Alligator clips, minigrabbers, what do you guys use? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: SharpEars
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 04, 2016, 08:33:05 pm
content: So if you get the really cheap Chinese alligator clips on eBay/AliExpress, their jaws are often misaligned and have either too little or too much grip strength. Mini-grabbers work better, but due to the thin wire at the end, they're only good for very low current applications and thin solid wires (e.g., 18 AWG or more) to grab onto.So what's the perfect grip connector for clipping on to wire leads for testing and connecting power (two completely different cases, I realize), ensuring a good grip (no slippage, but without cutting into the wire being gripped) and decent current performance (so as not to drop voltage due to the parasitic resistance of the connector itself). Being cost-effective (i.e., not $20 per clip) would also be nice.Looking for ideas from seasoned veteransof DIY projects.

author: retrolefty
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2016, 08:43:02 pm
content: Well outside in refinery industrial control troubleshooting we used mostly 'homemade' leads with good all metal alligator jaws. They just held up better and were more secure. Anything using plastic near the grabber hooks would just not last long with heat or other field obstacles. Not pretty but effective

author: bxh
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 04, 2016, 08:44:26 pm
content: What kind of power requirements do you need? I've tested using mini-grabbers to fairly high powers (probably not recommended) while building an ESC for a brushless DC motor (~10V and 4+A!) and didn't experience any problems.

author: SharpEars
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 04, 2016, 08:47:34 pm
content: Quote from: bxh on January 04, 2016, 08:44:26 pmIt's not an issue of heat. It's an issue of poorer regulation (due to parasitic resistance in the wires/clips) without sense wires in the overall picture (and then you have the same problem of how do you connect the sense wires). It doesn't have to be high current, 1 A or less is fine. The best clips I've used so far are kelvin clips (without using the kelvin feature).Here is a sample scenario. You have a 22 AWG solid copper cable lead and you want to clip on, what do you use to not scar the cable, but still have a good tight grip?

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 05, 2016, 02:38:32 am
content: I sometimes solder 30AWG wires to the pcb, itself, and wrap these wires to a row of pin headers. Then I use female jumpers wires as my probes. I also use pinheaders and female jumpers for power, and my bench PSU is usually connected to wires ending in a row of 3 pin headers. Ground-power-ground. (This sounds backwards to have the exposed pins on my power supply output, but my PSU has current limiting, and sometimes I'm connecting to things with batteries!!) Then I will either solder two female jumpers onto the circuit or a bit of female header, whichever is convenient.Wires with exposed ends can quickly become problematic, if you have more than one or two signals and things aren't bolted down. And there's no clip that is proper for all size wires.Sounds like you want some minigrabbers. They should work fine on 22AWG, and they will also grab header pins just fine.

author: bxh
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 06, 2016, 01:19:25 am
content: Even mini-grabbers can occasionally scratch whatever it's attached to, and alligator clips are worse. It seems you need an enlarged mini-grabber type hook that has a blunt surface, I don't think I've seen anything like this..