Jump to content
 

The joys of Scotchlok suitcase connectors.


AndrueC
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

Yeah, I know some people love 'em, some people hate 'em. Me I like them. As long as you ensure that the single cable is fully inserted they work fine. I have nearly two dozen on my layout connecting droppers (22 gauge) to bus (14 gauge). I was a novice last year so spent quite some time trying to work out which ones to use. I eventually chose blue and they worked fine. Later on I wanted to connect a single bus wire to the main bus and discovered I needed red for that.

 

All good.

 

I've recently had a few electrical issues (traced to the cable I was using with my controller rather than my layout wiring) but it inspired me to go over my layout with a multimeter making sure everywhere was well catered for. Found a few weak spots and either soldered the joint or installed a drop wire. Toward the end I finally exhausted my black wire spool so opened a spare pack.

 

And then things went a bit..odd. One turnout steadfastly refused to give me full track voltage. Now I'm a DCC chap and my multimeter is thus never going to be very accurate. But it is at least consistently wrong - it reports 22VAC. Except for this damn' turnout that kept being reported as 16VAC. Even when I soldered all the joints. Then I realised that because it's an Insulfrog and one of the joints goes to a disused siding I needed to add a dropper. No problem - I'll solder the dropper to the joint and kill two birds with one stone.

 

No go.

 

Further and further testing eventually led me to conclude that the dropper wasn't electrically connected to the bus. I redid the Scotchlok and..still no go. Hmm. Maybe as it was the first wire from a spool it's broken. Check that - nope the wire conducts just fine. I don't want to keep attach Scotchloks to the bus so I'm almost at the point of soldering the dropper to another part of the track when I happen to knock the spool onto the floor. I scrabble around and when I pick it up I happen to notice that it's not 22 gauge, it's 24.

 

Looking at the spec for the blue Scotchlok again it appears that I was lucky that 22 gauge worked since blue is apparently only rated down to 18 gauge. Apparently 24 gauge is (to misquote from Monty Python) 'right out'.

 

Anyway I've ordered some more 22 gauge wire and soon the errant turnout will be carrying full voltage.

Edited by AndrueC
  • Like 1
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • AndrueC changed the title to The joys of Scotchlok suitcase connectors.
  • RMweb Premium
2 hours ago, DCB said:

Glad to here someone likes the things.   I have seen too many used on cars where they come loose and stop conducting.

If the connector is just 'too large', or the wire is 'just too small', what other outcome would you expect? A car is a notorious climate, because vibrations will eventually find any weakness.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I have loads of them, most in use for rather more than a decade. If the wire gauge of the incoming wire is a little on the small size, as might be the case with a dropper, simply fold the end over so the gauge is doubled before inserting. 

  • Like 1
  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I've used them on my layout where there are multiple feeds to the track but I don't use them on cars. Remember all those 80s moss car alarms going off for no reason,  normally a 'bodgelok' was involved somewhere 

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, DCB said:

Glad to here someone likes the things.   I have seen too many used on cars where they come loose and stop conducting.

 

Yeah, but they were probably fitted by grease monkeys who didn't have access to RMWeb :)

 

Used correctly, insulation displacement is an incredibly reliable means of making connections.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, AndrueC said:

Me I like them

Yup, me too.

 

The tale is the same as for many another a technology - there are multiple versions of these connectors and you need to choose the right one for the task in hand. This has an associated pleasurable effect of filling your bits drawers with lots of pretty colours, since they are colour coded for the sizes of wires that they are useful for.

 

Put simply, the standard connectors are designed for specific ranges of wire diameters - if you go outside those diameters, things are not going to work well. I have found them very reliable for connecting to bus wires, where the joint is intended to be permanent.

 

Where you want a connection that can be released as required, such as the case with dropper wires if you have a need to lift the track for some reason, then something like Wago connectors or Terminal strips are a good option.

  • Agree 3
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Crosland said:

 

Used correctly, insulation displacement is an incredibly reliable means of making connections.

I would agree, but not in a hostile environment.

 

The "outdoor" ones I've seen Openreach Engineers use are filled with some form of sealant.

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...