see. While at DRE bought some redline oils and I now have a bag of leftover hose ends resulting from poor planning and my tendency to constantly change my mnid
enjoy the pics, if any of you have a bosch 3 wire TPS you can sell me, PM me, looks like thats what the TWM tbody uses.
05-03-2003, 06:39 PM
#3
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Originally Posted by 1Revvin7' date='May 3 2003, 11:19 PM
how much for you haltech tps? Looks sweet!
05-05-2003, 01:07 PM
#4
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Another update for those of you bored and/or interested:
yesterdays progress
Started crimping the new haltech connectors, found an old tool I used when RC cars were my addiction to crimp battery connectors, works well for these little bastards. I'm also soldering all the connections. The big mess on the drivers side is the F harness, I'm disassembling it and removing all unused wiring (AC, PS, AAS, A/T junk (yeah, they have automatic trans stuff even in my manual harness!), and some engine related things like ignition, initial set, diagnostic etc... haltech is replacing all that). One thing I learned when I started taking apart this harness is that my harness has been saturated with brake fluid from my master cylinder which decided to **** all winter while the car sat. So after further inspection the paint damage was found and you see it in the last pic, what a bummer. I might pull the engine out again and strip+paint the firewally, but I'm thinking about holding off til next winter before I do that. I want to drive the car this summer
yesterdays progress
Started crimping the new haltech connectors, found an old tool I used when RC cars were my addiction to crimp battery connectors, works well for these little bastards. I'm also soldering all the connections. The big mess on the drivers side is the F harness, I'm disassembling it and removing all unused wiring (AC, PS, AAS, A/T junk (yeah, they have automatic trans stuff even in my manual harness!), and some engine related things like ignition, initial set, diagnostic etc... haltech is replacing all that). One thing I learned when I started taking apart this harness is that my harness has been saturated with brake fluid from my master cylinder which decided to **** all winter while the car sat. So after further inspection the paint damage was found and you see it in the last pic, what a bummer. I might pull the engine out again and strip+paint the firewally, but I'm thinking about holding off til next winter before I do that. I want to drive the car this summer
05-05-2003, 01:34 PM
#7
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: My BIG ol TURBO-DIESEL
Posts: 5,181
From: http://www.marvin3m.com/connect/index.htm
5. Should Connector Terminal Pins be Soldered?
Some field repair people feel that after a 'good crimp' is performed on a new connector, the terminal pin should be soldered to the attaching wire. Maybe they are used to dealing with 'bad crimps' or feel they need the additional piece of mind. But is this the right thing to do?
The most common aspect of connector replacement in pinball is the GI (General Illumination) connectors. These fail the most, and require replacement most often. The generally accepted crimp-on .156" terminal pin to use for GI circuits is the trifurcon style terminal pin (i.e. Molex part# 08-52-0113, Digikey part# WM2313-ND). This terminal pin grabs the circuit board's header pin on three sides instead of just one. Though the current handling capability is not increased, the vibration resistance and durability of the pin goes up dramatically.
If a trifurcon pin is properly crimped, there is NO need to solder the connecting wire to the terminal pin. The only positive aspect of soldering a properely crimped terminal pin is the "wire pull out force" goes up. Current ratings do not go up with a soldered pin compared to a properely crimped-only pin (that information is directly from a Molex technical advisor who I talked with on the phone).
Now if there is a bad or improper crimp on a terminal pin, solder can increase the performance of a crimp. For example, a gas tight crimp is critical to long term performance. If there are voids between the wire strands or between the strands and the terminal because of a bad crimp, oxides can form (oxides are of higher resistance than the clean metals). Granted, in most applications the performance increase is negligible versus an unsoldered crimp, even a bad crimp. And the potential of doing "more harm than good" is very high when soldering a terminal pin (unless the user follows the terminal soldering method outlined below).
The risk of problems when soldering a terminal pin far out-weigh the benefit in most cases. For example, Adding solder to a terminal pin can get solder on the "locking tangs", making it unflexible. This in turn can ruin the connector housing, and make the pin nearly impossible to remove.
