I make my own clip leads or alligator clips as I learned to call them by my father. If you would like some high quality ones let me know. I would be honored to make you some.
Perhaps a rephrase, something like: "I have a hard time throwing out things that are not damaged." Like, things that are in the same working condition as when they left the factory.
My father worked for the Bell Telephone company of Canada from 1949 until he retired in 1985. Same complaint on alligator clips leads. His solution was to purchase a selection of alligator clips and solder his own leads. Same complaints as you. While listening to you I was brought back to the late 70's and early 80's when I learned basic electricity from him. He passed in 2008 and I still have all his old telephone company tools.
First thing they taught us in electrical engineering was to solder our alligator clips. They are sold unsoldered because it is more durable and flexible. Once you solder them they are a much better electrical connection, but they break easily.
@@moeburn You wrap electrical tape around the base as a strain relief than run a lighter over it. Vulcanizes it and creates a very durable strain relief. Did that with a pair of old 1/8 jack headphones back in the 80's they still work. Sound like crap but still work ;-)
Mueller Electric is the company you're looking for. Grandpa had an elec. shop since 1958, I made test lead cables with Belden Test lead wire and Mueller ends once. They all still work. I use the tiny, but tough, 30 series in copper, but 60 series might be more your size. BU-30C - alligtor clips BU-34C - Flat tips - great for tight spaces BU-60PR2 - Alligator clip that accepts test lead pin Tip BU-60HS - Alligator clip that accepts Banana Plugs. Lots of styles, and multiple metal options.
@tested this right here, also Mueller makes a ton of different clips, leads, connectors, etc. They're not inexpensive, I balked at the prices when I first saw them but everything I have from them is still in perfect working condition even after years of daily use. My preference is to make banana leads of various lengths and use connectors with banana sockets, that way when a lead wears out or breaks you can just grab another and swap a connector on to that.
I worked in electronics for 50+ years and learned that there was nothing better than making my own clip leads. I used various styles of clips and insulator boots made by Mueller or Pomona and the wire of my choice. That way I had total control of length and gauge of wire and the clip was soldered instead of just crimped.
Absolutely Mueller for clips. I have several boxes of them and the matching boots on my bench. They’re not cheap, but the cost is worth it. I also agree that for pre-made leads, Pomona are probably the best ones available - again very expensive, but something to search for in boxes of random stuff at hamfests.
S&M relationship with my jump clips also. 50 years ago, RadioShack had two clip sizes. The ends were ok, but the wire insulation degraded and attacked the copper, making the wire to the ends intermittent. I still solder repair them using new hookup wire. Sadly, they are my best clips. -Peter
On the subject of banana connectors, google Wago 215 - these are 4mm banana plugs with spring-contact sockets on the back to accept loose wires - effectively turning any 4mm socket into a screw-terminal equivalent. Game changing. Only downside is they're not stackable
Mike - you are an amazing human being. I love WAGO connectors but I had no idea that the 215 existed. They even come in a range of colours. I have added a stack to my shopping basket!
Mini-Grabber to stacking Banana (model 3782) and mini grabber to BNC (model 5187-C-36) are absolute game-changers. Alligator clips become obsolete once you’ve had the privilege of mini-grabbing arbitrarily small wires reliably.
The Pomona Mini Grabbers do work well, though after a while, the hooks get less hooky (if you're using them to latch onto things like PCB through holes and other hard stuff), until they get flat. Then you try to bend them back to be hooky, and then you eventually snap the hook off and get sad.
Adam, I just want to say thank you. I may never meet you. But you have been such a positive influence on my life. From the work you did in the past all the way too the pressent with your creative channel. I cant thank you enough. I hope I meet you in person one day just to shake your hand and thank you for your positivity
I work on mail processing equipment. I like to set my multimeter up with a gator clip on the black lead and a regular probe on the red. Makes it easy to hook up a good ground and then have a a free hand to work with while measuring.
@@schok51 The ones we have are just the little tiny clips like Adam was showing, but that could be because the only thing we use them for usually is checking for a couple of signals on very small components in our inkjet printers.
I'm an electronics engineer at a metrology lab. I feel I should find the time to make a response video to this. I have a great many clip leads for all sorts of different applications.
@FabAlb166 my personal favourite is the brushed battery clips. Grippy af. Large levers on them, comparatively, making them easy to open. No idea of the manufacturer, but they are very robust indeed. A lot of the gear we have is actually old soviet era Russian and Ukrainian origin. We have probably around 100 resistor standards that are Russian. They're extremely stable.
My step father managed to find small Hemostats at the swap meet back in the 70's, that were about the size of small sewing scissors. He drilled a small hole in the handle, threaded it, used a cap bolt, this way he could use ring terminals on the opposite side with nuts so he could change the gauge of the wire he needed depending on the job, also, the length of the wire on the fly. He could grip the handles in his jeweler's vice for holding, and ground the lead if needed while soldering components together. It also meant he could make a multi run if he needed to check multiple components at once. The clamping end could hold pins tightly enough he could poke through insulation, or into plugs to test connections as well.
Happily sifting the comments for clip suggestions and finding a ton of really nice gear. Thanks, Adam, for bringing up the topic and getting people talking, and thanks to all y'all for sharing!
I thoroughly enjoy this kind of 'talkin' shop' upload. Not to mention how valuable this kind of candid rambling is to future makers and creators when it's coming from such a knowledgeable and experienced mind. That's why I think places like uToob are so important in the preservation of the skills that could otherwise be lost to future generations. The fact that you are able encapsulate information as content and upload it where it has the potential to be discovered by anyone in perpetuity or at least as long as the servers are kept up, means that that information is like "S' tier data as in super-rich-data. And just like these new GPTs, we protein sacks train much better with natural language models.
Not only the preservation of skills, but the broadly-accessible advancement of knowledge in highly-specialized facets of most fields. In the past, you may have been able to find a decent electronics class at a community or technical college, but they weren't going to lecture for an hour-long session on the ins and outs of how old electro-mechanical pinball machines worked.
My biggest problem with alligator clip leads is the tendency for the clip inside the boot to rotate out of place when you squeeze it. But, like you, I hate to throw the darn things out!
I absolutely love that you are sharing your relative lack of knowledge about electrical work. Not just because I've finally found something that I"m better at than you (j/k), but because it's an excellent lesson to share with my students. It's OK to not be great at everything, as long as we try to be good enough and collaborate with those who can help shore-up our weak areas.
Great comment, and I'd add that it's also important to be willing to openly acknowledge weakness in those areas where we're not as solid. Not only are you more likely to get help when you need it, people will respect your candidness. No one likes working with a know-it-all that can't actually walk the walk.
I love bed of nail clips! Usually found on Old Telco equipment. I recently discovered AST labs manufacturers them and I've been upgrading every test lead that I own.
Back in primary school(I guess I was 8 year old ish?) we where having a lesson about electricity and we where making basic circuits with this type of clip wire. I proudly told the teacher that I have done this before my grandad has this kind of wire in his shop. The teacher told me that my grandad should not have them! It was bizarre that she felt the need to gate keep what you can have at home.
