Clarification on Spade Connectors

[Sir TophamHatt]

Like these:

 

 

I get that I can solder some wire to the flat ones, but is it just a case that I put some wire in the fat one, put the spade in and crush them together to hold?

 

I only really use them to extend droppers, which I get reduces reliability but I feel like throwing half a dozen that won't go with the current layout is just a waste of money.

 

I'm starting to favour choc blocks over these as they're much more flexible for future use anyhow.

Edited March 11, 2019 by Sir TophamHatt

[polybear]

These are all designed for use with the correct crimping pliers, not for soldering.  There are better alternatives...

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

There are many Youtube videos showing the correct way to use these connectiors, search crimping tool.

 

Mike.

[Il Grifone]

They can be soldered, but this will damage the insulation. They are really intended for fairly thick multistrand wire and

semi-permanent connections. The connectors are crimped on to the wire (pliers will do* but the proper tool should be used) and the spade fits into the other connector. Allegedly it then makes a connection. Many automotive faults have been caused by these things!

 

The choc-block is rather more reliable, but it is essential to use the right size wire.

 

Proper multi-pin plugs and sockets are the solution, but do tend to be expensive.

 

* I was once chastised at work for wasting time by going to get the proper tool. You can draw your own conclusions from this....

Edited March 9, 2019 by Il Grifone

[Suzie]

These crimp connectors work well for their intended use when they are crimped correctly. You need to choose the correct size connector for the wire you are using and use a suitable crimping tool to fit them. When used correctly they do a very good job of making a circuit that is not disconnected very often.

 

The colour of the insulation usually denotes the size of wire that will fit. Yellow ones for big wire and red ones for small wire, with blue ones (as in your picture) for middle size wire. The correct crimping tool is not expensive and will usually come with a range of crimping places which if you are lucky will be colour coded red/blue/yellow so that it is obvious which bit of the jaws to put the crimp in to. You just squeeze to make a connection.

 

A good crimp will be better than a solder joint or choc block, but it is horses for courses.

[Ruston]

You can buy these made from brass if you go to a proper automotive electrical supplier (not the likes of Halfords), so that they can be soldered. Clear plastic sleeves are also available if you need the connectors to be insulated. I completely rewired an old Land Rover with them and never had any bother with the electrics, unlike these crappy crimp connectors.

[JeffP]

Try http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/

 

Blade terminals here: http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/section.php/74/1/blade-terminals,

including soft insulating "boots" if required.

 

For car wiring, I crimp the terminal lightly to hold the wire in place, solder at the smaller crimp, and slide a "boot in place. Not failed me yet, with currents up to 30A

[14Steve14]

These types of insulated or partially insulated crimp connectors come in different colours for different sized wires. They are small - red, medium - blue and large - yellow. You can get a cheap pair of crimp pliers that will work well, or dearer ratchet versions are available. No need to solder anything.

 

Loads of different style connectors are available to suit most requirements.

[Il Grifone]

I have seen this claim that a crimped connection is better than a soldered joint before. It is supposed to do a cold weld. I remain unconvinced and prefer a soldered joint. However these crimped tags should be OK if done properly.

 

There's a special tool for doing the brass ones too. The two tags should be folded into the wire.

[Bucoops]

Both insulated as pictured and uninsulated as not pictured make TWO joints - one to the metal part of the wire, and a strain relief on the cable insulation.

[DCB]

These are horrible DIY connectors designed for spotty teenagers who like bodging odd bits of electrical kit onto their superannuated Corsas and Polos. 

Absolute crap.   A guaranteed source of trouble.   I won't use them on railways or doing car electrics which was my day job before my body cried enough. You want the type with separate soft plastic sleeves which allow you to solder the wires and pull the sleeve back over.

They are as useless for model railways as for cars as the connectors invariably fall off sooner or later.  The proper ones come on strips of ten really cheap on eBaay and the ones pictured cost an arm and a leg from Halfords

[Il Grifone]

Deleted

 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Il Grifone

[Il Grifone]

18 hours ago, Bucoops said:

Both insulated as pictured and uninsulated as not pictured make TWO joints - one to the metal part of the wire, and a strain relief on the cable insulation.

 

That's true and why the proper tool should be used.

[Enterprisingwestern]

5 hours ago, DavidCBroad said:

These are horrible DIY connectors designed for spotty teenagers who like bodging odd bits of electrical kit onto their superannuated Corsas and Polos. 

Absolute crap.   A guaranteed source of trouble.   I won't use them on railways or doing car electrics which was my day job before my body cried enough. You want the type with separate soft plastic sleeves which allow you to solder the wires and pull the sleeve back over.

They are as useless for model railways as for cars as the connectors invariably fall off sooner or later.  The proper ones come on strips of ten really cheap on eBaay and the ones pictured cost an arm and a leg from Halfords

 

Whilst they may not have been the perfect connector, indeed what is?, I feel you're being a bit harsh on them. I don't recall every car ever fitted with them having a litany of problems and collapsing en masse at the side of the road.

Like all mechanical devices, used and fitted correctly they are suitable for their application, it is not the connectors fault that they get mauled by "spotty teenagers".

Within the context of our hobby one of their disadvantages is the tightness of the connection, needing a fair bit of pressure to remove and re=fit, especially in the confined spaces of sub baseboard areas.

 

Mike.

