RadioBanter - View Single Post

January 27th 04, 06:47 PM

In article , (Mark Zenier)
writes:

In article ,
Jim Adney wrote:
On 23 Jan 2004 06:35:56 -0800 (Bruce Kizerian)
wrote:

Does anyone know where I can buy IN QUANTITY the coil spring
solderless terminals commonly used on hobby kits like the "100 in One"
experimenters kits sold by Radio Shack, etc.?

I'll bet that any number of spring companies would be happy to make
them for you.

I've never seen them offered as a standard product by anyone, but they
MIGHT be out there somewhere.

Vector used to have the T30 and T32 series of terminals that were
spring loaded, but they weren't on their web site when I checked today.
Maybe one of their competitors like Keystone or OK Tool. Or perhaps
some East Asian company. What do to they sell for prototyping stuff
in Hong Kong?

A possible solution is (if those are still made), the "springs" used
in cable harness wiring boards. Those are conventional springs
with wide spacing, the ends slammed into nail-like points. When
literally hammered into a wooden board, the springs still allow
some flexure enough to hold an insulated wire in place.

Not a good solution since the turns on the spring are wide and I've
never seen the spring surface plated with anything resisting
corrosion. Those are (or were) quite cheap but available only from
a few vendors. [I was in R&D, not in production...]

The push-into-place, hold-wire-ends-by-friction prototype bread-
boards seem to be quite popular with hobbyists. Most of those
I've seen are made offshore. Those are easier to use, hold as
tightly as cable harness springs and have their own "backing
board."

Len Anderson
retired (from regular hours) electronic engineer person