FWIW, rather than invest in crimpers and practice as needed to get great crimps, I simply solder the wires into the terminals as recommended by Wayne.
I place the terminals over the bare ends and solder, filling the part you might crimp with solder. It's useful to align the terminals correctly so they slide right into the PP housing when done. Also, be sure you do not get solder on the terminal contacts. Some builders like to hold the wires vertically with a vice to prevent soldering from flowing onto the contact area. I've had no problems over the past 12 years or so using the PP connectors -- all but a very few are soldered. 73, Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of John Pitz Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2016 9:49 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 and Power Poles On the topic of Power Pole connectors, I have a crimper that if I remember correctly I bought from West Mountain Radio. It looks pretty similar to the one sold by Powerwerx. I have had very little success crimping the #10 zip cord sold by Powerwerx. Am I missing something? I have used these off and on for a few years to crimp smaller gauge wire. With the 10 wire the crimp looks terrible, and it is very hard to extract the pin from the crimper without destroying the pin. If you do manage to get the pin out of the crimpers it is almost impossible to push into the housing. Is there something wrong with Powerwerx's zip cord? my crimpers? Is there better cable to use, ideally something really flexible? A lot of my operation is portable so this stuff is always getting plugged, unplugged, coiled, uncoiled, etc. KD8CIV On Tue, 2016-09-13 at 08:11 -0500, Clay Autery wrote: > I find the Power pole connectors perfectly serviceable... And I am > pretty much a cabling/connector freak. > > I like Power Poles because they are serviceable, configurable, and > becoming more common/standard as time passes. > > Would I prefer a CPC or other connector? Perhaps, but the Power Pole > does the job and at a manufacturing price point that makes sense. > > If you do your cabling and cable routing correctly, you should never > have a problem. The connectors are rated to carry enough power to > satisfy the K3s' needs AT FULL POWER. > > And there are ways/devices to make PP connections "more secure". > > ______________________ > Clay Autery, KY5G > MONTAC Enterprises > (318) 518-1389 > > On 9/13/2016 7:53 AM, Ramon Tristani wrote: > > The Power Pole connectors on the back of my K3 provide for only a marginal, > > non-secure connection to the cable coming from the power supply. Has > > anybody out there “invented” or “discovered” a more secure and strong > > connection than the one provided by the Power Poles? It is so easy for the > > connection to come loose that makes me wonder how can they safely conduct > > the 20 amps needed for the radio to operate at full power. I believe in > > strong and tight connections when relatively high current is expected. > > Anybody out there with suggestions? I would appreciate knowing from you. > > Thank you all. > > > > Ramón E. Tristani Sr., NQ9V > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > https://www.flickr.com/photos/nq9v/ > > <https://www.flickr.com/photos/nq9v/> > > https://tristaniministries.wordpress.com/ > > <https://tristaniministries.wordpress.com/> > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email > list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to > [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
