Originally Posted by
steelbikeguy
any thoughts on how well the average cyclist does when soldering connectors like these?
Soldering is a lot easier to master than brazing a lug, but there is still a bit of skill and experience required. Do most people just buy a wire harness with all connectors installed, or do people seem to get good results when soldering the connectors and installing the heatshrink strain relief themselves?
As a person who went through the learning curve when working on aircraft, I've probably made all of the mistakes that can be made. That's the only reason that I'm thinking of what can go wrong with people doing their own work on dynamo wiring.
Steve in Peoria
Like most anything, practice makes perfect. I tin the wires first, use a wire holder[URL="http://ec-i21.geccdn.net/site/images/large/EE6_900-206.jpg"], use a needle nose plier to hold the wire end of the plug against the tinned wire, heat up the solder until it liquifies and the plug slips over the wire, remove heat, let it freeze, and viola. I've done internal wiring on several bikes, and sometimes solder after the wire is already routed.
I've gone a full season using Anton's banana plugs, no issues whatsoever.