Soldering wire ends?

zgw8

Do you guys recommend soldering the ends of your power cables, speaker wires, etc? I noticed that when I put the ends of the power/ground wires into the amps and screwed down the hex nut, it kind of mangled the wire ends. Is that how its supposed to be?

Dennis Gardner

If you are going to use bare ends, flux the wire and tin them with some solder. They will last longer without corrosion and won't fray to cause a short.

MacLeod

The best way it to use terminal ends made specifically for car audio connections.

Here are some.

Dennis Gardner

I agree with Mac that terminals make a cleaner install and make it much easier to swap out gear.

zgw8

With the Momo amps, there is the hole in the amp with the hex screw to secure the power/speaker wires. What do the terminal ends look like and will they work for this type of application? Can you give me a link to see what one looks like?

MacLeod

I put a link in my last post.


http://www.cardomain.com/shoplist~b~Streetwires~t~Wire+Terminals

zgw8

Ok guys - I appreciate your responses and I don't mean to sound stupid. Take a look at the Momo amp. On the backs, there are holes in the amp where you put the speaker/power/ground wires. On top of the amps, there are the set screws that secure the wires. Can you be more specific as to what type of end you would use on the wires to insert into the holes in the amp? Below is the link to the amp. Scroll down and take a look at the back of the amp. I hate to sound like an idiot. I guess I am picturing some sort of banana plug or some sort of solid tip that would go into the hole in the amp and then be secured by the set screw?

http://www.polkaudio.com/caraudio/products/c500_1/

MacLeod

Here ya go.

^^^^^^ thats a link

MacLeod

And here is one for the power wires.

exalted512

On terminals like that, Id just solder the end, but thats just me. On amps with the screws, Id use the terminals
-Cody

MacLeod

Personally I dont do either. If you look closely at the terminal ends theyre basically the same thing as the terminals on the amp. Just shove em in there and tighten the screws down and youre set. The only things I would use terminal ends on would be speaker wires since Im unhooking and switching around those a lot while I play with phasing often.

exalted512

Wells, its a 'cleaner' looking install. It also greatly reduces the risk of a strand of the ground wire touching the 12V wire and shorting something out.
-Cody

MacLeod

Yeah, mine have done that once or twice. Luckily these Crossfires are built like tanks and nothing was damaged.

cam5860

Ive tried ever terminal there is on the momo amps and none of them will fit in the hole. I just put raw wire in the hole works fine for me.