Make a hackable LED ornament.

Step 3 Soldering to the socket crimps.

The socket contacts are actually designed to be crimped onto stranded wire, but in this case we are using solid wire and besides, the crimp tool is rather expensive unless you are going to be using a lot of these connectors.

Fortunately the terminals are quite easy to solder to, and they still fit into the housing OK even when not crimped.

I found it easiest to clamp the terminal gently in a small vice or one of those "helping hand" devices with bendy arms and crocodile clips. Put a touch of solder (preferably the good old fashioned lead based stuff) into the wire grip area as shown in the picture, then strip the wire by about 3/16" (5mm) and after tinning it with a touch of solder, apply it to the terminal and reheat the terminal with the soldering iron so that the solder flows around the wire. Hold the wire in place after removing the soldering iron to let the solder cool down and harden.

Be careful not to let the solder flow into the contact area since it could stop the contact from working properly.

Don't worry if you mess up a few contacts. They are supplied in bulk!