battery snap

[Canucker]

What place has your favorite battery snap clips whatever you want to call them. The supply stores around here only have crappy ones. They are only a quarter so I guess that just backs up the you get what you pay for idea.

[davent]

DIY, for the longest time did it like this. http://hammer.ampage.org/files/DIY-snaps.pdf and Duracells worked best.

REcently got some of these from Small Bear, pretty good but i'm used to the 22awg wire of the diy's, much more robust. http://www.smallbearelec.com/servlet/Detail?no=1098

dave

[Canucker]

I've had that recommended to me before. I pretty much want to replace the crappy clips on all the projects I've built...maybe twenty? The odds of something horribly wrong if I prey open twenty batteries is pretty good....this is me we're talking about after all...plus I don't have that many dead ones. That is a pretty well detailed instructions on how to do it...if I don't find something I like enough I'll do up some of my own for my fave builds...the ones that actually make it to my pedal board.

[LucifersTrip]

believe it or not, the 5-pack from Radio Shack

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062218

they are the heavy plastic ones with the lead coming off one side. it is much more convenient than the common ones that have the lead off the middle

[haveyouseenhim]

^  +1    I use those for most of my projects

[Eric.nail]

http://www.pedalpartsplus.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PPP&Product_Code=2006&Category_Code=ACC

Pedal parts plus. I cant say good enough things about em! Plus, They send you a couple jolly ranchers along with your order's for those long late nights slaving over the soldering iron!

[Kesh]

Trouble with all of those but the diy is that they aren't the T-configuration, which means the leads get bent a lot in the smaller cases.

[davent]

Trouble with all of those but the diy is that they aren't the T-configuration, which means the leads get bent a lot in the smaller cases.

The Small Bear ones are 'T's, that was the reason i ordered those.

[JRB]

I don't use batteries any more but before I switched I used these pcb once from musikding. The pin's to connect them onto the pcb aren't included.
http://www.musikding.de/Connectors/DC-jacks/Battery/9V-battery-snap-I-shape-pcb::1832.html

[Mark Hammer]

The nice thing about DIY snaps is that they can be T-type....or not, depending on your needs.  I find it helpful to slip a piece of heat shrink over the wires where they emerge from the snap, regardless of where they emerge.  Provides a bit of added strength.

That said, the quality of battery snaps, and the availability of quality snaps, has improved considerably over the last decade or so.

[digi2t]

Just a heads-up. If anyone is refurb'ing any old Japanese pedals, ABRA Electronics' Montreal store has the old fashioned, inline, blue clips. Not shown on their website. I found them cruising through there the other day, so I bought a bunch. They're a dead on match for the vintage ones. As in...



My Honey Special Fuzz had the clip replaced with a newer, black T type, which really didn't fit (or work) the bill. I've now replaced it with this one, and order has been restored to the universe. 

[LucifersTrip]

Most of the vintage snaps I have are grey...does anyone sell those?

[digi2t]

Most of the vintage snaps I have are grey...does anyone sell those?

Hmmm, yes, grey. I've seen those as well, but I'm not finding them anywhere. If I do, I'll let you know.

[Ronan]

I pulled a flat 9V battery to bits at work today - I'm very impressed with the quality of the resulting clip, the one I got from the energizer 9V looks tougher than any clip I've ever seen. Easy way to get the clip out - use sidecutters to peel back the seam of the case at the side of the batt. Then get long-nose pliers and peel a strip off right around the top, like opening a can.

[Mark Hammer]

Yep, been doing it for years.

Depending on battery brand, it can be tough to solder wires to the backside of the connector without melting the iece of plastic they are mounted in.  I also find that the bottom plate of the batter won't stick securely to the top part with simple hopt melt glue is that plate is plastic.  Ideally you want to use those battery brans that use fibrous materials.

[davent]

Duracells use the fibrous end pieces, i don't bother with plastic types for the reasons Mark stated. To help with soldering, i find applying some flux to the joints helps a great deal. And to help the hot glue along i usually warm up the parts to be glued with a hot air gun, can always reheat things with the hot air gun to make adjustments to the set glue up, if need be.

[waltk]

I usually use two-part epoxy for the clips.  It works great even on the plastic plates (helps to rough them up with a little coarse sandpaper).  Only once (out of dozens) did a plastic backing plate fall off after using epoxy - in that case, it was still a sturdy and usable clip because the epoxy covered the contacts, and formed a stiff backing itself.

[Mark Hammer]

I usually use two-part epoxy for the clips.  It works great even on the plastic plates (helps to rough them up with a little coarse sandpaper).  Only once (out of dozens) did a plastic backing plate fall off after using epoxy - in that case, it was still a sturdy and usable clip because the epoxy covered the contacts, and formed a stiff backing itself.

If one applies enough hot melt glue, it does the same thing (i.e., completely cover the contacts so that shorts against the case don't occur).  It's just ugly, compared to having an actual "back".

[puretube]

goop? 

[dirtysteev]

Here is what I make, discarded 9V top, heat shrink. Surface tension keeps a blob of epoxy right where it needs to be, bombproof snaps.