Date:         Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:02:38 -0800
Reply-To:     Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
Subject:      solderless connectors
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1

Hi folks:

I finally decided to buy myself a good pair of ratcheting crimping pliers, and by some of the OEM type connectors, i.e. one that grabs onto the wire itself and then a 2nd wire band that crimps onto the insulator.  I find it far superior to the blue, yellow, red variety sold in auto parts store that tend to work loose or arc and cause all kinds of problems.

I bought my ratcheting crimping pliers from vintage connectors: http://vintageconnections.com/

This is a great tool that is well worth the asking price--very nice quality and can recommend it.  For when I don't have the right connectors on hand, I also bought the die set for the ubiquitous red, blue, yellow, types mentioned above, . This die stands a chance of working on the cheap connectors from some tests I ran tonight, but will wear your hands out in a hurry.

Now my question: does anyone know of a source for the OEM connectors mentioned?  Vintage connectors is a good source for metric and service is good. I need a source for AWG.

The unfortunate part about these connectors is you cannot buy them at most FLAPS.  Why is it that the junk is more readily available-- rhetorical question;)

Troy