On 2017-03-14, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
On 2017-03-13, Larry Jaques
wrote:
Wish I had the good luck you guys seem to with those, but the lone
pair I've used has been trouble 2 out of 3 times I've used it.
If you have the right crimper for the wire you are using (and
there are various sized pins to match, all of which fit the same
blocks), they can be very good. The one trouble which I was
fighting in
the power input to a 2-meter transceiver was eventually traced to an
intermittent fuse in an inline holder just upstream of the PowerPole
connector.
Soldering the pins is bad news, however. It makes them rotate
at strange angles in the block and makes for intermittent
connections.
Soldering works if done right. I use extra flexible silicone 'noodle'
wire
The white silicone insulated wire for HV? Nice flexible stuff.
Used to use it at work a lot.
for the short pigtail at the device and don't apply enough solder
to reach the entrance of the crimp barrel. Long, loosely twisted
extension cords have less problem with misalignment. I've had more
trouble with crimped pins than soldered ones. I learned to solder to
NSA standards in 1970.
O.K. Then you would do it right. I had similar training back
around 1966/1968.
I got a used 2-meter transceiver at a hamfest a while back
with soldered PowerPole connectors in it, and there was certainly excess
solder in that job. And it was augmented by the intermittent 3AG fuse.
(Clip on each end, and soft plastic snapped around it. It was only once
I had replaced all of the soldered PowerPole connectors near it that I
found the intermittent fuse. One cap was unglued, and the fuse element
made contact most of the time, except if you shook the wires. :-)
When I was making electric vehicle cable harnesses the company paid
for the specified crimper. It's less critical on stationary wiring
that doesn't vibrate, just pull-test the pin. A few weeks ago I had a
stranded wire in a 1970ish Maytag motor finally break at the solder
joint. It had been hand-soldered into a tubular rivet that was too big
to strain-relieve it.
Factory work, no doubt. :-)
There's this:
http://www.westmountainradio.com/pro...ts_id=PWRcrimp
It gives the contact retention force specs. At Mitre we had a jig with
a tension gauge to test aircraft connector pins.
-jsw
O.K. Price is reasonable -- a different source (and slightly
different die shape) than mine (from QuickSilver, who tend to sell at
the local hamfests).
The pins from them are two styles. The lower current ones are
cylindrical crimp barrels, while the highest current one is what AMP
would call "Type-F" (flag terminal, where the flags over the wire are
curved to contact the wire end on, and the insulation part (if present)
is formed into a cylindrical strain relief.
But the big problem with the PowerPole pins is that it is easy
to put then in wrong. Unlike nice machined-pin Mil-spec/aircraft
connectors, where it is mostly a matter of having the right tools.
And -- for the PowerPole cylindrical barrel pins, I would really
prefer a for-pin radial indenter crimper to what is provided by the
crimp dies shown at your site, and the ones from QuickSilver. However,
I use the Flag type terminal by preference, if it fits the wire. :-)
Enjoy,
DoN.
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