Twist-on and crimp connectors

[dynaco_dan]

Hi there;

I've been meaning to write about those commonly used twist-on and crimp-on electrical connectors, sometimes used in speaker enclosures.

In practice, electricians commonly use twist-on connectors to tye-in wires in electrical junctions boxes for residential house wiring.

They will usually use a special precision knotched plier style wire stripper (maybe $10 - $15.00) to remove a standard length of insulation for inserting into the outlet openings or wrap around the screw terminals.

The typical electrical standard is 14 guage sold copper wire.

When used in junction boxes the twisted together pairs of wires usually do not cause any noises such as buzzing or such.

The wires do not tend to untwist as well.

When I read about some of the ebay experts using these to connect replacement drivers I started to think about it.

The wheels started churning.

For one thing, speaker companies have traditionally used stranded wire, usually 18 guage or even much lighter.

Stranded wires can slightly un-twist or un-curl, the insulated portion, which can, if one is not aware, touch the cabinet, cone or metal woofer basket causing a buzzing.

The removal of insulation on stranded wire is more critical than solid as there is not a lot of strands in the smaller wire.

Using just a knife or poorly adjusted adjustable stripper can remove a few copper strands quickly.

The correct size of connector is needed as well, they have a different number of connections for each size and type of wire.

A nicked solid wire can become an intermittant connection.

Too many wires poorly twisted together can lead to a twisted group of wires and one or more poor connections in the maze.

An older style is the type with a screw-in set screw captured wire connector with plastic screw-on cap.

You need to twist these wires together as well, if one twisted wire is not tightened correctly the whole connector can fall off or cause a poor connection.

I've found this mostly with 24 volt AC control circuits but we are using considerable less within our speakers.

A cheap and nasty type connection I have also seen is where manufacturers use crimp-on connectors for un-stripped stranded wires.

A barb only pierces the insulation instead of a complete crimp or solder connection.

I've seen this fail, numerous times, with mostly 120 volt AC circuits, it would be much worse if used with millivoltage.

To sum it up, buy and uses 60/40 Rosin core solder at a minimum, silver bearing is more money, for all connections where possible.

Another sad fact is, most crimp connectors are tinned steel or cadmium plated, not the solid brass or tinned brass of old.

This is also typical of capacitors and resistors as well, instead of tinned copper leads.

[Guest philipma1957]

Hi there;

I've been meaning to write about those commonly used twist-on and crimp-on electrical connectors, sometimes used in speaker enclosures.

In practice, electricians commonly use twist-on connectors to tye-in wires in electrical junctions boxes for residential house wiring.

They will usually use a special precision knotched plier style wire stripper (maybe $10 - $15.00) to remove a standard length of insulation for inserting into the outlet openings or wrap around the screw terminals.

The typical electrical standard is 14 guage sold copper wire.

When used in junction boxes the twisted together pairs of wires usually do not cause any noises such as buzzing or such.

The wires do not tend to untwist as well.

When I read about some of the ebay experts using these to connect replacement drivers I started to think about it.

The wheels started churning.

For one thing, speaker companies have traditionally used stranded wire, usually 18 guage or even much lighter.

Stranded wires can slightly un-twist or un-curl, the insulated portion, which can, if one is not aware, touch the cabinet, cone or metal woofer basket causing a buzzing.

The removal of insulation on stranded wire is more critical than solid as there is not a lot of strands in the smaller wire.

Using just a knife or poorly adjusted adjustable stripper can remove a few copper strands quickly.

The correct size of connector is needed as well, they have a different number of connections for each size and type of wire.

A nicked solid wire can become an intermittant connection.

Too many wires poorly twisted together can lead to a twisted group of wires and one or more poor connections in the maze.

An older style is the type with a screw-in set screw captured wire connector with plastic screw-on cap.

You need to twist these wires together as well, if one twisted wire is not tightened correctly the whole connector can fall off or cause a poor connection.

I've found this mostly with 24 volt AC control circuits but we are using considerable less within our speakers.

A cheap and nasty type connection I have also seen is where manufacturers use crimp-on connectors for un-stripped stranded wires.

A barb only pierces the insulation instead of a complete crimp or solder connection.

I've seen this fail, numerous times, with mostly 120 volt AC circuits, it would be much worse if used with millivoltage.

To sum it up, buy and uses 60/40 Rosin core solder at a minimum, silver bearing is more money, for all connections where possible.

Another sad fact is, most crimp connectors are tinned steel or cadmium plated, not the solid brass or tinned brass of old.

This is also typical of capacitors and resistors as well, instead of tinned copper leads.

King Innovation makes an ideal connector if you do not want to solder the downside is it is costly. upside is it alows for changes to your design and is very sturdy.

here is a link

http://www.kinginnovation.com/products/alumiconn.html

phil