Soldering a terminal pin can also cause the terminal pin/wire insulation joint to fail. Or in the worse case, it can melt the insulation back beyond the pin, possibly causing a short. Also, in extreme situations, Iain documents the melted plastic insulator can wick down into the wiring, and cause the wire to become a sort-of capacitor. This can cause some difficult diagnostic problems!
Another problem with soldering terminal pins (as documented by Bobukcat) is having flux wick down and end up being left on the connector surface. This can interfere with connectivity to the header pin.
Lastly, though unlikely unless extreme heat is used, the plating on the terminal pins can be damaged by soldering.
Properely Soldering a Terminal Pin (if you must!)
With the potential problems of soldering a terminal pin known, some users may still want that additional "insurance". Or if a good crimp can not be performed (wrong tool or wire gauge?), soldering may be necessary to overcome the bad crimp. Molex reconizes that some user may not following their crimping directions, and may solder a terminal pin anyway. If this is the case, here is the ONLY terminal pin soldering technique Molex (relucantly) recommends. This information came from John Luthy, Molex's connector product division manager:
Before crimping the terminal pin, tin the end of the bare wire with some solder (best method is to dip the wire end into a hot solder pot).
Crimp the terminal properely (see the notes above!) using a good quality hand crimper (Molex WHT-1921 part# 11-01-0015, Molex part# 63811-1000, or Amp 725).
After the wire is properely crimped, using a temperature controlled soldering station (750 degree maximum), heat the terminal pin momentarily, right where the tinned wire is crimped in the terminal pin. The tinned wire's solder should heat and reflow, spreading to the terminal pin. Do NOT add any additional solder!
Talking to Molex representatives, they really discourage any terminal pin soldering (a good crimp does not require soldering!) But if it is done, the above steps are the technique to use.
5. Should Connector Terminal Pins be Soldered?
Some field repair people feel that after a 'good crimp' is performed on a new connector, the terminal pin should be soldered to the attaching wire. Maybe they are used to dealing with 'bad crimps' or feel they need the additional piece of mind. But is this the right thing to do?
The most common aspect of connector replacement in pinball is the GI (General Illumination) connectors. These fail the most, and require replacement most often. The generally accepted crimp-on .156" terminal pin to use for GI circuits is the trifurcon style terminal pin (i.e. Molex part# 08-52-0113, Digikey part# WM2313-ND). This terminal pin grabs the circuit board's header pin on three sides instead of just one. Though the current handling capability is not increased, the vibration resistance and durability of the pin goes up dramatically.
If a trifurcon pin is properly crimped, there is NO need to solder the connecting wire to the terminal pin. The only positive aspect of soldering a properely crimped terminal pin is the "wire pull out force" goes up. Current ratings do not go up with a soldered pin compared to a properely crimped-only pin (that information is directly from a Molex technical advisor who I talked with on the phone).
Now if there is a bad or improper crimp on a terminal pin, solder can increase the performance of a crimp. For example, a gas tight crimp is critical to long term performance. If there are voids between the wire strands or between the strands and the terminal because of a bad crimp, oxides can form (oxides are of higher resistance than the clean metals). Granted, in most applications the performance increase is negligible versus an unsoldered crimp, even a bad crimp. And the potential of doing "more harm than good" is very high when soldering a terminal pin (unless the user follows the terminal soldering method outlined below).
The risk of problems when soldering a terminal pin far out-weigh the benefit in most cases. For example, Adding solder to a terminal pin can get solder on the "locking tangs", making it unflexible. This in turn can ruin the connector housing, and make the pin nearly impossible to remove.
Soldering a terminal pin can also cause the terminal pin/wire insulation joint to fail. Or in the worse case, it can melt the insulation back beyond the pin, possibly causing a short. Also, in extreme situations, Iain documents the melted plastic insulator can wick down into the wiring, and cause the wire to become a sort-of capacitor. This can cause some difficult diagnostic problems!