@@glasshalffull2930 When i was a child from cradle to when i moved out at 18, there were always loaded guns in the house. In an unlocked gun cabinet. And it wasn't a problem. We were taught at an early age not to go in there, and that guns are ALWAYS dangerous. When i was old enough to hold a .22 rifle, my father taught me to shoot. All the kids, as soon as they were big enough to hold my mothers pump .22 rifle, we got taught how to shoot. And it was never an issue. I was squirrel and rabbit hunting with my own personal 20 gauge shotgun at 12. The rule was, you shoot it, you gut it, skin it, and freezer bag it until we have enough to make a meal. Had many meals of squirrel and rabbit stew, growing up, that i shot. It's all about the instruction.
EE of many years here, with an obsession for great tools similar to Adam's. I've been using Staubli alligator clips for the last 15 years or so and will never go back. These are not wired - they are placed on top of a standard 4mm banana plug. I have a bunch of banana plug wires at various lengths and colors as well as a bunch of clips, plus other tips to put on their plugs: normal probes, springy needle probes, wire grabbers, etc. This way it is all modular.
Deep rabbit hole here. We tend to use what we have by the bench, not what we need. Alligator vs. crocodile vs. J-hook vs. piercing vs bed-of-nails vs. etc. All in various degrees of quality. Don't forget the wire type- larger gauges for higher current applications. Flexibility is an issue too. Great topic.
yep, my bench supply lead is 5 feet of 16/2 lamp cord with banana on one end and clips on the other end, as that's what was nearby when i built the power supply. mind you, this cable never sees anything above 32VDC. mostly between 3-12V though.
I'm so glad someone high-profile is talking about this. I will almost always use a Minigrabber lead instead of alligator clips, and using Minigrabbers for monitoring circuits with a multimeter is a huge level up from using standard probes for everything
I found a box of old "made in USA" gator clips possibly from 1960s and they're the absolute best alligator clips I've ever had in my hands. They work beautifully and feel OMG they feel so good between my fingers, I can't explain it they're just a pleasure to use. I just wish I had or knew where to get more.
A few folks already mentioned them, but Staubli test leads and clips are amazing. Best ones I've ever used. Plus you don't need multiple dedicated sets since they come in just the connector ends and then you use whatever length of banana cables you want.
The Omnifixo solder helper with the parallel jaw clips (that was reviewed on tested a while back) should be the basis for an improved clip lead with similar parallel jaws.
Parallel jaws in general are amazing. Knipex pliers-wrenches beat the pants off Crescent (adjustable) wrenches and Channellocks (tongue & groove pliers).
Yep. I bought one after Norm showed it on this channel, and everyone who has tried it so far has absolutely loved it, compared to the crocodile-jawed helpers that either have a poor grip or destroy the insulation of the wire. But what works best for me when prototyping electronics is a breadboard with jumpers. Maybe someone needs to make a version of breadboards that accept banana plugs or at least a slightly larger connector so you can try higher current circuits.
I love Adam Savage, he is the guy that i watched every time he was on tv, he made me become curious and is probaply the reason why i am the person i am now and seeing him complain about Alligator Clips just made my day. You are the person the world allways needed! (ps: Sorry for my bad english, english isnt my first language)
As an Australian, *nothing* makes me happier than hearing you drop random Aussie slang (such as "choc-a-block" at 1:46) that you obviously became habituated to after working with Australian TV production teams for 17 seasons.
And this why I make my own clip/alligator/croc leads. Mueller Clips, & Belden Test Lead Wire, soldered & heat shrink sleeved. Color-coded boots to match the wire color. Reliable & easy to repair.
I hear you, decades ago I was using a cheap yellow clip lead, the wire was broken inside and I did not know, hours of fault finding later it got down to testing that clip lead as the last thing in the circuit. It was open circuit. I got so mad I yanked it apart and pulled the covers off but I only had thick orange wire to replace the tiny yellow wire. Soldered that wire in and 4 decades later I still see it around. The mismatched thick orange lead with yellow clips serves as a reminder, clip leads can go open circuit.
all of my leads are double ended banana plugs, then I have two containers of crocodile clips (red and black) which fit onto the banana plugs, you can also get all the other styles of clip that fit onto the banana plugs (including the hook clips), (I also have containers of red and black banana plugs that I use the make up special length leads when I need them. when one crocodile clip dies, I dont have to ditch the whole lead, just the clip- and I have hundreds of those so thats not an issue.
About resistors: Try the voltage divider calculator (online) to find what you need for a given voltage input. Potentiometers work the same way. They implement a variable voltage divider
That's the wrong tool. And if you're suggesting to tap off the bottom resistor to feed the LED, it's terrible advice, as the last thing you want is a voltage divider that is going to eat up current unnecessarily. Just calculate it yourself. Say you have an LED that requires 20mA, and has a 1.5V forward voltage drop, and you want to power it with 5V. (5V - 1.5V) / 20mA = 175 ohms. How hard was that? (Apparently too hard for me, because I originally posted the wrong answer!)
I like to use a 5 watt potentiometer when I want to find the right brightness for an LED. 5W is beefy enough that I won't fry it doing something not smart. The LED on the other hand...they are cheap. If you use one of the calculators, it'll give you the value for full brightness. Most of the time, that's too bight.
LEDs vary a lot. Even different colors or batches of the same model can be way off from each other. Best to prototype with a variable resistor if you can, or just swap resistors until it looks right.
@@blairhoughton7918 True. I've found that with cheap LEDs. If you get name brand from a good source, then they have very good color consistency (with the same spec'd wavelength).
I remember experiencing some of the same issues and frustrations back when I was taking electronics courses almost 45 years ago... fussing with the exact same style of alligator clip style connectors. I also recall the plunger-hook style of clip which (if I recall correctly) only came with lab equipment (oscilloscopes)... either that or they were sufficiently pricy to be beyond consideration for a community college student. Fascinating to see how little has changed after all these years.
Adam Thanks! I'm starting to better my builds with electronics but I have no previous experience, now I know how this clips are called and ordered a bunch from amazon.
I have alligator clips on a homemade bench power supply for ease of quick use (think first-order retrievability for voltage) and they have been a tiny annoyance the entire time. This video has opened my eyes to a thing I hadn't been consiously aware of -- I'm ordering a pack of hook clips now
For LED's subtract 2 from your supply voltage (so 12 - 2 = 10) this is because LED's are diodes and have a forward voltage rating of approx 2V as a rule of thumb take that value and divide it by the current you want, so for 20mA that's 10 / 0.02 (1mA = 0.001) The end result is the resistor you want which for the above would be about 500 ohms, (use a meter if the colors are hard to read on the side) If you wire led's in parallel a single resistor will do but it'll disapate more power so will get warmer if it's too small If you wire led's in series then you need to subtract that forward voltage multiple times one for each led
The green "snapping Turtle" leads you showed are like the ones I used when I was repairing TV and Radio back in the 70's. They held great but sometimes I needed the small ones to reach into the smaller circuits. Mostly I was doing temporary connections to test work arounds on old tube sets. Your last one was also a go to. However, if I could suggest one, it is the loop connector. Does not work in all situations but it does make a solid connection with little loss.
Pomona Minigrabber leads are the best. Off-brand minigrabber leaders can be too weak but Pomona makes good stuff. Besides bananajack (as in the video), you can get them with BNC connections for use with scopes, function generators, etc. Then also pickup bananajack to BNC adapters for mixing and matching.
Yeah, those are what I use at work. Can't stand the alligator style ones. Biggest issue I've had with the Pomona banana jack connectors (1325, the ones that screw down onto a wire) is stranded wire tends to fray out from under the screw, eventually resulting in the connector loosening and falling off. So, what I do is solder my stranded wire. That, of course, makes the wire brittle, so I nylon tie the wire to the body of the connector. Works quite well and is very reliable. Oh, and teflon insulated wire - none of that PVC garbage that melts if you look at it funny.
