Which electrical connectors should I use?
Discussion
I'm re-wiring a car and need to pick some electrical connectors that can be unplugged.
Does anyone have any experience using "Super Seal"? not sure if that's the brand/model or not.
Link: Super Seal
They are sealed and cheap at 10 for £6.60 (3 way).
Alternatively there's the genuine delphi connectors but they are 10 times the price at £6.90 for one.
Link: Delphi Connector
I don't know what wire size the cheaper super seals take, but the delphi accept a range form 0.35mm2 to 3mm2 which covers everything I need.
Is the extra money worth it?
If I needed one connector I would't worry about it, but I'll likely need a dozen or two so the price difference could soon rack up.
I'll be using them everywhere, behind the dash, engine bay etc.
Thanks
Does anyone have any experience using "Super Seal"? not sure if that's the brand/model or not.
Link: Super Seal
They are sealed and cheap at 10 for £6.60 (3 way).
Alternatively there's the genuine delphi connectors but they are 10 times the price at £6.90 for one.
Link: Delphi Connector
I don't know what wire size the cheaper super seals take, but the delphi accept a range form 0.35mm2 to 3mm2 which covers everything I need.
Is the extra money worth it?
If I needed one connector I would't worry about it, but I'll likely need a dozen or two so the price difference could soon rack up.
I'll be using them everywhere, behind the dash, engine bay etc.
Thanks
Just had a quick look at my usual source electrical bits and they want £37 for a 10 pack of 3 way superseal connectors, so does that imply those e-bay ones are cheap knockoffs?
https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-1-home/c...
https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-1-home/c...
The cheap super seal clones can be a bit hit and miss with the terminals not lining up or the seals not seating properly.
If they are genuine superseal or econoseal they should be ok. Check weather they need a special tool to crimp or to de-pin them, and buy more terminals that connectors so your ok if you make a mistake.
12v Planet, Car Builder Solutions and Auto Electric Supplies are good places to look for these sort of things.
If they are genuine superseal or econoseal they should be ok. Check weather they need a special tool to crimp or to de-pin them, and buy more terminals that connectors so your ok if you make a mistake.
12v Planet, Car Builder Solutions and Auto Electric Supplies are good places to look for these sort of things.
RizzoTheRat said:
Just had a quick look at my usual source electrical bits and they want £37 for a 10 pack of 3 way superseal connectors, so does that imply those e-bay ones are cheap knockoffs?
https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-1-home/c...
Ah, then you are almost definitely correct, they are knock offs.https://www.vehiclewiringproducts.co.uk/c-1-home/c...
blueST said:
12v Planet, Car Builder Solutions and Auto Electric Supplies are good places to look for these sort of things.
12V have good prices on them. Superseal 1.5 Series Waterproof Connector Pair - 3 Way - £3.72 per connector.
But they recommend that you use the special tool. The wire crimping part looks to be standard non insulated crimp which I have. I wonder if I'm gentle would a cheapo insulated drimp tool (again which I have) work on the water seal part of the crimp?
steveo3002 said:
ive used the cheap superseal ones , they seem decent as long as you can crimp them properly
not sure what the max amps they can cope with so might need something else on higher amperage jobs
What crimping tool did you use, and how did you get on with it?not sure what the max amps they can cope with so might need something else on higher amperage jobs
Was just about to say how tricky getting the crimp right is without the right tools - I fitted one to my bike as the reg/rec connector had died. In the end I used a combo of the insulated crimp tool I have to get roughly the right size and some careful vice and pliers application.
Very straight-forward from that aside, and behaved well since.
Very straight-forward from that aside, and behaved well since.
So here's my update....
My original plan was to use connectors throughout the wiring loom. After discovering through this forum, that all cheap connectors are fake, I bought a couple of genuine Superseal 1.5 3-way connectors form 12VoltPlanet to see what they are like.
I didn't order the crimping tool, more on that later.
Overall verdict. I don't like them and I probably wont use any.
The reason 12VoltPlanet and Superseal state that you to always use their crimping tool is that's it's the only way to not damage the seal.
This is nonsense.
I used a cheap non-insulated crimping tool, and by gently using the rounded crimp section, clocking it with each gentle squeeze it's really easy to get a great rounded crimp on the seal. No damage.
Now crimping the wire is a little trickier as there's not much room between the seal and the retaining pins, both need to be avoided. Again, cheap narrow tool shine here.
What didn't I like:
There's no crimp onto the wire insulation. The crimp on the seal does very little to hold the wire in place, which means that the strength of the crimp is solely relying on the crimp on the conductive wires. Maybe this is fine, but the crimp it's self is very thin metal, so it wouldn't take much load to pull the wires out. I'm a lot more comfortable with crimps also around the insulation like this.
My second issue, and this may be my fault, is how hard it was to insert the male crimps into the female housing. It was damn near impossible. Now, maybe I distorted the crimp slightly, but I don't think I did?
Either-way, the only way to insert them was to get some sharp nose pliers and pull them through, and it took quite a bit of force.
