Stop,l just plain stop!

[tvrgeek]

Please folks, do not EVER use one of these things most vile in your car. This one was a hack "professional" repair in my ignition circuit. As usual, about 1/3 of the strands were broken open. Sure they work OK when new, Out the door, but a few years of vibration and the stress points cause strands to brake. I have seen them melted!

Do not ever use a Scotch-Loc or clone in your car. EVER.

Vendors out there, please stop including them so people are not tempted to use them.

[mole42]

I couldn't sgree more. Deadly things.

Richard

[DJT]

It's the same with lots of things these days. Someone invents an item which, following rigorous testing, etc. is perfectly fit for purpose, then someone else comes along with a similar, cheaper, less robust item and then they are all deemed to be unsuitable rubbish. The original, and best, 3M Scotchlok joiners are good quality and eminently fit for purpose if used correctly. The same applies to crimp terminals. Quality items, fitted using a quality crimping tool, are fit for purpose. Cheap copies, fitted using a pair of pliers are not and will fail. I bought some a while back from a well-known UK car and cycle accessory chain and they were absolute cr*p.
You may, or may not, be aware that connectors using the same technology as 3M Scotchloks are used by BT and other utilities for underground low-voltage wiring where they are subjected to much harsher conditions than behind the dashboard of a car.
The item in the OP photo is not a 3M Scotchlok. It may, or may not, have originated in the back streets of Shenzen and be of dubious quality.

[mole42]

You may, or may not, be aware that connectors using the same technology as 3M Scotchloks are used by BT and other utilities for underground low-voltage wiring where they are subjected to much harsher conditions than behind the dashboard of a car.

But the ones BT use are PJ filled (petroleum jelly) and installed in controlled conditions by trained persons.

[tvrgeek]

Yes, that one is a clone, but I have removed plenty of real ones. Crap, total crap. Inherently a very bad design. I spent 10 years as a failure analysis electronic technician, so I have seen my share of failures and understood what leads to them. Nothing I have found in my , now 7, LBCs had suggested different.

Underground wiring is not subject to the same vibrations as a car. They are not usually stranded wire. It may be possible for solid copper to flow and not have a hardened stress area, but crap. Sorry if you work for 3M, but they are terrible devices.

Yes, getting quality crimp terminals is harder these days. Last batch I bought the actual ring was not much thicker than foil.

[DJT]

But the ones BT use are PJ filled (petroleum jelly) and installed in controlled conditions by trained persons.

Yes. I've used hundreds over the past year or so, as I've been working with a former Post Office telecoms engineer to repair large sections of our golf course irrigation system. Many of the original gel-filled crimp connections have now broken down after 40 years in the Devonshire clay, and we've been replacing them with new.

[Seaking]

Yes. I've used hundreds over the past year or so, as I've been working with a former Post Office telecoms engineer to repair large sections of our golf course irrigation system. Many of the original gel-filled crimp connections have now broken down after 40 years in the Devonshire clay, and we've been replacing them with new.

Telecom cables are solid wires not stranded as in vehicle's.

[Bakdraft007]

The principle of a scotch-lock is around us everywhere. Most automated mass market machinery (including the ones I work on) have literally 10's of thousands of connections via ribbon cables and connectors. They work incredibly reliably. BUT they key thing as in the BT situation is Low voltage low power.. NOT high power.

[DJT]

Telecom cables are solid wires not stranded as in vehicle's.

Not the underground 24v wires in a golf-course irrigation system, Glenn, but they still use gel-filled crimps for the decoders and solenoids.

[Neil in Deal]

Afternoon all,

If you think it's bad in the auto accessory world, you ought to see some of the total crap I've had to fix on ships over the years.

I joined one ship and was advised a tumble drier wasn't working.
Unplugging it, I noticed the cable seemed a bit big for the plug.
As it was sitting approx. 3 ft "up" on a shelf, I got some assistance to remove it, when I found it was 440v AC, and someone had bodged it in by joining the wire cores together by twisting them together, no sort of terminal block was used at all. Then I found according to ship's drawings the outlet was supposed to be 110v AC, but someone had disconnected that feed and connected 440 AC to the outlet.
A tremendous fire risk. Also, VERY dangerous....that one was reported straight to the Office.

Whilst our cars are only 12v DC, ANYTHING carrying current, no matter how little can and will overheat if a connection is loose.
Good quality plugs/sockets, or soldered (and well insulated/sleeved) connections are the way to go.
And ALWAYS carry a fire extinguisher and a spanner to disconnect the battery.

As others have mentioned above, specific cabling is used for specific tasks, i.e. solid core cabling is NEVER used on ships due to the possibility of vibration/chafing causing a core to break resulting in a piece of "critical equipment" being put out of action.....having said that some of my former "colleagues" in the Merchant Navy DID use domestic single-core "twin and earth" cabling on many occasions, causing me to spend days ripping it out and replacing it with proper Marine cabling - multi-strand armoured etc....there again, there's "no cure for stupid".......
Stay safe,

Neil.