I absolutely love my Fluke "Through insulation" probes! They allow me to quickly test equipment without having to "search" for contact with a regular test lead or trying to find something for an alligator clip to hang on to...
This video speaks to my soul. I'm certain that I've thrown away dozens of these. I've tried several brands and price ranges. Making my own has been the only reliable solution. Especially if you're going to pass more than an amp or two through them.
i have the regular trash kind, and i can live with them since i mainly focus on software and computers, where a clip lead rarely if ever gets used. i do some minor projects on the side, but they are few and far between.
50 years dealing with electricity and electronics here. Don’t trust any of the low cost clip leads until you check them with an ohmmeter. I’ve seen as many as half of a pack be bad right out of the gate.
In the early 70s, I spent a day with an electrical engineer as part of a high school vocational program. He took pains to inform me that the greatest single obstacle to his work was the unreliability of clip leads. "If it doesn't work, wiggle the damn clip leads." Talented, highly motivated individuals struggle with these bloody things, day in and day out, and apparently in the--fifty? has it been fifty years? Shit.--fifty years since that trip, not one of them has sat down and made his fortune fixing the problem. They don't want to. They can reliably grumble about it. If the leads worked, but the test rig didn't, it would be the engineer's fault, and they can't be havin' none o' that, nosireebob. "Wanna make a million dollars?" NO!!
I have clip lead "attachments" that you can slide onto a banana connector. They are quite a nice thing for a minimalist workbench such as mine. These come in a variety of designs and they allow you to mix and match various wire endings as you desire.
TOTALLY agree with you on the frustrations of alligator clip leads (and 4mm banana plugs too)! You do pay for what you get but WHY manufacture something that just does not work?! Sometimes you just have to buy online and put up with what arrives. I did a video the other day when the spring 4mm screened plugs were all just jumping out of their sockets! Connections are important!! Without them we have no circuit! Such a pain we have to put up with rubbish clips! I am with you all the way on this Adam!
I've had the same issues and niggles with clip leads but use them all the time with my CNC router. I ended up putting a small neodymium magnet in the mouth of the one used for my touch probe and it works amazingly well like that when using ferrous metals.
As an electrical testing technician, I build my own test leads and jumper wires. The best I've found is some silicone wire #14 or 16 and the banana jack plugs you build. That way I have the length I need (or want) and I can use any banana jack accessory.
Roflmao... Adam your hair is out of control lol and when you said I know enough to be dangerous you looked like doc brown from back to the future 🤣🤣🤣. I lost it... 😂😂😂😂
Thanks again. I have a mix of connectors. The new test leads are even cheaper with copper clad iron wires. The higher resistance of iron or copper clad brass can mess up current flow even for LED circuits.
My preference is for the AST Labs style alligator clips. Different notches for grabbing screw terminals and 2 different insulation piercing options for probing the middle of a wire. Very nice. Not cheap.
Hi Adam, as an electronics engineer i 100% agree. I hated those in high school (it was a specialized high school for electronics technicians) and i hated them in uni and i hate them to this day. Now days i use only the hooking once you showed, either with the banana plug or with hooks on both ends. Also every one of my colleagues is of similar opinion.
Neither of those are for building a circuit. a breadboard would be a good start. those crappy small ones can be used to just check a circuit. 1/4 amp or less probably.
Breadboards are better for planning and testing PCB circuits. Not really ideal for quick and dirty electronics projects. Think adding or removing a component from a tool or toy, rather than building electronics from scratch.
I love using them. I used to hate them, too. Until I found decent ones, that actually were soldered, where the wire inside was not magnetic but instead was low resistance copper so you can actually put a few amps through them. They are good everything-to-everything adapters. However, issues remain: once that thing is bent like 2:47 , it's done. Sometimes squeezing it from both sides with pliers re-aligns it somewhat. What I did to make them better myself is to make one end alligator, other end something else. That makes them less adapter-y but better at specific adapter jobs. I have some that adapt to breadboard (2x1 pin row, 2.54mm pitch). I have some to adapt to generic battery (magnet that sticks to poles). I have ones with devices in between e.g. the short circuit indicating resettable fuse (a 5W incandescent bulb, lol). The having to use a lot of force issue stems from I think 2 issues: 1.) the insulating things around the clips aren't soft (anymore), so they contribute to the force needed. I throw them away if that happens (only the insulation, not the clips. They still work without insulation for most cases). 2.) You're not that young anymore (sorry) I can't find where I got them right now, but it wasn't Amazon or any other cheap marketplace. But I bought them specifically labeled as higher quality (while they also had lower quality in stock), with a "0.5mm² copper" and "soldered" label
Who knew Adam would have his own channel and talk honestly about how much he does and doesn't know about things 😊 Like the lack of ego and lack of shouty drama that usually occurs in US video content 😊👍🇮🇪
In electronics design, my favorite cheap clip style is the one you showed with the hook. I have some with that on both sides, and some with banana plugs like yours, which I use to connect to my power supply and multimeter. I have the alligator clip ones as well, but they aren't soldered and are therefore unreliable; I've had to solder a couple of them because they stopped working on me. The wire gauge in all of these is so light, that I don't like pulling much current through them for very long-especially the alligators which are only poorly crimped. I've never had those larger alligator clips.
Embedded system engineer here. My preference is cables with banana connectors on both sides with retractable sheaths (reduces accidental shorts). Then tips of various styles that can be attached to the banana connectors. The meaty alligator clips are what I use most, but I have a couple needle probes and hooks that allow me to probe tiny pins and pads on circuit boards. BNC to banana connector then extends the flexibility to an o-scope. The modularity is incredibly useful.
I work in an electronics lab. I keep a big box of 4mm banana leads, and the matching 4mm banana socketed clips. They're bulky but they're robust, and you can mix and match colours, stack the leads together to get multiple leads on one clip etc. Worth it!
Alright Adam, I have an extensive collection of leads both homemade and purchased; same complaints. However I have several tips. First, go all in on the banana jacks. then ditch the fluke leads. You can get the tip of a multimeter probe (Extech TL809) that is constructed with a female banana jack and ends with a male banana jack with a sharp tip on it. it has a 3 inch "handle" in the middle that makes is almost look like a fluke lead. Second, start making your own leads using "Retractable Sheath 4mm Banana Plug Male Stackable" ends. These are great since they have both the male and female side and the retractable sheath allows them to be much more resistant to sparking. Now you can have an awesome set of multimeter leads that can be easily extended and can have multiple things attached to it. Third, you can now start incorporating binding posts into projects and using these banana leads to power it. I have a pair of binding posts on my sailboat dc panel and my meter plugs into the neg for a perfect ground every time.
As for the clips, I use the ones that have a female banana jack. my Extech TL809 plugs directly into them. I also make up some mini ez grabber clips and use those for the really small stuff. I make them with a generous length of very light wire leading back to a banana plug.
I've used Hirschnamm clips and leads. They really are the cream of the crop. After using them for some time, I was shocked when I saw the price for them, but you get what you pay for. The 25A croc clips are super sturdy and nice to use, if a bit bulky. There is also an 8A variant which are rather dainty and excellent. They all connect with banana plugs, and the leads are quite good too, generally rated for quite a few amps. They certainly hold up to some abuse.