To use these connectors throughout would be quite expensive, and with the above concerns and faff putting them together I've decided to do away with these connectors and just use a load of fork crimp onto ABS plastic fuse/relay boards (one under the dash, and one at the back near the battery). Here's the smaller rear board with the first relay mounted.
Where I do need to hook up sensors to my engine wiring loom, I may just go with bullet connectors like these. If I'm worried about those clear seals not being up to the task, I can always 3D print a small housing with a seal. That way I've got a really flexible wiring harness that's super easy to chop and change as my plans evolve.
If anyone thinks I'm doing anything dumb, let me know.
My original plan was to use connectors throughout the wiring loom. After discovering through this forum, that all cheap connectors are fake, I bought a couple of genuine Superseal 1.5 3-way connectors form 12VoltPlanet to see what they are like.
I didn't order the crimping tool, more on that later.
Overall verdict. I don't like them and I probably wont use any.
The reason 12VoltPlanet and Superseal state that you to always use their crimping tool is that's it's the only way to not damage the seal.
This is nonsense.
I used a cheap non-insulated crimping tool, and by gently using the rounded crimp section, clocking it with each gentle squeeze it's really easy to get a great rounded crimp on the seal. No damage.
Now crimping the wire is a little trickier as there's not much room between the seal and the retaining pins, both need to be avoided. Again, cheap narrow tool shine here.
What didn't I like:
There's no crimp onto the wire insulation. The crimp on the seal does very little to hold the wire in place, which means that the strength of the crimp is solely relying on the crimp on the conductive wires. Maybe this is fine, but the crimp it's self is very thin metal, so it wouldn't take much load to pull the wires out. I'm a lot more comfortable with crimps also around the insulation like this.
My second issue, and this may be my fault, is how hard it was to insert the male crimps into the female housing. It was damn near impossible. Now, maybe I distorted the crimp slightly, but I don't think I did?
Either-way, the only way to insert them was to get some sharp nose pliers and pull them through, and it took quite a bit of force.
To use these connectors throughout would be quite expensive, and with the above concerns and faff putting them together I've decided to do away with these connectors and just use a load of fork crimp onto ABS plastic fuse/relay boards (one under the dash, and one at the back near the battery). Here's the smaller rear board with the first relay mounted.
Where I do need to hook up sensors to my engine wiring loom, I may just go with bullet connectors like these. If I'm worried about those clear seals not being up to the task, I can always 3D print a small housing with a seal. That way I've got a really flexible wiring harness that's super easy to chop and change as my plans evolve.
If anyone thinks I'm doing anything dumb, let me know.
Penelope Stopit said:
You should be crimping the seal tight with a fold crimp rather than a round crimp so that the insulation of the cable is grabbed tight by the seal
Not according to superseal.These are screen grabs from their instruction video. Actually, it's 12VoltPlanets video.
Note the round die for the seal (highlited in yellow).
Also note their crimp on the seal. It's not even fully closed around the seal, so it's certainly not gripping the wire insulation.
If it did, it would pierce the seal all together.
This is my big complaint about this connector.
In my view, their crimps should have:
A crimp for the seal
A crimp for the wire insulation
A crimp for the wire
Here is their video if anyone is interested.
https://youtu.be/adSl73Qjwok
I've used them in places where I was worried about moisture. They are a bit fiddly and you do need spare seals and pins for when you inevitably get one wrong. I've not had any problems with them though to be fair, aside from me crimping them up wrong, forgetting to put the seal on first, the usual stuff. They do seem a bit of a compromised design though really, they never seem to come in quite the right sizes, and I'd prefer larger connectors.
I use Sureseal connectors, which are relatively simple to install as long as you buy the correct insertion tool. The body of the connector is essentially a rubber moulding that the terminals are pressed into. The insulation is sealed to the housing and the two housings seal to each other when connected.
montyjohn said:
Penelope Stopit said:
You should be crimping the seal tight with a fold crimp rather than a round crimp so that the insulation of the cable is grabbed tight by the seal
Not according to superseal.These are screen grabs from their instruction video. Actually, it's 12VoltPlanets video.
Note the round die for the seal (highlited in yellow).
Also note their crimp on the seal. It's not even fully closed around the seal, so it's certainly not gripping the wire insulation.
If it did, it would pierce the seal all together.
This is my big complaint about this connector.
In my view, their crimps should have:
A crimp for the seal
A crimp for the wire insulation
A crimp for the wire
Here is their video if anyone is interested.
https://youtu.be/adSl73Qjwok
Have never had a problem with crimping them although have not used many
Am now taking it that the seal pushed into the moulding is a good enough grab of the cable insulation
My way, apparently the wrong way shown below
Penelope Stopit said:
My way, apparently the wrong way shown below
At least your way has a good grip on the insulation.Penelope Stopit said:
Am now taking it that the seal pushed into the moulding is a good enough grab of the cable insulation
I don't believe it does. The seals are very soft and not all that tight in the moulding.I doubt they do anything to restrain the wire.
Aren't Deutsch connectors supposed to be the dog danglers?
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/b/deutsch/connectors/
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/b/deutsch/connectors/
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