Fully insulated aviation grade connectors/quick connectors

[WingnutWick]

Hello,

I am surprised I'm having trouble finding a kit of aviation grade (full metal neck) fully insulated electical connectors. I can get the ones from the auto shop but they only get one metal on metal crimp vice the two you get with the aviation grade. I bought a kit from steinair but it wasn't fully insulated nor did it have any male connectors (which seems odd). Where do guys get their connectors from. I may be typing in the wrong thing to Aircraft Spruce but no good kits show up.

Or should I just get the auto grade ones and they're fine?

Thank you!
Wingnut

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B0...UpjbUhqMk44bUE

[SgtZim]

There are a lot of different connectors for the many varied things and wires that get connected. I have not found a universal "aviation" connector. A lot of guys get pretty "nerdy" about their connectors and buy them from places like digikey and other electronic suppliers. I think Van's gives some instruction on doing mostly Molex type connectors - but they are far from weatherproof.

One of the neat ideas I picked up from either the EAA or Stein how-to videos - where you want a nice removable/serviceable connection, you can connect each wire with a d-sub male to a female pin, cover with heat shrink tube, and then cover the whole bundle with another heat shrink tube. I plan to do this at the elevator trim.

For the wiring through the fuselage and wing joint, I hope to just run a continuous wire with no connector, just leave a good service loop of wire if I ever (God forbid) have to take a wing off.

Watch the Stein videos and the ones at EAA.com - great free training and ideas!

Good luck

[rv7charlie]

For the crimp issue, just look for 'PIDG' terminals.

You probably didn't see the male 1/4" spades because it's rare to see them used as an in-line connector; they're usually used at the end of a run. Not that a good pair of spade terminals are likely to separate on their own, but 'best practice' would be to use something that latches for in-line splices. Look for 'knife splice' or 'handshake' style connectors.

sgtzim's mention of heatshrink would work fine over spades, as well, provide additional security, & would likely be much cheaper than the full plastic jacket version you show in the pic. Similar effect can be achieved by just shrinking it over the crimp area & leaving the area over the joint 'unshrunk'. If it's something that will need to get opened/reconnected often, some other style of connector might be a better choice.

Charlie

[snopercod]

I'm the nerdy guy who bought my terminals from Digi-Key. The ones you get in the auto parts store are ****. What I wanted was a solid (not split) barrel and a sleeve for crimping on the insulation to keep it from moving around. The good ones are 25c each. It's been a while but I think the ones I bought were either Panduit or Amp. PIDG Terminals and Splices. Rather than a kit, I just bought a selection of blue-red-yellow wire sizes and #6, #8, #10 rings, plus a few large rings for the battery/starter terminals.

[DRMA]

I bought a kit of AMP brand PIDG terminals from B&C. Perhaps this is what you are looking for? http://www.bandc.aero/insulatedtermi...oragecase.aspx
They also sell a ratcheting crimp tool for these terminals.

[BillL]

Here are some deustch connectors. Very tolerant of vibration, water, even pressure washing. Cat uses the DT series on machines. The Cat dealer will sell you a kit with many connectors and parts. The best thing is it includes a crimper. It is a Daniels crimper. Get the right positioners and use for d-sub and high density too. The kit price is like buying the crimper and free connectors and terminals.

Ref for deustch - http://terminalsupplyco.com/Store/De...229#Categories

A bit overkill for me.

[Mich48041]

Van's Aircraft THE LIST
ES 421-0107 CONNECTOR MALE SLIP-ON CONN $0.40
ES 421-0108 CONNECTOR FEMALE SLIP-ON CONN $0.40

[wjb]

35+ years in the electronics industry -- with lots of aerospace experience.

The two top failures? Power supplies, and connectors; full stop.

Don't skimp on good connectors. I'm gonna use MIL grade D-subs with machined pins and Deustch connectors, also with machined pins. Happy to say I have a Daniels crimper with a good set of positions, so it's an easy choice!

[WingnutWick]

Thanks for the input guys. I guess that makes sense why only the female ends come in the kit. It would probably help if I describe what exactly I'm looking to do with them. This is to connect the multitudes of wires coming from my wire harnesses from my relay board. I built the wire harness, but was looking for the best method of connecting all those 20-24 wires coming out and the connectors I mentioned seemed like the best way while allowing ease of disconnecting without too much trouble. Shrink wrapping just seems to be a bit time consuming if I have to disconnect them. The vans part number given was the closest I found but seems a bit large for the 22 wire unluess I fold the wire over. How do most make their online connections from these small wires?

[rv7charlie]

For 20 AWG or smaller wire, 1/4" blade terminals are massive overkill, and if you'll be opening the connections frequently, quality versions with decent 'grip' will be a royal pain to separate, requiring 2 pairs of pliers.

Do you need to open individual wire paths, or would bulk disconnect work? For anything 20AWG or smaller, subD pins are plenty big enough (~7amps per pin). If bulk disconnect works, then a shell with enough pins, or multiple shells if you need groups, would work fine and be much easier to make/break.

Charlie