Minigrabbers and micrograbbers are the names of the hook-style probes. Pomona has high quality probes in their catalogues but they are often more expensive. These are useful for old circuit boards, but there are specialized IC clips that use pin and socket design. But since most circuit boards are surface mount these days, I use PCBite flying probes for handsfree measurements. They have magnetic bases and sharp, retracting pogo-pins for connecting to small chips, and are replaceable with pliers if broken.
Algorithm comment. Thanks for being the only TH-cam channel that doesn't beg for them! You guys do great work, love the channel. Wish I could afford to support you more than likes and comments.
I have a set of different lengths and end combinations that I made in an automotive electrical class at a technical college. It was mostly to practice soldering but we also got something useful out of it. Some of the ends are little aligators like in this video but most of them are different size fuse connectors so you can plug them right into the fuse box of a car and test continuity that way.
In all these years of electronics (mid-grade, know enough to design my own circuits or alter existing ones - haven't done anything more complex than basic chips) i've never used clip leads. I've used sleeved J hooks to hook unto stuff, but usually, i solder or twist wire. I've never bought them because their scope is ultimately limited and i don't mind soldering which i can do in just about the same time it would take me to clip something, once the iron is hot. In fact, i have a custom iron just for soldering quick connections with a super fine scoop tip i made on my lathe. It's a quick coil that activates with a foot switch at my bench. Solid connection, doesn't risk falling off or touching anything other than what i want.
Speaking of thrifty, love the vintage NiCd Dewalt drill. I still have about a dozen old 18V Dewalt tools that are 10-20 years old and still going strong. Used to have about 8 batteries on the go, but I'm down to 3 that are still usable. Finally bought an adapter and a couple lithium batteries a few months back when there was a screaming sale.
Hi Adam, I mucked around with the arithmetic of LEDs. As CBers and Hams will tell you, when the alternator is running a car supplies 13.8 volts (occasionally a bit more), but this works for the maths: A plain red LED "drops" 1.8 volts, (it varies marginally with current). Thus we have 12 volts we can't use, so need to drop this across the resistor. While you can apply Ohm's law, a simple rule of thumb is: If you want to 20 mA, multiply you excess voltage by 50. So, 12 volts x 50 = 600 ohms, or 620 ohms from the parts draw, if you have E24. If not maybe 560, but 680 would be the better E12 option for reliability. You want a half-watt or a 600 mW unit. If you want to go easier, use 10 mA so you multiply by 100, and 1k2 or 1200 is a common value (E12). For a green-yellow (2.2 volts) from 5 volts at 10 mA, you will drop 2.8 volts so 270 ohms. Note that the drop will be be similar no matter the current, but you will either stress the LED, or maybe make it too dim (or make it no longer work). Green-blue drops about 3 volts, like blue. The alternative is a CL220 driver.
my old man did hobby electronics; I always remember him keeping his hanging with one end clipped to a wire that was just strung along a shelf. he also just bought quality clip ends and made his own... because they ones you buy suck and the wires are also bad. the rubber on a quality aligator clip is night and day, much more flexible and easier to depress.
As an automotive mechanic, so a slightly different need to for electrical equipment for diagnosis, my favourite clip leads are the ones you can make out of Fluke’s multimeter leads, and their big clamps that come in kits on their higher end meter, get a magnetic colour coded lead exe tension spool that uses fluke style banana jacks and it’s the best for temporarily overlaying circuits to narrow down issues or verify that parts are actually functioning and that there is a wiring or signalling concern
Im currently, still, getting rid of a bunch of old project stuff because im about done tinkering around with things. It turns out, i don't need a walk in closet full of stuff just to keep my guitars maintained. I hate throwing out stuff like that too but I'm getting much better at it. Boy, how it piles up!
I have the same clip leads you liked, Adam. Got them on Amazon and yes, they are very good and very strong. I was trying to pull a couple off a shelf and they were still attached to some wires, normally shittier ones would just disconnect, but these ones pulled the wires and stuff I was testing on across the bench. Was surprised to say the least.
I have the Fluke TLK281 set of leads...they have some alligator clips in them that action like the hook style but are actual alligators, you will love them. Also has piercing probes which come in handy.
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I make my own clip leads or alligator clips as I learned to call them by my father.
If you would like some high quality ones let me know. I would be honored to make you some.
Adam Savage, you could always just use Wago's and a Pen voltage tester to see if you continuity (Completed Circuit)
Please check out Parts Candy test clips! They're exactly the solution for this problem. They're hand soldered and can handle a lot of current.
Eric O. at south main auto probably has one of the best collections of leads for everyday use.
Adam savage should try to make
Real MILITARY DICYANIN DYE GOGGLES to really see higher dimensions 4d test different dyes
"It's really hard for me to throw out something that almost works"
I felt that line resonate deep, deep within me :D
Right?
Same here.
Perhaps a rephrase, something like: "I have a hard time throwing out things that are not damaged." Like, things that are in the same working condition as when they left the factory.
@@GeneCash Here, here! Hear here!
@@n8mob Even damaged things I hate throwing away because I know it's just going to end up in a freakin' landfill somewhere :/
My father worked for the Bell Telephone company of Canada from 1949 until he retired in 1985. Same complaint on alligator clips leads. His solution was to purchase a selection of alligator clips and solder his own leads. Same complaints as you. While listening to you I was brought back to the late 70's and early 80's when I learned basic electricity from him. He passed in 2008 and I still have all his old telephone company tools.
That's a sweet story. I'm sure a lot of us have similar ones of our Father's rantings
First thing they taught us in electrical engineering was to solder our alligator clips. They are sold unsoldered because it is more durable and flexible. Once you solder them they are a much better electrical connection, but they break easily.
@@moeburn You wrap electrical tape around the base as a strain relief than run a lighter over it. Vulcanizes it and creates a very durable strain relief. Did that with a pair of old 1/8 jack headphones back in the 80's they still work. Sound like crap but still work ;-)
“I know enough to be dangerous” would be a good T-shirt slogan
Would be a common T-Shirt too lol
Yes I agree
This would work for sooo many professions!
😂 I’d buy it.
I'd be surprised if it's not a T-shirt. It's a phrase I've heard for many years.
Mueller Electric is the company you're looking for. Grandpa had an elec. shop since 1958, I made test lead cables with Belden Test lead wire and Mueller ends once. They all still work. I use the tiny, but tough, 30 series in copper, but 60 series might be more your size.
BU-30C - alligtor clips
BU-34C - Flat tips - great for tight spaces
BU-60PR2 - Alligator clip that accepts test lead pin Tip
BU-60HS - Alligator clip that accepts Banana Plugs.
Lots of styles, and multiple metal options.
@tested this right here, also Mueller makes a ton of different clips, leads, connectors, etc. They're not inexpensive, I balked at the prices when I first saw them but everything I have from them is still in perfect working condition even after years of daily use. My preference is to make banana leads of various lengths and use connectors with banana sockets, that way when a lead wears out or breaks you can just grab another and swap a connector on to that.
Great idea, banana plug leads to swap out clamps... very cool@@phatman808
I'm replying to your message as a bookmark for future reference. Good info, thanks!
reminder comment for anyone that needs it
YES!!! Mueller branded leads are fantastic. I have some from 40 or 50 years ago and still work great.
I worked in electronics for 50+ years and learned that there was nothing better than making my own clip leads. I used various styles of clips and insulator boots made by Mueller or Pomona and the wire of my choice. That way I had total control of length and gauge of wire and the clip was soldered instead of just crimped.
