Date:         Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:55:31 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: solderless connectors
Comments: To: Troy <colorworks@GCI.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <F8402DBF8E5241C8858942FF2DCB7CA7@troyb5bff49d63>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 02:02 AM 6/14/2011, Troy wrote:
>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.

You'll do yourself no favor using cheap connectors.  If you're not
wincing at the price of crimp connectors then you're not buying brand
name ones.  NAPA has good ones in your choice of vinyl insulation or
for more money aircraft-grade nylon insulation.

The connectors you're talking about (open-barrel crimp terminals with
separate insulating sleeves) are not IMO intrinsically superior to
the others, quality for quality.  You can get "regular" crimp
connectors with metal sleeves that crimp the insulation (but they're
at the high end).  I'm not certain of this but I *think* that the
only connectors allowed by the FAA for aircraft work are
nylon-insulated closed-barrel.  The crucial elements are good quality
connectors and proper crimps (which are bloody hard to achieve with
the tools sold at the FLAPS.  I use a Channelock 908 electrician's
crimping tool
https://picasaweb.google.com/dbeierl/VanagonMeltedEngineHarness#5482720464174658498
which costs about $15.  Bought it after my good ratcheting crimper
got swiped, and after bad experiences with the FLAPS ratchet tool.

AMP, 3M, Molex, Thomas & Betts are all high-quality brands.


>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.

I'm losing you here.  Dimensions are dimensions - A 6.3 mm spade
terminal in Japan is a quarter inch here no matter what you call it
(and anyway they call it 6.2 mm in Germany) - and all their
connectors are specified to take a range of wire sizes in AWG.  The
real lack I see is insulating sleeves for their 14-12 AWG spade
terminals.  Plus of course anything for wire sizes larger than 12 AWG.

Google turns up

http://www.elecdirect.com/default.aspx  - not open-barrel but look
like a good source in general.
http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=5120217 -
this terminal is meant to go in a relay socket.
http://www.alliedelec.com/search/productdetail.aspx?SKU=5120788 -
these are only a nickel each, but you have to buy 12,000.  Hurry,
they only have 26,340 in stock...

Here's the AMP range of open-barrel connectors:
http://www.te.com/catalog/products/en?q=open+barrel+connectors&s=60
Molex:
http://www.molex.com/molex/products/listview.jsp?query=&offset=0&filter=&fs=categoryid%3AQUICKDISCONNECTS&npp=20&sType=z&autoNav=&path=cQUICKDISCONNECTS%23%230%23%23ig~~nf4||4f70656e&channel=Products&key=quick_disconnect&parentKey=solderless_terminals




>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;)

Open-barrel needs fancier tooling *and* is probably technically more
demanding of the operator to get a good crimp.  And you need separate
insulation.  It's the normal method for terminals to be inserted in a
connector housing.  For straight plug-in terminals the closed type is
generally more convenient in the field.  As to the quality - people
don't want to pay for good ones, and there are enough different types
that the cost builds up quickly.

Yours,
David