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Before I order....question about crimp connectors

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jhabers:

do I want a crimp that dimples the connector or makes it like a football shape? The crimper I have makes it like a football shape.

Also I was going to remove the colored insulation part before crimping and then just use some heatshrink where the insulation would normally be (for aesthetic reasons). Is there anything wrong with doing this? Can I use the same crimper even though I will be crimping with no insulation?

Thanks

Arcades R Fun:

I would recommend not using Crimp-ons.
Try soldering the connections. The money you save on the crimp-ons and wire crimper you could easily afford to buy a soldering iron and a spool of solder.

We recently switched to soldering all our microswitch connections forf every panel we build.
This virtually eliminates any broken/loose wires that come from using crimp-ons.
We now consistently have 100% working connections on every panel built.

Jack

Fozzy The Bear:


--- Quote from: Arcades R Fun on March 22, 2008, 11:12:34 pm ---We recently switched to soldering all our microswitch connections forf every panel we build.
This virtually eliminates any broken/loose wires that come from using crimp-ons.
We now consistently have 100% working connections on every panel built.

--- End quote ---

Very bad suggestion.... Sorry Jack, but that is probably the worst piece of advice I've seen on here for a while.

Crimp connectors allow you to change out a broken microswitch with ease. I also don't see broken connections at the crimp or in the wire as a result of them. If that is happening then you're crimping them with the wrong tool.

I always get 100% good connections with crimps and push on connectors. If you're not getting that, then you're doing something wrong. The entire arcade industry has been using crimps for the last 40 years or more. If they were as unreliable as you suggest then we would have stopped using them a very long time ago.

I pity anybody that buys one of your panels with soldered connections and then wants or needs to change something.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Arcades R Fun:

Julian,
You are entitled to your opinion.
Maybe we did not crimp correctly. But, we did use the standard dimpled crimp tools out there.
We have had zero microswitch failures and if a customer did have a bad one, it's very simple to correct.
We supply replacement switches at no charge if needed.


We never would have switched if not for some observations/discussions I had with arcade vendors over the years. Here's what I learned.

I also collect arcade games the last 9 years and have attended many. many arcade auctions. Several of the game I purchased were the typical conversions the arcade vendors did to breathe new life into there games.
I noticed that many of the games were soldered. I finally asked a vendor why he would spend more time to solder his connections rather than just crimp-ons. he said "Reliability". It's something many vendors do to produce a strong conection for commercial use.

I will be happy to explain to anyone how to solder connections.
Both methods do work nicely except we prefer this method.
Jack



ChadTower:


Solder is not a strong connection - it's not mechanical at all.  Solder should not be used in place of a real mechanical connection.  A good crimp is many times stronger than the wire itself - the wire will snap elsewhere before the crimp comes off. 

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