Big fan of home built. The wire I have laying around is better than the 26awg(maybe) from a cheap store bought set.
Absolutely Mueller for clips. I have several boxes of them and the matching boots on my bench. They’re not cheap, but the cost is worth it. I also agree that for pre-made leads, Pomona are probably the best ones available - again very expensive, but something to search for in boxes of random stuff at hamfests.
This is The Way
S&M relationship with my jump clips also. 50 years ago, RadioShack had two clip sizes. The ends were ok, but the wire insulation degraded and attacked the copper, making the wire to the ends intermittent. I still solder repair them using new hookup wire. Sadly, they are my best clips.
-Peter
I like the custom leads from Probemaster. Any length, any of several dozen ends. Gold plated, made in USA. Reasonably priced.
On the subject of banana connectors, google Wago 215 - these are 4mm banana plugs with spring-contact sockets on the back to accept loose wires - effectively turning any 4mm socket into a screw-terminal equivalent. Game changing.
Only downside is they're not stackable
Speaking of Wago, I like to use a 5-way lever nut with a lead to BNC. Easy way to connect up four loose wires.
Take a look at the alligator clips from PartsCandy. Just google it.
The modern equivalent of a stackable banana connector is called a "test lead".
Mike - you are an amazing human being. I love WAGO connectors but I had no idea that the 215 existed. They even come in a range of colours.
I have added a stack to my shopping basket!
Mr. Harrison, perhaps you could do a video on your tips and tools! Ben at Applied Science did a couple and they were very helpful.
While doing lab work for my EE degree, I fell in love with Pomona cables. They're in a class above everything else when it comes to build quality.
They are owned by Fluke
Mini-Grabber to stacking Banana (model 3782) and mini grabber to BNC (model 5187-C-36) are absolute game-changers.
Alligator clips become obsolete once you’ve had the privilege of mini-grabbing arbitrarily small wires reliably.
The Pomona Mini Grabbers do work well, though after a while, the hooks get less hooky (if you're using them to latch onto things like PCB through holes and other hard stuff), until they get flat. Then you try to bend them back to be hooky, and then you eventually snap the hook off and get sad.
@@toobigtofit3584I bet heat would help
Adam, I just want to say thank you. I may never meet you. But you have been such a positive influence on my life. From the work you did in the past all the way too the pressent with your creative channel. I cant thank you enough. I hope I meet you in person one day just to shake your hand and thank you for your positivity
We will pass this along to Adam ... thank you for your kind words.
Wow I have the same! It would be so nice to meet him in person!
I work on mail processing equipment. I like to set my multimeter up with a gator clip on the black lead and a regular probe on the red. Makes it easy to hook up a good ground and then have a a free hand to work with while measuring.
That's how oscilloscope probes are designed i believe
Also measuring one handed is ostensibly safer, depending on the voltages. 👍
Yup, I get the leads with threads on the shoulder of the probe, and have screw on clips.
Mail processing equipment! Cannot lie -- that sounds fascinating.
@@schok51 The ones we have are just the little tiny clips like Adam was showing, but that could be because the only thing we use them for usually is checking for a couple of signals on very small components in our inkjet printers.
I'm an electronics engineer at a metrology lab. I feel I should find the time to make a response video to this. I have a great many clip leads for all sorts of different applications.
Which is the company or model you use?
@FabAlb166 my personal favourite is the brushed battery clips. Grippy af. Large levers on them, comparatively, making them easy to open. No idea of the manufacturer, but they are very robust indeed. A lot of the gear we have is actually old soviet era Russian and Ukrainian origin. We have probably around 100 resistor standards that are Russian. They're extremely stable.
well GET TO IT.... Don't leave us all hanging!
Please do! Let us know here if it happens. 🎉
My step father managed to find small Hemostats at the swap meet back in the 70's, that were about the size of small sewing scissors. He drilled a small hole in the handle, threaded it, used a cap bolt, this way he could use ring terminals on the opposite side with nuts so he could change the gauge of the wire he needed depending on the job, also, the length of the wire on the fly. He could grip the handles in his jeweler's vice for holding, and ground the lead if needed while soldering components together. It also meant he could make a multi run if he needed to check multiple components at once. The clamping end could hold pins tightly enough he could poke through insulation, or into plugs to test connections as well.
That’s a pretty neat solution! Thanks for sharing
Happily sifting the comments for clip suggestions and finding a ton of really nice gear. Thanks, Adam, for bringing up the topic and getting people talking, and thanks to all y'all for sharing!
Check out Parts Candy for alligator clips. Hand soldered.
I thoroughly enjoy this kind of 'talkin' shop' upload. Not to mention how valuable this kind of candid rambling is to future makers and creators when it's coming from such a knowledgeable and experienced mind. That's why I think places like uToob are so important in the preservation of the skills that could otherwise be lost to future generations. The fact that you are able encapsulate information as content and upload it where it has the potential to be discovered by anyone in perpetuity or at least as long as the servers are kept up, means that that information is like "S' tier data as in super-rich-data. And just like these new GPTs, we protein sacks train much better with natural language models.
Why are so many comments getting truncated on TH-cam lately? Like the one @StuHarris did.
Not only the preservation of skills, but the broadly-accessible advancement of knowledge in highly-specialized facets of most fields. In the past, you may have been able to find a decent electronics class at a community or technical college, but they weren't going to lecture for an hour-long session on the ins and outs of how old electro-mechanical pinball machines worked.
Listening to Adam voice a clip lead was the laugh I **REALLY** needed today. While also learning a lot (as always). Thank you so much!
I flashed back to “is everyone ready for diving?” from the Mythbusters intro. I still say that in a funny voice every once in a while.
My biggest problem with alligator clip leads is the tendency for the clip inside the boot to rotate out of place when you squeeze it. But, like you, I hate to throw the darn things out!
Scrolled waaay to long to find this. And surprised it didn't make the rant 😅
This is my biggest complaint as well
I absolutely love that you are sharing your relative lack of knowledge about electrical work. Not just because I've finally found something that I"m better at than you (j/k), but because it's an excellent lesson to share with my students. It's OK to not be great at everything, as long as we try to be good enough and collaborate with those who can help shore-up our weak areas.
Great comment, and I'd add that it's also important to be willing to openly acknowledge weakness in those areas where we're not as solid. Not only are you more likely to get help when you need it, people will respect your candidness. No one likes working with a know-it-all that can't actually walk the walk.
I use clips from Hirschmann at work. They are sturdy and well insulated and have great gripage for super thin wires with a flat part on the jaws.
The AGF 20's will last a lifetime but are non-insulated.
The MA1's are insulated and small but not /quite/ as grippy.
Agree.....I love their test leads.
I love bed of nail clips! Usually found on Old Telco equipment. I recently discovered AST labs manufacturers them and I've been upgrading every test lead that I own.
WOW, these are $5 on the AST website, but look like a winner for me... thank you for the suggestion...
Back in primary school(I guess I was 8 year old ish?) we where having a lesson about electricity and we where making basic circuits with this type of clip wire. I proudly told the teacher that I have done this before my grandad has this kind of wire in his shop. The teacher told me that my grandad should not have them! It was bizarre that she felt the need to gate keep what you can have at home.
Had the same at school where my Craft Design and Technology teacher didn't believe that I owned an oscilloscope when aged 14.
she probably thought the clips were for something else. lol roach clip type of thing.
