Not sure....but that sounds like a lot of work!
Not sure....but that sounds like a lot of work!
Dustin Dickerson
Building 7ss STI x 2
Oratex
29" shock monster
EP912STI 155hp
Garmin
N33TF......FLYING!
N53TF......FLYING!
I'm curious to learn why you prefer ring terminals over FASTONs. Except for physically large, high-current connections for which a FASTON is not suitable, the FASTON is easier to install and more secure than a ring terminal.
I just weighed some 0.25" FASTON terminals and PIDG ring terminals. They're virtually identical, at about 0.04 oz each. Let's be generous and assume that my scale reads 25% low, and that the weight of the wire hanging from the installed terminal increases the total weight by a factor of ten. That gives us an installed weight hanging on the terminal of 0.5 oz. Test data in the FASTON catalog (page 9) shows the minimum pull required to detach a FASTON terminal, on the sixth de-mating cycle, is 3 lbs. So, it would take an acceleration of at least 96 g to cause our hypothetical 0.5 oz FASTON terminal to detach!
Assuming you mate the FASTON until you feel it click, there's essentially only one failure mode left: a bad crimp. That's easily mitigated by pull testing each one you crimp. If it will hold with a steady pull at about 2/3 of the rated pull-out force for the wire size used (see page 8 of the catalog), then the terminal will likely detach before the crimp fails.
Ring terminals suffer from the same crimp failure mode, but add the possibility of installation errors like a missing star washer or improper nut torque (plus the added weight and installation hassle of these components), as well as vulnerability to vibration to which the FASTON is immune. If the nut holding a ring terminal loosens but doesn't detach, it can cause a high-resistance connection, which can lead to system malfunctions (possibly intermittent; a nightmare to diagnose) and heating at the stud. If rings are stacked on the stud, these problems are compounded.
Please believe me when I say that I'm not trying to start an argument, or find fault with your technique, but I think it's important that we make choices based on good understanding of the technologies we're using and the physics involved in their application.
Eric Page
Building: Kitfox 5 Safari | Rotax 912iS | Dynon HDX
Member: EAA Lifetime, AOPA, ALPA
ATP: AMEL | Comm: ASEL, Glider | ATCS: CTO
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