>Upon closer inspection I found that the earth connector and wire was
>being held together by the heatshrink tube and some flexing
>indicated a fracture - caused by vibration no doubt - although I am
>surprised at that.
>
>Anyhow, all is soldered up
Martin - it sounds as though the solder joint was the cause of the
fracture. That's why crimps are preferred for most aircraft wiring
terminations. If you have to make a solder joint, it needs to be
supported well back along the insulation. This is because the solder
"wicks" along the wire back from the joint and thus makes it
inflexible. The usual point of failure is at the interface between
the solder-stiffened length and the original flexible state, and this
can be a surprisingly long way from the termination. As you've found,
heatshrink is not enough support, it really needs to be secured for
some length onto something rigidly attached to the thing it's
soldered onto.
regards
Rowland
--
| Rowland Carson LAA #16532 http://home.clara.net/rowil/aviation/
| 1180 hours building Europa #435 G-ROWI e-mail <rowil@clara.net>
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