@@daveash9572 Same sort of thing happened to me. Teacher couldn’t believe I got a 12 gauge shotgun for my tenth birthday.
Wow!
@@glasshalffull2930 When i was a child from cradle to when i moved out at 18, there were always loaded guns in the house. In an unlocked gun cabinet. And it wasn't a problem. We were taught at an early age not to go in there, and that guns are ALWAYS dangerous. When i was old enough to hold a .22 rifle, my father taught me to shoot. All the kids, as soon as they were big enough to hold my mothers pump .22 rifle, we got taught how to shoot.
And it was never an issue. I was squirrel and rabbit hunting with my own personal 20 gauge shotgun at 12. The rule was, you shoot it, you gut it, skin it, and freezer bag it until we have enough to make a meal. Had many meals of squirrel and rabbit stew, growing up, that i shot.
It's all about the instruction.
I’m so happy to hear Adam mention a ham radio meet. As a ham operator myself, my hobby is dying and dying fast, we need as much exposure as possible!
I've never, and probably will never, seen someone get so excited about clip leads! Nice job Adam.
Just wait till you see Destin at Smarter Every Day talk about pulleys, especially the snatch block 😁
EE of many years here, with an obsession for great tools similar to Adam's. I've been using Staubli alligator clips for the last 15 years or so and will never go back. These are not wired - they are placed on top of a standard 4mm banana plug. I have a bunch of banana plug wires at various lengths and colors as well as a bunch of clips, plus other tips to put on their plugs: normal probes, springy needle probes, wire grabbers, etc. This way it is all modular.
Deep rabbit hole here. We tend to use what we have by the bench, not what we need. Alligator vs. crocodile vs. J-hook vs. piercing vs bed-of-nails vs. etc. All in various degrees of quality. Don't forget the wire type- larger gauges for higher current applications. Flexibility is an issue too. Great topic.
yep, my bench supply lead is 5 feet of 16/2 lamp cord with banana on one end and clips on the other end, as that's what was nearby when i built the power supply. mind you, this cable never sees anything above 32VDC. mostly between 3-12V though.
I'm so glad someone high-profile is talking about this. I will almost always use a Minigrabber lead instead of alligator clips, and using Minigrabbers for monitoring circuits with a multimeter is a huge level up from using standard probes for everything
I found a box of old "made in USA" gator clips possibly from 1960s and they're the absolute best alligator clips I've ever had in my hands. They work beautifully and feel OMG they feel so good between my fingers, I can't explain it they're just a pleasure to use. I just wish I had or knew where to get more.
A few folks already mentioned them, but Staubli test leads and clips are amazing. Best ones I've ever used. Plus you don't need multiple dedicated sets since they come in just the connector ends and then you use whatever length of banana cables you want.
The Omnifixo solder helper with the parallel jaw clips (that was reviewed on tested a while back) should be the basis for an improved clip lead with similar parallel jaws.
Parallel jaws in general are amazing. Knipex pliers-wrenches beat the pants off Crescent (adjustable) wrenches and Channellocks (tongue & groove pliers).
This is exactly what came to my mind too.
Yep. I bought one after Norm showed it on this channel, and everyone who has tried it so far has absolutely loved it, compared to the crocodile-jawed helpers that either have a poor grip or destroy the insulation of the wire. But what works best for me when prototyping electronics is a breadboard with jumpers. Maybe someone needs to make a version of breadboards that accept banana plugs or at least a slightly larger connector so you can try higher current circuits.
I love Adam Savage, he is the guy that i watched every time he was on tv, he made me become curious and is probaply the reason why i am the person i am now and seeing him complain about Alligator Clips just made my day. You are the person the world allways needed! (ps: Sorry for my bad english, english isnt my first language)
As an Australian, *nothing* makes me happier than hearing you drop random Aussie slang (such as "choc-a-block" at 1:46) that you obviously became habituated to after working with Australian TV production teams for 17 seasons.
That phase caught me off guard, I wondered where it came from.... thanks!
It's Aussie? It's used a lot in the UK too. Some things travel in strange ways.
Hardly Aussie, used in the old country as well. Supposedly a nautical origin. Also Chock Full.
Pretty sure it’s shared in most commonwealth nations.
And this why I make my own clip/alligator/croc leads. Mueller Clips, & Belden Test Lead Wire, soldered & heat shrink sleeved. Color-coded boots to match the wire color. Reliable & easy to repair.
I hear you, decades ago I was using a cheap yellow clip lead, the wire was broken inside and I did not know, hours of fault finding later it got down to testing that clip lead as the last thing in the circuit. It was open circuit. I got so mad I yanked it apart and pulled the covers off but I only had thick orange wire to replace the tiny yellow wire. Soldered that wire in and 4 decades later I still see it around. The mismatched thick orange lead with yellow clips serves as a reminder, clip leads can go open circuit.
I've built all my clip leads myself. got the "precise" ones too and they're great!
all of my leads are double ended banana plugs, then I have two containers of crocodile clips (red and black) which fit onto the banana plugs, you can also get all the other styles of clip that fit onto the banana plugs (including the hook clips), (I also have containers of red and black banana plugs that I use the make up special length leads when I need them. when one crocodile clip dies, I dont have to ditch the whole lead, just the clip- and I have hundreds of those so thats not an issue.
Yet again Adam voices something I’ve felt deeply for years!
About resistors: Try the voltage divider calculator (online) to find what you need for a given voltage input. Potentiometers work the same way. They implement a variable voltage divider
That's the wrong tool. And if you're suggesting to tap off the bottom resistor to feed the LED, it's terrible advice, as the last thing you want is a voltage divider that is going to eat up current unnecessarily.
Just calculate it yourself. Say you have an LED that requires 20mA, and has a 1.5V forward voltage drop, and you want to power it with 5V.
(5V - 1.5V) / 20mA = 175 ohms.
How hard was that?
(Apparently too hard for me, because I originally posted the wrong answer!)
I like to use a 5 watt potentiometer when I want to find the right brightness for an LED. 5W is beefy enough that I won't fry it doing something not smart. The LED on the other hand...they are cheap.
If you use one of the calculators, it'll give you the value for full brightness. Most of the time, that's too bight.
LEDs vary a lot. Even different colors or batches of the same model can be way off from each other. Best to prototype with a variable resistor if you can, or just swap resistors until it looks right.
@@blairhoughton7918 True. I've found that with cheap LEDs. If you get name brand from a good source, then they have very good color consistency (with the same spec'd wavelength).
@@Hyxtryx To me personally, very, I know nothing about electronics.
I love Adam's extended complaints! It provides so much insight on actual pain points.
Adam, try Parts Candy's test leads. Very popular and used by electronic guys because they last.
I work in EMC and you are absolutely right
For the first time ever... I am the second person to like a video! Feeling accomplished! Thank you for everything you do Adam and team.
these are great for getting an idea of the RELATIVE differnce between components..
those are a must in HVAC maintenance
Yupp I posted about the magnetic one I use above
I remember experiencing some of the same issues and frustrations back when I was taking electronics courses almost 45 years ago... fussing with the exact same style of alligator clip style connectors. I also recall the plunger-hook style of clip which (if I recall correctly) only came with lab equipment (oscilloscopes)... either that or they were sufficiently pricy to be beyond consideration for a community college student. Fascinating to see how little has changed after all these years.
Adam Thanks! I'm starting to better my builds with electronics but I have no previous experience, now I know how this clips are called and ordered a bunch from amazon.
