Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

balearicdynamics — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 19:37:55 GMT

John, I am still using your hand-made tester terminals and are still are an incredibly great solution in so many situations. Also, this idea in its simplicity sounds great. I have also the need you illustrate and making this kind of gator-to-clip makes really easy to testing and checking, especially on custom boards not easy to associate directly to a breadboard. I have always used double alligator cables but this is definitely a better solution.

Enrico

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

colporteur — Tue, 03 Sep 2019 15:35:40 GMT

Your experience with the quality of alligator clip jumpers usually rears it ugly head while troubleshooting a dog fault. An intermittent faults that doesn't stick around long enough to get a handle on the root cause. After a few attempts at isolation you discover an open in a jumper cable. FK!!!!!!!!! Fart kickers.........

I'm in impressed with your supply shelf that has both the wire colour selection and matching colours for heat shrink. NICE:)

Sean

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

three-phase — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 20:25:48 GMT

Another great tip for working better!

I do make a lot of use of various sizes of micro-grabbers. Smaller ones are quite cheap and I find easier to manipulate. The larger ones get more expensive but then I do not need so many of them.

Example Micro-grabbers

Kind regards.

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

DAB — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 18:24:54 GMT

Another great idea John.

DAB

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

genebren — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 15:37:36 GMT

John,

Nice write-up. Your resourcefulness is really quite amazing. I like how you not only used matching heat shink, most on the header pins are also color matching. No that is attention to details!

Thanks for sharing!

Gene

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

shabaz — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 13:10:28 GMT

Hi John,

Up until recently, I still had a few of those alligator cables, they look like an identical set, that I think I'd purchased from Radio Shack! : ) They lasted a long time.

Since then I've just been just purchasing the occasional solo alligator clips to attach to wires.

The slipping issue you and Doug mention was the reason I didn't end up getting any PVC boots for the bare alligator clips, but then they're a shorting risk : (

These are ok-ish: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32813835739.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4dEPvGRZ

(not designed for crimping/soldering, but they are solderable, if you use heatshrink to provide the final strain relief, because nothing grips that).

For wire, I've been using some flexi stuff from one of the UK consumer Farnell stores (CPC), I think its construction is very close to the dental wires you describe, with about 100 fine strands, but it's very low-cost (it is PVC insulated), and only available in red and black unlike the ones you've found.

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

Gough Lui — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 06:12:38 GMT

Doing some searching on element14 - it seems it is possible to buy such wire in the Hook-Up wire section. One just has to be careful to filter by gauge and strand counts to find something decently flexible (i.e. lots of fine strands). I remember in the past, some people used to refer to these as "test lead wire" as many multimeter leads (should) be made with such wire with nice silicone insulation.

I did a search on the AU site with wire gauges 16-28AWG and >100 strands:

https://au.element14.com/w/c/cable-wire-cable-assemblies/hook-up-wire/prl/results?wire-gauge=16awg|17awg|18awg|19awg|20a…

As expected, prices aren't cheap but not as dear as I would have expected. Staubli seems to dominate the results with their Hi-Flex and Super-Flex range of wire.

- Gough

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

fmilburn — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 05:55:32 GMT

Hi John,

They look great! I have soldered the alligator clips to the wire that comes with them in the past, but it really is poor quality wire. Do you find this approach for the pin end:

For the pin end of the cables I will take standard square pin, breakable, male headers and add them to the free end of the wire

better than crimping so called Dupont male pins? I had not thought to try your approach.

Frank

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

jw0752 — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 04:41:04 GMT

If anyone is looking for some of this wire just ask your dentist to save his old failed power optic handpiece and cavitron hoses for you.

RE: Shop Tips - Bread Board Alligator Clips

dougw — Mon, 02 Sep 2019 04:28:19 GMT

Great idea John.

One thing I find frustrating is how slippery some of those sleeves are on the alligator clips. It is hard to get your fingers squeezing in the right direction on some of them. I have some ideas, but never got around to solving it, so if you have a solution be sure to let us know....