Another problem with soldering terminal pins (as documented by Bobukcat) is having flux wick down and end up being left on the connector surface. This can interfere with connectivity to the header pin.
Lastly, though unlikely unless extreme heat is used, the plating on the terminal pins can be damaged by soldering.
Properely Soldering a Terminal Pin (if you must!)
With the potential problems of soldering a terminal pin known, some users may still want that additional "insurance". Or if a good crimp can not be performed (wrong tool or wire gauge?), soldering may be necessary to overcome the bad crimp. Molex reconizes that some user may not following their crimping directions, and may solder a terminal pin anyway. If this is the case, here is the ONLY terminal pin soldering technique Molex (relucantly) recommends. This information came from John Luthy, Molex's connector product division manager:
Before crimping the terminal pin, tin the end of the bare wire with some solder (best method is to dip the wire end into a hot solder pot).
Crimp the terminal properely (see the notes above!) using a good quality hand crimper (Molex WHT-1921 part# 11-01-0015, Molex part# 63811-1000, or Amp 725).
After the wire is properely crimped, using a temperature controlled soldering station (750 degree maximum), heat the terminal pin momentarily, right where the tinned wire is crimped in the terminal pin. The tinned wire's solder should heat and reflow, spreading to the terminal pin. Do NOT add any additional solder!
Talking to Molex representatives, they really discourage any terminal pin soldering (a good crimp does not require soldering!) But if it is done, the above steps are the technique to use.
05-05-2003, 03:27 PM
#9
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Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: IL
Posts: 2,930
I havent had any issues with the risks mentioned with soldering the terminals, i'm using a small iron and theres no problem with **** running all over, I'm pretty good at soldering having alot of practice thanks to RC and computing...
The housing is nowhere near the pin when it's soldered, the only thing even at remote risk of melting is the wire insulation, and/or the sealing grommet that is on the wire, but I can have this grommet further down the wire while I solder it if it becomes an issue.
In this case, I really want the soldering, I don't have the exact GM Weatherpack connector installation tool which crimps these things perfectly, but the tool I do have does a OK job (better than taking some generic crimper or worse, pliers to it), but it really needs the solder to make a solid connection that can take some pulling without coming apart.
I havent come close to the detent tab with the solder, I try to have the terminal oriented vertically with the wire at the bottom so any solder that will run, will run down the wire inside the insulation rather than all over the terminal.
Another thing worth noting, while I have been taking apart my old harness, I've found a number of junctions that are crimped only (looks to be just a band of copper or some relatively soft material) for distributing switched +12V or grounds, and they are very loose, one fell apart in my hands. So, I have come to the conclusion that I will be soldering all these junctions because the crimps have failed, no wonder people have electrical/grounding issues in these cars. The harness build quality is not that great.
The housing is nowhere near the pin when it's soldered, the only thing even at remote risk of melting is the wire insulation, and/or the sealing grommet that is on the wire, but I can have this grommet further down the wire while I solder it if it becomes an issue.
In this case, I really want the soldering, I don't have the exact GM Weatherpack connector installation tool which crimps these things perfectly, but the tool I do have does a OK job (better than taking some generic crimper or worse, pliers to it), but it really needs the solder to make a solid connection that can take some pulling without coming apart.
I havent come close to the detent tab with the solder, I try to have the terminal oriented vertically with the wire at the bottom so any solder that will run, will run down the wire inside the insulation rather than all over the terminal.
Another thing worth noting, while I have been taking apart my old harness, I've found a number of junctions that are crimped only (looks to be just a band of copper or some relatively soft material) for distributing switched +12V or grounds, and they are very loose, one fell apart in my hands. So, I have come to the conclusion that I will be soldering all these junctions because the crimps have failed, no wonder people have electrical/grounding issues in these cars. The harness build quality is not that great.
05-05-2003, 04:25 PM
#10
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Peoria, AZ
Posts: 10,906
Good pixs. Brake fluid ruined my paint there too, before the new paint job. I have a big box stuffed full of old wiring too. Well looks like I will not solder those crimp connectors, I had been contimplating that when I did them and had chose not too.