The leads are crimped. Solder them, and reinforce the connection with heat shrink. Doesn't fix the problem, nothing does, but it helps.
adam is the kind of guy who comes into a room, and he's immediately funny.
It's the haircut.
I have alligator clips on a homemade bench power supply for ease of quick use (think first-order retrievability for voltage) and they have been a tiny annoyance the entire time. This video has opened my eyes to a thing I hadn't been consiously aware of -- I'm ordering a pack of hook clips now
For LED's subtract 2 from your supply voltage (so 12 - 2 = 10)
this is because LED's are diodes and have a forward voltage rating of approx 2V as a rule of thumb
take that value and divide it by the current you want, so for 20mA that's 10 / 0.02 (1mA = 0.001)
The end result is the resistor you want which for the above would be about 500 ohms, (use a meter if the colors are hard to read on the side)
If you wire led's in parallel a single resistor will do but it'll disapate more power so will get warmer if it's too small
If you wire led's in series then you need to subtract that forward voltage multiple times one for each led
I love the intensity that adam talks about stuff, tou can feel through the video that he really hates or loves things, its awesome
Probe Master makes some great high quality test leads and gear.
The green "snapping Turtle" leads you showed are like the ones I used when I was repairing TV and Radio back in the 70's. They held great but sometimes I needed the small ones to reach into the smaller circuits. Mostly I was doing temporary connections to test work arounds on old tube sets. Your last one was also a go to. However, if I could suggest one, it is the loop connector. Does not work in all situations but it does make a solid connection with little loss.
Pomona Minigrabber leads are the best. Off-brand minigrabber leaders can be too weak but Pomona makes good stuff. Besides bananajack (as in the video), you can get them with BNC connections for use with scopes, function generators, etc. Then also pickup bananajack to BNC adapters for mixing and matching.
Yeah, those are what I use at work. Can't stand the alligator style ones. Biggest issue I've had with the Pomona banana jack connectors (1325, the ones that screw down onto a wire) is stranded wire tends to fray out from under the screw, eventually resulting in the connector loosening and falling off. So, what I do is solder my stranded wire. That, of course, makes the wire brittle, so I nylon tie the wire to the body of the connector. Works quite well and is very reliable. Oh, and teflon insulated wire - none of that PVC garbage that melts if you look at it funny.
I absolutely love my Fluke "Through insulation" probes! They allow me to quickly test equipment without having to "search" for contact with a regular test lead or trying to find something for an alligator clip to hang on to...
Fluke Tp82 is what they go by... expensive but worth every penny.
I want the coffee Adam is drinking!
This video speaks to my soul. I'm certain that I've thrown away dozens of these. I've tried several brands and price ranges. Making my own has been the only reliable solution. Especially if you're going to pass more than an amp or two through them.
i have the regular trash kind, and i can live with them since i mainly focus on software and computers, where a clip lead rarely if ever gets used. i do some minor projects on the side, but they are few and far between.
The new lead you recently discovered. I've been using for a few years. I was like you when I discovered it excited.
50 years dealing with electricity and electronics here. Don’t trust any of the low cost clip leads until you check them with an ohmmeter. I’ve seen as many as half of a pack be bad right out of the gate.
I've had the odd one that would have continuity, but not even carry a fraction of an amp.
In the early 70s, I spent a day with an electrical engineer as part of a high school vocational program. He took pains to inform me that the greatest single obstacle to his work was the unreliability of clip leads. "If it doesn't work, wiggle the damn clip leads." Talented, highly motivated individuals struggle with these bloody things, day in and day out, and apparently in the--fifty? has it been fifty years? Shit.--fifty years since that trip, not one of them has sat down and made his fortune fixing the problem. They don't want to. They can reliably grumble about it. If the leads worked, but the test rig didn't, it would be the engineer's fault, and they can't be havin' none o' that, nosireebob. "Wanna make a million dollars?" NO!!
Those snapping turtle clip leads, with some eyes, would make a good puppet.
PUPPET!
I saw them and thought stop-motion Jurassic Park.
I have clip lead "attachments" that you can slide onto a banana connector. They are quite a nice thing for a minimalist workbench such as mine. These come in a variety of designs and they allow you to mix and match various wire endings as you desire.
Adam Savage has a magical ability to make me passionately upset over things I don't really care about 😂❤
Ha!
TOTALLY agree with you on the frustrations of alligator clip leads (and 4mm banana plugs too)! You do pay for what you get but WHY manufacture something that just does not work?! Sometimes you just have to buy online and put up with what arrives. I did a video the other day when the spring 4mm screened plugs were all just jumping out of their sockets! Connections are important!! Without them we have no circuit! Such a pain we have to put up with rubbish clips! I am with you all the way on this Adam!
Watch out for some WAGO 221-2401 clamps. No alligator clips, but can be used as a good substitute
I can't believe I just watched a 10m lead on clip leads I have. Glad I found you again
you’ve had a lot of coffee this morning.
I've had the same issues and niggles with clip leads but use them all the time with my CNC router. I ended up putting a small neodymium magnet in the mouth of the one used for my touch probe and it works amazingly well like that when using ferrous metals.
Nice to know Adam feels the same way as I do about working with electronics, anything beyond a basic is whichcraft
Which craft is whichcraft?
As an electrical testing technician, I build my own test leads and jumper wires. The best I've found is some silicone wire #14 or 16 and the banana jack plugs you build. That way I have the length I need (or want) and I can use any banana jack accessory.
Roflmao... Adam your hair is out of control lol and when you said I know enough to be dangerous you looked like doc brown from back to the future 🤣🤣🤣. I lost it... 😂😂😂😂
agreed, I would like to see better clips on those devices. Glad to see that I am not the only one that has thought, "We can do better than this!".
deserves to be on a t-shirt that does.. I know enough to be dangerous..🥺😂
Thanks again.
I have a mix of connectors.
The new test leads are even cheaper with copper clad iron wires. The higher resistance of iron or copper clad brass can mess up current flow even for LED circuits.
I'd love to see you collaborate with Project Farm and do some testing of products. Especially things like clip leads and USB cables.
My preference is for the AST Labs style alligator clips. Different notches for grabbing screw terminals and 2 different insulation piercing options for probing the middle of a wire. Very nice. Not cheap.
Evil poorly designed clip lead: "All your wire are belong to us."
Hi Adam, as an electronics engineer i 100% agree. I hated those in high school (it was a specialized high school for electronics technicians) and i hated them in uni and i hate them to this day. Now days i use only the hooking once you showed, either with the banana plug or with hooks on both ends. Also every one of my colleagues is of similar opinion.
Neither of those are for building a circuit. a breadboard would be a good start. those crappy small ones can be used to just check a circuit. 1/4 amp or less probably.
Breadboards are better for planning and testing PCB circuits. Not really ideal for quick and dirty electronics projects. Think adding or removing a component from a tool or toy, rather than building electronics from scratch.
@@1308lee I know. he said he uses them to build circuits not me.
I never thought I'd ever watch a youtube video about clip leads! Only Adam could make them interesting.
ive made many of these hook leads for so many of my projects,
The Fluke croc clips are beasts but big beasts.
Love them especially for earthing.
The first ones you show gets so warm I hated it when using them in school science class.
I love using them. I used to hate them, too. Until I found decent ones, that actually were soldered, where the wire inside was not magnetic but instead was low resistance copper so you can actually put a few amps through them.
