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Need a spade connector.... what size, and where from?

RostokMcSpoons

RostokMcSpoons

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One of the female spade connectors to connect from the gun to the motor has broken in my Classic Army M15... I went off to Halfords and bought the smallest one they had, but it's still mahoosive compared to the diddy litle thing on the other wire.   I'd say it's about 2.5 or 3mm across by memory.  (Stupidly I didn't actually measure it when I had the pistol grip apart)

I presume Amazon or eBay will be the best place to go (in the absence of bricks'n'mortar Maplin's stores :sniff:) but can someone let me know the absolutely-definitely-no-doubt-about-it correct size to order?

Cheers!

 
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The heschen female connectors 2.8mm from amazon are good quality compared to some of the rubbish out there. They feel right too. 3.79 for a bag of 100.

 
I got some from fleabay... 900pc Assorted Insulated Electrical Wire Terminal Crimp Connectors Spade Set Kit

 
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Sewdhull said:
The heschen female connectors 2.8mm from amazon are good quality compared to some of the rubbish out there. They feel right too. 3.79 for a bag of 100.
Click to expand...




Thanks, I bought these as they're cheap, with free delivery tomorrow, spot on!

 
A good crimper matters. Poor crimping will let go and can result in bad things happening.

If you choose to solder them bend to shape before hand and only solder the inner crimp, but I would choose crimping over soldering.

Reef said:
Anything electrical I swear by 12voltplanet. No association just happy customer.

https://www.12voltplanet.co.uk/
Click to expand...
This place is good. I've ordered stuff from these guys before.

 
I'll have to check whether my wire stripper tool can also crimp... But can't a decent pair of needle nose pliers in my highly skilled hands not do the job?

 
I dunno, those connectors are supposed to end up with the tabs bent back in a u shape. A good crimp is better than a soldered joint, but a poor crimp will loosen and the cable not make proper contact, get warm and fall out. 2.8mm connectors are a bit small for these motors, some automotive connectors are better but the fit might be an issue.

If you don't have a decent crimper you're better off soldering the wire to a pre-bent connector, crimping the insulation for cable relief then heat shrinking the lot.

 
I actually have that same style of crimping tool but it doesn't have an exact crimp for 2.8 mm for some reason and I ended up having to use needle nose pliers to do a better job, in principle you just need to make sure you apply enough crimping force to make it secure but not a deadly amount of crimping because you need to retain the diameter for conductivity

 
I should have added a : hugely rolling eyes in sarcasm: emoji after my comment about my skills ?. So thanks for the hints.  I will take care with the crimp but my soldering 'skills' would likely be worse than anything I do with some pliers!

(I am trying quite hard to avoid spending £15 on a crimp tool that I won't get much use out of)

 
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I'm tired, probably lacking in sense of humour.

To no one in particular, crimping properly creates a molecular bond between the metals impervious to moisture, where soldering sticks the wires and connector together. 

 
Sewdhull said:
I'm tired, probably lacking in sense of humour.

To no one in particular, crimping properly creates a molecular bond between the metals impervious to moisture, where soldering sticks the wires and connector together. 
Click to expand...


I'm very grateful!  I didn't know anything about crimping, beyond what these guys taught me...











 
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6 hours ago, RostokMcSpoons said:



I'm very grateful!  I didn't know anything about crimping, beyond what these guys taught me...

Click to expand...


What. The Hell. Was. That?

Im too scared to laugh in case i get sucked into some strange wormhole of inappropriate humour!

 
You gotta watch Mighty Boosh :) Surreal humour, loved it, got the box set etc

Well, I thought I'd give the crimping a go as I found my best needle-nose pliers.   I've not had much luck... perhaps all this talk of 'over crimping' has meant I've not 'fully committed', but the damned spade connector is never on tight enough to survive any manipulation.   I have got the motor to run though, I did get a good enough connection to do that... but when trying to fiddle the wires into place in the grip, it came off again.  

Is the fact I've got a multi-strand core the problem?  Do I need to tin it with my soldering iron for best results?

 
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