[14Steve14]

Even the brass ones that people say you solder should be crimped using special crimping pliers. Take any ready made connector apart and the wire will be crimped into the connector and not soldered. What's good for the professionals is good for railway modellers.

 

As long as the right connector is used for the right sized wire and is fitted correctly there will be no problems. Its only those connectors that are used incorrectly that cause problems.

[Il Grifone]

They are not intended as connectors for continuous breaking of the circuit. They are tight for a reason. Once assembled they are not touched except to break the circuit for repair/replacment of a faulty unit. Perhaps half a dozen times in the life of the connector. Continually pulling them apart will weaken the  the contact and promote corrosion.

 

For this use a proper plug and socket should be used, Something relatively cheap like a SCART plug and socket with proably be OK for a permanent layout (use several conductors in parallel for power feeds), but a portable layout would require something more robust (and expensive). Don't use mains connectors for low voltage. It's not that they won't work; it's to avoid the possibility of the wrong plug in the wrong socket with possible fatal results.

[Suzie]

Once you have made a crimp connection you need to give the wire a substantial pull to make sure it really has crimped correctly. If it comes out you need to do better! It is mostly about using the correct size crimp for the wire. With practice you get a feel for how well you have done but always do the pull test - if you can't pull it out it will not fall out.

[melmerby]

Last time I looked at a heavy duty car spade terminal it was neither crimped nor soldered, it was spot welded.

I thought crimping was for repair jobs, defintely not soldered though.

[kevinlms]

3 hours ago, Il Grifone said:

 

That's true and why the proper tool should be used.

The proper tool, NOT being the nearest pair of side cutters or pliers!

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, Suzie said:

Once you have made a crimp connection you need to give the wire a substantial pull to make sure it really has crimped correctly. If it comes out you need to do better! It is mostly about using the correct size crimp for the wire. With practice you get a feel for how well you have done but always do the pull test - if you can't pull it out it will not fall out.

Pulling it once to test its made properly is fine. It's the continual tugging unintentionally, that causes the problem. This is what occurs when such connectors are used as plugs and sockets, such as for a modular layout.

[JeffP]

2 hours ago, 14Steve14 said:

Even the brass ones that people say you solder should be crimped using special crimping pliers. Take any ready made connector apart and the wire will be crimped into the connector and not soldered. What's good for the professionals is good for railway modellers.

 

As long as the right connector is used for the right sized wire and is fitted correctly there will be no problems. Its only those connectors that are used incorrectly that cause problems.

 

But isn't that for speed of build? A crimped and soldered has to be better?

[DCB]

2 hours ago, 14Steve14 said:

Even the brass ones that people say you solder should be crimped using special crimping pliers. Take any ready made connector apart and the wire will be crimped into the connector and not soldered. What's good for the professionals is good for railway modellers.

 

Agree, but you can crimp the uninsulated type with a pair of pliers quite adequately both the strain relief bit which goes on the wire  insulation and the metal to metal bit. I then solder the metal to metal join.   Crimping the type shown needs a special tool, and not one of those £5 specials with multiple cut outs and holes and even then results are patchy.   Most factory fitted spades are machine crimped under a lot of pressure or spot welded but to be honest I am not aware of the type shown being used on factory fresh products. I have only seen them on repair jobs and usually where Ii see them they are the cause of the problem I am seeking.  We used to use the insulated type in the garage where I worked on leaving school but since becoming self employed I wont touch the things.  I have never had anyone complain about any electrical work I have ever done on a car or motorbike and my soldered joints on my motorbikes are still fine 40 odd years later..

[Suzie]

The type shown are quite widely used in industry and can be very reliable when crimped properly. In many industrial applications ferules are crimped on to the ends of stranded wires before being inserted in to screw terminals to improve performance of the screw connection! 

[Enterprisingwestern]

1 hour ago, DavidCBroad said:

 

Agree, but you can crimp the uninsulated type with a pair of pliers quite adequately both the strain relief bit which goes on the wire  insulation and the metal to metal bit. I then solder the metal to metal join.   Crimping the type shown needs a special tool, and not one of those £5 specials with multiple cut outs and holes and even then results are patchy.   Most factory fitted spades are machine crimped under a lot of pressure or spot welded but to be honest I am not aware of the type shown being used on factory fresh products. I have only seen them on repair jobs and usually where Ii see them they are the cause of the problem I am seeking.  We used to use the insulated type in the garage where I worked on leaving school but since becoming self employed I wont touch the things.  I have never had anyone complain about any electrical work I have ever done on a car or motorbike and my soldered joints on my motorbikes are still fine 40 odd years later..

 

Being exceptionally pedantic, if you carry out a repair and do not use a like for like replacement then the warranty of the unit/car/appliance could well be invalidated, I know for sure on appliances in my trade that that was the case.

 

Mike.

[TheQ]

We use similar connectors in £100,000+ pieces of equipment with of course, the use of the correct tools. We do have some versions,  that are gold plated.  Previous comments are correct that correctly crimped connectors of this type that are rarely disconnected are perfectly good for the purpose. 

 

Over the years I've gathered, a full set of tools for the purpose, up to 16 ton crimps for the big stuff and so am quite happy to use these connectors.  That being said i've got chocc blocks on my layout it's much easier to swap wires and change things with just a small screwdriver rather than crimping new terminals on.  I also like the choc blocks with solid pins one side to interconnect  layout boards.