Steven Lichter wrote:
A2Aviator wrote:I've twisted them on many many times.. with no ill effects. Cut the current battery out leaving the longest leads, and bend them 90 degrees the other way, the same place they are bent now. Set the 'new' battery in there, and use needle nose to twist it, do the positive first, then ground.You have been very lucky, the current that is drawn will cause the un soldered connection to oxidize, it may take a while, but it will. I have had people tell me that making several wraps or a tight twist will work, but in time it becomes loose, even connectors become loose unless there is something added to prevent it. Over the years I have found that even wire wrap connections come loose unless they are just wrapped one and never removed. It is a very simple chemical reaction.
What is required is intimate contact between the conductors that is
hermetic (gas-tight). Solder is a quick and easy way to achieve this.
To achieve this with twisting is almost impossible, unless there is
some mechanism to create and maintain high contact pressure despite
temperature fluctuations.
With wire wrap, the corners of the square post result in very high
contact pressure as long as the wrap is not disturbed.
"Wire nuts" contain springs that maintain high contact pressure,
though not as high as wire wrap post/wire contact.
All things considered, solder is by far the best approach for any
"dry" (low current) circuit, like a clock battery.
Silver-loaded epoxy cement ("cold solder") can be used, but I haven't
seen reliability data for its long-term use in cold circuits.
-michael
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