I've got soldered connections in the bilge and trailer that never fail in a boat I bought new in 1983. Bilge connections are wholly under water at times. Solder is the best airtight water tight connection you can make. If done correctly.
If done right. The right soldering iron with enough heat makes a difference. The solder flows like it is being absorbed. Not just lays in puddles on top.
My bilge pump/switch, my VHF, VHF Antenna, Plotter, FF and AM/FM are all soldered and I have had no connection lapses in decades. SO are a my readily dunked trailer lights solder connected.
If you do solder it correctly it lasts. Yes it does take more time than crushing a crimp. And I do also use shrink tubing to cover it and dress it up. That does nothing for the electrical connections. But looks good. Clear tubing is best as you can see if there is water intrusion of not
Crimp connections are not air or water tight on both ends- look at spade and ring crimps. You get wicking into the conductors themselves under the insulation. Ever notice when you strip the wire back even UNDER the insulation is greened up too?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Walleye Wisherman
+1. Bilge float switches should always be hard wired to the house battery bank. There should be no way of disabling them. Get rid of that 3-way switch (off, auto, on) and re-wire with a 2-way (on & auto).
As for the rest, power off your main power bus. You can either provide discrete fused circuits or go directly off the bus with an inline fuse. All crimp connectors should be waterproof, heat shrink and self-sealing....ancor makes great ones....no soldered connections...solder joints are brittle and boat vibrations will cause them to fail every time.
Ok...I'm done.
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