Ferrules! Wagos! (2 Viewers)

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e9999

e9999

Gotta get outta here...
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I can't believe I lasted so many years doing various DIY electrical jobs around the house and shop, using mostly a bunch of improvised connections, pigtails, screw-on connectors, twist-on wire nuts, and lots of soldering, and only recently started to crimp my own ferrules and began to use Wagos (not necessarily together). What a pleasure both of those are! To think my life could have been sooo much easier all those years. I get a kick especially out of crimping the ferrules. So much more professional-looking than loose strands. I even got both a square and a hex crimper to use depending on the shape of the receptacle. And OTOH I did a bunch of research about how many amps the Wagos will handle beyond their rating. Very very impressive. Seems like they are the standard in Europe now. If you haven't already, have a look at both of those.
 
^ ditto here recently too, all things crimp on ferrules and Wagos.
 
the Youtube videos on people trying to burn the Wagos with way excess current are quite entertaining, FWIW.

One of the things I like a lot are the ferrules with a plastic cap for the insulation. Makes the whole thing nicely rigid. Never liked how the loose strands would bend at the insulation end when connected to something, and possibly end up fraying there...
 
Found the Wagos about half way thru my container house build, which was unfortunately half way too late! Love those things, really so much easier to get all the wires in the box because they allow each individual wire to rotate.

What ferrules are you using? I've been using the waterproof heat shrink kind exclusively, along with the waterproof heat-shrink over-wraps as necessary. I really like these adhesive heat-shrink kind because even if the crimp is sub-par the wire can't really pull out due to the adhesive on the insulation.
Amazon product ASIN B01GXQMP66Amazon product ASIN B06XF8T4LM
 
I use Knipex ferrules and Shrinkflex adhesive shrink tubing from Wirecare. Probably overkill but OTOH not chinese junk.

WireCare.com | Your Local Cable Management Superstore!

WireCare is your online wire & cable management superstore. We have what you need for connecting, harnessing, & beautifying all of your electrical projects. We carry the highest quality tools & accessories including Techflex, Deutsch, & Pressmaster.
www.wirecare.com www.wirecare.com
 
Well, the stuff I've linked above has proven itself to me to not be junk. I'm over 5 years into many connections with those products and never had a problem, actually with any connection I've made there's been no problems. WireCare is a great resource though for lots of cool products, thanks for sending that through! Same with TechFlex who makes Shrinkflex, lots of interesting stuff.

Also worth mentioning here is something that I've started using for quick prototyping or stationary/protected connections are similar to Wagos connectors but made for circuits:
Amazon product ASIN B08QMLSMC6
 
@jellis I didn't meant to infer the ferrules and shrink tubing you referenced are junk. There's just so much crap on the market and I've been burned so many times from so many products in so many sectors I have a well worn path to the UPS Store & Kohl's from Amazon returns.
 
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Jellis, we may be talking about different things. By ferrules I mean the crimped tubular termination fully covering a bare wire, to insert in screw/clamp connectors like in breakers etc, not eyelets etc terminals like in your link. Basically like shoelace endings but with a cap covering the wire insulation (usually).
 
I was given some of these at a trade show, seems like a neat product. They are designed for wiring inside a stationary control cabinets, not sure how they would work for an automotive application. They make several sizes.

Amazon product ASIN B06XGYXVXR
 
well, those are not waterproof so that may be an issue for long-term use.

But I do like the 221 series. I usually get the ones that can do 10AWG for solar equipment testing. It's nice that they are transparent and you can check how far in the wire goes. Used the older style 222 (IIRC - the opaque gray plastic ones with the skinny levers) series too, but prefer the 221.
 
One thing I sometimes wish is that rather than having a color scheme by size, it would be both black and red for the same size so I can more easily differentiate Pos and Neg. The size I can easily figure out by trial and error.
But no matter, I can easily put some colored tape on the wire.
 
....or colored waterproof heat shrink which makes the connection WAY more robust!
 
Yes, that might help too, although not exactly necessary IMO. And the shrink tube waterproofing aspect is not that critical for ferrules since the skinny end is open anyway (unless you have too much time on your hands).

At least, with a ferrule, it should be possible to slip the shrink tubing -if needed- on from the end after the crimping, which in my case is a good thing since I often forget to put the shrink tubing first on wires when I do soldering...
 
Well if y'all like Wago connectors, I have a new product for wiring up 12V auxiliary battery systems that you may be interested in:

apds-top.png


The Auxiliary Power Distribution System replaces many of the bus bars, ring terminals/lugs and fuse blocks normally required for a 12v auxiliary battery installation with one integrated unit. You'll still need a few ring terminals to make connections to your batteries and such but we do also have kits available that include all the necessary cables with ring terminals/lugs preinstalled.

More details here:

https://www.tesotaoverland.com/

Add "ih8mud" and your username to the notes field for 10% off any power distribution products when you place your order.
 
I was never a fan of the "wago" type connector. I know they are UL listed but seeing that they only use a small bit of metal to actual come in contact of the wire seemed to me not the greatest connection. They remind me of when I was wiring houses in the late 80's and using the backstab feature on the receptacle or switch. Just seemed mickey mouse.

Now ferrules on the other hand are super tight!!!!
 
^ I was very impressed when I saw videos testing Wagos for excess current. Was way in excess of the already impressive ratings.
 
I'd grant that when properly installed, ring terminals will definitely be a lower resistance connection. But the operative part of that sentence is "properly installed". Unless you have a hydraulic crimp tool, pretty much nobody gets it right on 4 AWG cable or larger. I've tested those Wago PCB connectors at more than double their rated current and while they do get warm, it's nothing compared to a typical fuse holder.

Mechanically speaking they're extremely solid. I've never been able to pull a wire or cable of any size out of a Wago connector. Either you just end up pulling the insulation back or the copper strands break off.
 
e9999 said:
^ I was very impressed when I saw videos testing Wagos for excess current. Was way in excess of the already impressive ratings.
Click to expand...
Maybe technology has caught up and I need to "give it another go"...
 
Have you put those Wago connections under strain on a vibration table? I love Wago's but wouldn't consider them a permanent option for high-current connections on a highly vibrating chassis. I can't find any official info about their use in automotive or aviation applications, but it does seem like folks are commonly using them in automotive from various forums.
 
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