JonJay
Well Known Member
A Hot Mag led me to two broken ring terminals which had failed simultaneously or close to it. Both the shield and P lead where broken off. With the recent discussions on terminal quality, I thought it would be a good time to do a very unscientific field test.
The terminals gave out on the right mag at about 700 hours. Inspection of the left mag terminals under magnification showed cracks in the plating and it didn't take much, a gentle push, and both of those terminals failed, so they where ready to go at anytime.
The terminals in question where from Vans standard wiring kit. Let's call those Average Quality Terminals. Although it had been many years, I still had some of these terminals from a wiring upgrade. I also had terminals purchased from a high end electronics shop (I will follow up with the brand). Call them Good Quality Terminals, and terminals from B&C terminal kit that I purchased for maintenance use, High Quality Terminals.
The test was simple; Crimp a wire onto the terminal. Grab terminal with pliers. Bend up and down approx. 45 deg. and see how many cycles before failure. Very unscientific.
The difference was striking. The Average Terminal only made 4 cycles and they "snap" off. The Good, 8 cycles. The High Quality from B&C, more than 20! As you can see in the videos, there is an obvious difference in temper. The B&C terminals (whatever brand they use in their kits) start to plasticize well before they break. They break without the "snap".
I am not a scientist or engineer, so please take my rudimentary stupid field test with a grain of salt, but for me, it proves a point. There appears to be a big difference in the performance of these different terminal connectors. It may not matter in many applications, but for Mag wiring, a high vibration area, I doubt I would have had a terminal failure at 700 hours if the connector quality had been that of the B&C or even the Good quality product.
http://https://vimeo.com/206580273
http://https://vimeo.com/206580379
http://https://vimeo.com/206580412
The terminals gave out on the right mag at about 700 hours. Inspection of the left mag terminals under magnification showed cracks in the plating and it didn't take much, a gentle push, and both of those terminals failed, so they where ready to go at anytime.
The terminals in question where from Vans standard wiring kit. Let's call those Average Quality Terminals. Although it had been many years, I still had some of these terminals from a wiring upgrade. I also had terminals purchased from a high end electronics shop (I will follow up with the brand). Call them Good Quality Terminals, and terminals from B&C terminal kit that I purchased for maintenance use, High Quality Terminals.
The test was simple; Crimp a wire onto the terminal. Grab terminal with pliers. Bend up and down approx. 45 deg. and see how many cycles before failure. Very unscientific.
The difference was striking. The Average Terminal only made 4 cycles and they "snap" off. The Good, 8 cycles. The High Quality from B&C, more than 20! As you can see in the videos, there is an obvious difference in temper. The B&C terminals (whatever brand they use in their kits) start to plasticize well before they break. They break without the "snap".
I am not a scientist or engineer, so please take my rudimentary stupid field test with a grain of salt, but for me, it proves a point. There appears to be a big difference in the performance of these different terminal connectors. It may not matter in many applications, but for Mag wiring, a high vibration area, I doubt I would have had a terminal failure at 700 hours if the connector quality had been that of the B&C or even the Good quality product.
http://https://vimeo.com/206580273
http://https://vimeo.com/206580379
http://https://vimeo.com/206580412
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