Crimping or Soldering Flex cable

[wayne305]

Evening all, hoping someone can clear something up for me.

I was told today that all stranded flex cables need to be pin crimped or soldered before connections are made, eg, for a towel rail or small wall heater etc. He said the regs were altered in April 2012?

This is the first I've heard of this and just want to know if anyone can confirm this is true?

Cheers

Wayne

 

[davesparks]

The ends are required to be treated so that the individual strands do not get damaged.

I guess you could use pin crimps but these are normally used for reducing the physical size of a cable so that big cables can fit in little terminals.

You would normally use 'cord end' or 'boot lace' ferrules to protect the end of a flex.

You are not allowed to tin (solder) the ends as the soft solder can creep/cold flow and become loose on its own.
Solder should only be used when making a soldered connection.

 

[wayne305]

Cheers Dave

So he is right then? Do the regs actually state that the ends need to be treated or is it just good practice?

 

[Rockingit]

526.9 is the answer to your question.

 

[Darkwood]

If the connection is by way of a device designed for fine wire then no crimping needed but as the majority are in standard terminations this has been the case for a long time, the regs expanded on it in 2012 but has been the case for a long time.... If you ever buy a light drop etc the factory terminations are already crimped or heat sealed to comply.

Putting fine wire in standard connectors without crimping is a major contribution to the cause of many large fires in big complex and office blocks where many terminations of this nature exist where correct crimping has not taken place.

The Wago lever connector is an example where fine wire needs no crimping .

To further understand the regulation if you screw down on fine wire they are splayed open and ride up the side of the screw if not breaking because they are delicate given a reduced positive point of contact and leaving a large no of the cores loose effectively reducing the CCC at that point.

 

[Adam W]

The ends are required to be treated so that the individual strands do not get damaged.

I guess you could use pin crimps but these are normally used for reducing the physical size of a cable so that big cables can fit in little terminals.

You would normally use 'cord end' or 'boot lace' ferrules to protect the end of a flex.

You are not allowed to tin (solder) the ends as the soft solder can creep/cold flow and become loose on its own.
Solder should only be used when making a soldered connection.

:iagree:

 

[telectrix]

i agree with all the above posts.

 

[brucelee]

Me too and very good posts they were lol

 

[shanky887614]

bootlace is my preference for stranded.

a pair of 0.5-16mm crimpers are under £35

 

[telectrix]

they were even less before my wholesaler fitted a lock to the tool display cabinet. :6: