Banana plugs
Posted: 24 Oct 2017, 12:48
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 .
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 .
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 .
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 .