Advice on Crimper and spade connectors...

[Gaz]

I've always soldered speaker terminals,... and always regretted it. Any tips on where to find a decent crimper and terminals locally? I live in a big-ish city, so I have the normal big box (is that a phrase?) places at my disposal.

Thanks!

[xtian]

I have a cheap crimper/wirestripper/multiwhatever from RadioShack that works fine.

My question is, what gauge and dimension are the spades and lugs for common speaker connections?

I prefer to solder my speakers, but for repairing other people's stuff, I need some spades.

[Gaz]

I have a cheap crimper/wirestripper/multiwhatever from RadioShack that works fine.

My question is, what gauge and dimension are the spades and lugs for common speaker connections?

I prefer to solder my speakers, but for repairing other people's stuff, I need some spades.

Yeah, I feel ya, but it kinda 'ruins' the speakers if you ever want to sell them. I plan on soldering the wire into the connector for a little extra reliability.

+1 on spade size.

[xtian]

Why would it ruin them? Just suck the solder off and it's perfect and nicely tinned.

[Gaz]

Why would it ruin them? Just suck the solder off and it's perfect and nicely tinned.

I said 'ruin' not ruin.

You are an amp builder, you have no perspective

[M Fowler]

City Desk at your local Electrical Distributor have high quality connectors and tools.

[VacuumVoodoo]

Most speaker terminals are 4.8mm = 3/16" wide.
Crimp terminals reliability is compromised by soldering, not increased.
You need proper crimping tool, pliers won't do. Invest in quality crimper,
cheap ones don't last and usually do a poor job.
[img:500:476]http://www.new-parkroyal.com/cable_acce ... ettool.jpg[/img]
I use fully insulated crimp terminals, they don't bend at the neck when pushed
onto their mate. Spade (male) terminals come in different thicknesses,
those on speakers are usually 0.8mm so use push on (female) terminal for this thickness,
one designed for 1mm thick spade will not make perfect connection
with 0.8mm spade and easily comes loose.
This I learned long time ago, the hard expensive way.

[img:424:283]http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new/ehow ... 00x800.jpg[/img]

[xtian]

+100 points for Alexz. Thank you!

[Cantplay]

Knipex. Kn9753 and Kn9754

John

[rp]

I found a good selection at an auto parts store.

[gingertube]

Like most tools - you get what you pay for.

Several "Automotive" style crimp tools have been turfed in the bin and I use one like the photo Alex posted above when I have to do crimps at short notice.

When I have time to plan a job I borrow the Mil Spec $350 "Daniels" tool from work which does a stunning job every time. Ratchet drive with lots of mechanical advantage and it won't release until it has reached its "approved" an "calibrated" crimp pressure.

Cheers,
Ian

[M Fowler]

Man tools make our life so much easier. That $350 Daniel's tool sounds great and having it available from work is even better especially when one considers how infrequent we would use that tool.

I've used solder terminals with slip on ends that work nicely but they were not the correct size so had to adjust the end to make sure they didn't come loose.

I've had quite a few customer's amps with loose fitting speaker leads so I was under the impression that I better solder my speaker connects on my own amps but finding the correct size crimp ends would be a plus.

Mark

[gingertube]

Man tools make our life so much easier. That $350 Daniel's tool sounds great and having it available from work is even better especially when one considers how infrequent we would use that tool.

I've used solder terminals with slip on ends that work nicely but they were not the correct size so had to adjust the end to make sure they didn't come loose.

I've had quite a few customer's amps with loose fitting speaker leads so I was under the impression that I better solder my speaker connects on my own amps but finding the correct size crimp ends would be a plus.

Mark

Yes that is $350 for the RED size tool, another $350 for the YELLOW size tool and another $350 for the BLUE size tool. None of this one size fits all stuff. When working on Military projects they actually audit us on having the correct tools and that they are in calaibration. We also do aircraft stuff, A huge crimp tool for 8 AWG stuff and a compressed air powered crimper to do the 0, 2 , 4 AWG stuff. Of-course I generally don't need to worry about 200 Amps feeds for Guitar Amp Hobby but Speaker feeds do need proper attention. 100W into 4 Ohms is 5 Amps RMS, that is enough to start a fire if you have an intermittent connection.

One of the benefits of the day job !! - access to good tooling

Cheers,
Ian