Banana plugs

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bigmack
Posts: 816
Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 10:49
Job Title: Lab Technician
School: FCAC
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Banana plugs

Post by bigmack »

Its that time of the year when all the leads get a service .

Thought I'd mention that there is a large variety of Banana plugs (4mm plugs ) available from our various suppliers and some are absolute rubbish while others are very good quality .
Here is a few we have in the cupboard .
Banana plugs.jpg
1) These are really nicely made , they screw up nicely and the contacts are quite firm and seem to last without getting too corroded .

2) These are a cheap clone of the one above . The contacts are very flimsy , corrode easily and we are constantly prising them apart to get the plugs to stay in . But the worst thing about these plugs is the screws are badly machined and it takes a lot of pressure to screw them which usually results in the plug rolling over and the screwdriver jabbing into my finger .

The next three look similar but they are quite different .
3) This plug needs to be opened to fit the wire .They are machined nicely and the contacts are very good .Unfortunately they have a habit of not staying together and the "guts" will pop out the end when the plug is pushed into a socket .

4) Again nicely machined and great contacts .They don't have to be dismantled to fit the wire although you need to thread it through the plastic body ....no biggy .

5) the third of these types is again made very well and needs to be dismantled to fit the wire ...but beware ... these are not screw fittings and you need to solder the wire to the metal body . This also requires you to file off a section of the plating to allow a good soldered joint .

My all time favourite is not shown but it is a body like #1) but with the contact style of 3/4/5.

So regarding contacts , there are two types commonly available . One has 4 bowed staves and the other has a aprox 8 bowed staves attached to spring loaded ring . These are my preferred contacts as they seem to maintain their firmness and are fairly corrosion resistant .
contacts.jpg
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Merilyn1
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Re: Banana plugs

Post by Merilyn1 »

Okay Richard - now the BIG question: do you know where they came from?
I bought some like your number 1 from Haines - they were pretty good, except I did end up with the screwdriver in my fingers a few times, but maybe I was just being a bit too aggressive.
I also discovered that the type of wire you use can make a difference as to how well the plugs remain attached to the wire.

Thanks for your great advice, yet again - anything physics just does my head in.
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Kathryn
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Re: Banana plugs

Post by Kathryn »

Would love to know where you purchase your preferred variety. If you are not allowed to put the company name up here could you please PM me. Some types definitely fall to pieces very quickly and it wastes a lot of time repairing them.
Thanks
Kathryn
bigmack
Posts: 816
Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 10:49
Job Title: Lab Technician
School: FCAC
State/Location: QLD

Re: Banana plugs

Post by bigmack »

Thanks Merilyn ...just had a look in Haynes catalogue and they have the one I prefer that looks like #1 but has the other contact type . I was wondering where they come from .
Haynes also have the #5 which is my other preference ( but I don't mind soldering )

Serrata has a real mixture and its hard to tell from their printed catalogue which is which but suffice to say the bag of 3 colours containing 30 plugs looks like the nasty #2 type . They don't have them in their online catalogue so hopefully they have discontinued them as they were crap .
They appear to have the #1 type which are OK and the #5 type but only in RED and BLACK whereas Haynes have the #5 in 5x colours .
Prima
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Joined: 02 Dec 2014, 11:20
Job Title: Lab assistant
State/Location: NSW

Re: Banana plugs

Post by Prima »

"I also discovered that the type of wire you use can make a difference as to how well the plugs remain attached to the wire."
Merilyn - what wire do you use? I have so many different types of wire in my stock :-(
I have loads of bell wire - single strand wire, which is terrible when used for leads, it snaps so easily. I've been slowly replacing them over time with multi strand, but that also comes in a confusing selection! I'm busy placing orders and want to get the right product at last! Thanks
Merilyn1
Posts: 1476
Joined: 12 Mar 2013, 08:10
Job Title: Labbie
School: Wollondilly Anglican College
Suburb: Tahmoor
State/Location: NSW

Re: Banana plugs

Post by Merilyn1 »

I ended up going to Jaycar, showing them what I needed it for - I took in the banana plugs I was using. They sold me a heavier gauge than what I had which I assumed had come from one of the science suppliers. It wasn't terribly expensive and you could buy it by the metre. It did seem to make a difference to how well the wires stayed attached to the plug.
Prima
Posts: 150
Joined: 02 Dec 2014, 11:20
Job Title: Lab assistant
State/Location: NSW

Re: Banana plugs

Post by Prima »

Good idea. Guess where I am going tomorrow!
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