Don't know how many of you have put on female spade connectors 1/4" or others, but I hate insulated connectors.....make your own much better..... If they do not have a barrel over the crimp portion they ain't worth a shit. If you go and buy some with red/blue or yellow insulators , pull the insulator off, you will usually find a very thin brass tin plated split connector...not brazed don't think any are, but ring terminals are usually copper tin plate and much thicker so they do well uninsulated. I have an old Thomas&Betts wt-111-m uninsulated crimper (made in USA long time ago), I have had very good luck with buying a piece of thin brass tube that will just fit over the wire input crimp area,,, Westlakes, Lowes, Menards, etc and taking a tubing cutter and cut a 3/8" to 1/2" piece, slip it on and crimp, you could even give it a crimp on the insulation portion if you want, if you cut your tube that long. Heat shrink over the entire terminal (it will be completely insulated and look nice), HEAT GUN, lighters will work but if you are not using black will usually look like shit when done. If you give one of these the pull test, the wire or the terminal will break before pull out. 3M makes some of the best female spades IMO..... I also really hate electrical tape boooooob
He's reinforcing the crimp with a piece of copper tubing .....A good idea...Or don't buy the cheap shit connectors....
I always cut off the plastic insulator and then solder the wire in. seems easier and cheaper than cutting copper tubing? jeff
I do the same thing Jeff, then melt a piece of heat shrink where the plastic crimp collar was. It looks far neater.
BOOOOOOB!!!! I totally agree with your entire thread..... I hate electrical tape. I have an old AMP USA made crimper that i use. I would rather solder and heat shrink everything though! Rod
I buy the cheap Harry homeowner crimp on terminals and just use a set of dikes to cut off the ugly plastic insulators before crimping and use heat shrink once installed.
I get the HD terminals with out insulation. You need to get these at a real supply house though, HDepot or RShack doesn't count.
Thomas and Betts makes good stuff, but honestly, the cheap ones work quite well if crimped properly. Removing the plastic and using heat shrink is a must.
uninsulated barrels, solder and good shrink tube. A friends dad used to work for the telephone company up here and would give me connectors. He had barrels and shrink tube that had a rubber cement like substance coating the inside. When you shrunk the ends the glue melted, that stuff was waterproof when you were done. I've never been able to find them since.
I realize there are several different ways to achieve the same results, in my initial reply my thought was that a few good images would help in getting his method across,plain and simple. There is more impact with a thread such as this with photographic accompaniment. HRP
I've used IDEAL brand connectors that do what you say, stop at an electrical supply house and check with them, I'm sure they can hook you up with what you're looking for. PLATT is a great place if you have one local to you.
That stuff is called "dual wall" heatshrink. I bought some today at an electronics supply store. If you want to block off an unused wire, you put a little bit of this stuff on (a bit longer than the end of the wire), heat it and squeeze the end together with a pair of pliers , and you end up with a waterproof end cap.
I like the Sta-kon brand, they sell them with out the crappy insulation. The cost is not much more than the el cheapo brands from china. Solder and heat shrink. As for crimping tools Thomas and Betts is second to none. http://www.barnesdistribution.com/pdf/eng/master_catalog/I/Section_I_Electrical_1-10.pdf crimper 23422
Uninsulated is part of the key, but how you crimp, and which way you put the tool on is a big problem! Most people use those crimpers that simply flatten the barrel. Those barely hold, and even when done properly they will fail. I use Stakon uninsulated style crimpers like these: If you use this tool the crimp will be a very strong crimp, but you need to examine the barrel closely. The connectors always have a split on one side, so the indent on the tool needs to be opposite the split, or the indenter will simply open the barrel, not indent it. By using the right tool, the right connector, and keeping the tool clocked correctly, you'll have very few (if any) failures.
Yep, I use Del City or Waytek. I buy a pack of 100 or so of each terminal or connector I think I'll need. I have quite a collection now. I've found many different cool "old-time" type terminals at these places as well. I bought flag terminals, which you won't find at AutoZone or RadioShack, but look neat on certain locations in a traditional car. Get your cloth covered wire from Rhode Island Wire or Brillman, some heat shrink, and go to town.
That is my tool (best I ever had) and you are absolutely correct about the split, will get some pictures soon, the brass tube will make these thin connectors very strong and they cannot split open... sorry life is calling, it's Monday and I got transmission problems on my POS 95 Astro van.... boooooob
Not real good but I think you will get the picture. Chipper bit is to ream the tube after cut, it will mash in a bit......have to open to fit the terminal...best to do it on the long tube before cut....then put the cut end to the wire side.....this makes a very strong crimp joint.. boooooob
Me too, but if he has some pics, maybe it looks cool. Sounds like it looks that same as mine, but has copper underneath?
I don't mean to put down your passion (I guess I am anyway), but there's no way I'd go to all that work when I could order the proper terminals and have them the next day. Then the end of the wire wouldn't be so bulky either.
May I ask what the proper terminals are, (and what is all that work, cut tube, pull off insulator, crimp, heatshrink) that was a 12-10 terminal and it is smaller then the BS insulator that came with it, and no there is no copper in any of these type connectors I have ever seen they are split tin plated brass and pretty much BS, unless you go into the OEM type which are usually unplated brass and have wire and insulation crimp, and pay a lot for a crimper, I will put one of these up against your "proper" terminals any day..plus I can put any color heat shrink I want.... Please post a pic of a proper connector.....Thank you and more importantly the crimper you use.. boooooob
on amazon http://www.amazon.com/DUAL-WALL-HEAT-SHRINK-KIT/dp/B001D9X8AQ it sounds like good stuff so i gonna order some
Anybody ever try any of the "liquid electrical tape" to seal up terminal crimps? If so, what brand and how well did it work for how long? Ed
Here are proper non insulated terminals. Note the two areas of crimp. The tall-narrow area will crimp the insulation while the short-longer part will crimp the striped portion of wire: This is the crimper i have. It has multiple sets of dies for different terminal types:
Here's some examples: http://www.delcity.net/store/Non!Insulated-Push!On-Terminals/p_802000 and http://www.waytekwire.com/item/31016/FEMALE-DISCONNECT--187-X--020/ My crimper is not as fancy as yours, but it works. I solder all my connections as well.