They are good everything-to-everything adapters.
However, issues remain: once that thing is bent like 2:47 , it's done. Sometimes squeezing it from both sides with pliers re-aligns it somewhat.
What I did to make them better myself is to make one end alligator, other end something else. That makes them less adapter-y but better at specific adapter jobs. I have some that adapt to breadboard (2x1 pin row, 2.54mm pitch). I have some to adapt to generic battery (magnet that sticks to poles). I have ones with devices in between e.g. the short circuit indicating resettable fuse (a 5W incandescent bulb, lol).
The having to use a lot of force issue stems from I think 2 issues: 1.) the insulating things around the clips aren't soft (anymore), so they contribute to the force needed. I throw them away if that happens (only the insulation, not the clips. They still work without insulation for most cases). 2.) You're not that young anymore (sorry)
I can't find where I got them right now, but it wasn't Amazon or any other cheap marketplace. But I bought them specifically labeled as higher quality (while they also had lower quality in stock), with a "0.5mm² copper" and "soldered" label
Who knew Adam would have his own channel and talk honestly about how much he does and doesn't know about things 😊
Like the lack of ego and lack of shouty drama that usually occurs in US video content 😊👍🇮🇪
In electronics design, my favorite cheap clip style is the one you showed with the hook. I have some with that on both sides, and some with banana plugs like yours, which I use to connect to my power supply and multimeter. I have the alligator clip ones as well, but they aren't soldered and are therefore unreliable; I've had to solder a couple of them because they stopped working on me. The wire gauge in all of these is so light, that I don't like pulling much current through them for very long-especially the alligators which are only poorly crimped. I've never had those larger alligator clips.
Embedded system engineer here. My preference is cables with banana connectors on both sides with retractable sheaths (reduces accidental shorts). Then tips of various styles that can be attached to the banana connectors. The meaty alligator clips are what I use most, but I have a couple needle probes and hooks that allow me to probe tiny pins and pads on circuit boards. BNC to banana connector then extends the flexibility to an o-scope. The modularity is incredibly useful.
I work in an electronics lab. I keep a big box of 4mm banana leads, and the matching 4mm banana socketed clips. They're bulky but they're robust, and you can mix and match colours, stack the leads together to get multiple leads on one clip etc. Worth it!
Alright Adam, I have an extensive collection of leads both homemade and purchased; same complaints. However I have several tips.
First, go all in on the banana jacks. then ditch the fluke leads. You can get the tip of a multimeter probe (Extech TL809) that is constructed with a female banana jack and ends with a male banana jack with a sharp tip on it. it has a 3 inch "handle" in the middle that makes is almost look like a fluke lead.
Second, start making your own leads using "Retractable Sheath 4mm Banana Plug Male Stackable" ends. These are great since they have both the male and female side and the retractable sheath allows them to be much more resistant to sparking.
Now you can have an awesome set of multimeter leads that can be easily extended and can have multiple things attached to it.
Third, you can now start incorporating binding posts into projects and using these banana leads to power it. I have a pair of binding posts on my sailboat dc panel and my meter plugs into the neg for a perfect ground every time.
As for the clips, I use the ones that have a female banana jack. my Extech TL809 plugs directly into them. I also make up some mini ez grabber clips and use those for the really small stuff. I make them with a generous length of very light wire leading back to a banana plug.
I've used Hirschnamm clips and leads. They really are the cream of the crop. After using them for some time, I was shocked when I saw the price for them, but you get what you pay for. The 25A croc clips are super sturdy and nice to use, if a bit bulky. There is also an 8A variant which are rather dainty and excellent. They all connect with banana plugs, and the leads are quite good too, generally rated for quite a few amps. They certainly hold up to some abuse.
Minigrabbers and micrograbbers are the names of the hook-style probes. Pomona has high quality probes in their catalogues but they are often more expensive. These are useful for old circuit boards, but there are specialized IC clips that use pin and socket design. But since most circuit boards are surface mount these days, I use PCBite flying probes for handsfree measurements. They have magnetic bases and sharp, retracting pogo-pins for connecting to small chips, and are replaceable with pliers if broken.
Algorithm comment. Thanks for being the only TH-cam channel that doesn't beg for them! You guys do great work, love the channel. Wish I could afford to support you more than likes and comments.
I have a set of different lengths and end combinations that I made in an automotive electrical class at a technical college. It was mostly to practice soldering but we also got something useful out of it. Some of the ends are little aligators like in this video but most of them are different size fuse connectors so you can plug them right into the fuse box of a car and test continuity that way.
I got my Fluke 75 around 1990. Made in USA, I still have, still use it and it works great! And, the 9 volt battery inside lasts for years and years!
In all these years of electronics (mid-grade, know enough to design my own circuits or alter existing ones - haven't done anything more complex than basic chips) i've never used clip leads. I've used sleeved J hooks to hook unto stuff, but usually, i solder or twist wire. I've never bought them because their scope is ultimately limited and i don't mind soldering which i can do in just about the same time it would take me to clip something, once the iron is hot. In fact, i have a custom iron just for soldering quick connections with a super fine scoop tip i made on my lathe. It's a quick coil that activates with a foot switch at my bench. Solid connection, doesn't risk falling off or touching anything other than what i want.
Speaking of thrifty, love the vintage NiCd Dewalt drill. I still have about a dozen old 18V Dewalt tools that are 10-20 years old and still going strong. Used to have about 8 batteries on the go, but I'm down to 3 that are still usable. Finally bought an adapter and a couple lithium batteries a few months back when there was a screaming sale.
Hi Adam, I mucked around with the arithmetic of LEDs. As CBers and Hams will tell you, when the alternator is running a car supplies 13.8 volts (occasionally a bit more), but this works for the maths: A plain red LED "drops" 1.8 volts, (it varies marginally with current). Thus we have 12 volts we can't use, so need to drop this across the resistor. While you can apply Ohm's law, a simple rule of thumb is: If you want to 20 mA, multiply you excess voltage by 50. So, 12 volts x 50 = 600 ohms, or 620 ohms from the parts draw, if you have E24. If not maybe 560, but 680 would be the better E12 option for reliability. You want a half-watt or a 600 mW unit. If you want to go easier, use 10 mA so you multiply by 100, and 1k2 or 1200 is a common value (E12). For a green-yellow (2.2 volts) from 5 volts at 10 mA, you will drop 2.8 volts so 270 ohms. Note that the drop will be be similar no matter the current, but you will either stress the LED, or maybe make it too dim (or make it no longer work). Green-blue drops about 3 volts, like blue.
The alternative is a CL220 driver.
my old man did hobby electronics; I always remember him keeping his hanging with one end clipped to a wire that was just strung along a shelf.
he also just bought quality clip ends and made his own... because they ones you buy suck and the wires are also bad.
the rubber on a quality aligator clip is night and day, much more flexible and easier to depress.
As an automotive mechanic, so a slightly different need to for electrical equipment for diagnosis, my favourite clip leads are the ones you can make out of Fluke’s multimeter leads, and their big clamps that come in kits on their higher end meter, get a magnetic colour coded lead exe tension spool that uses fluke style banana jacks and it’s the best for temporarily overlaying circuits to narrow down issues or verify that parts are actually functioning and that there is a wiring or signalling concern
Im currently, still, getting rid of a bunch of old project stuff because im about done tinkering around with things.
It turns out, i don't need a walk in closet full of stuff just to keep my guitars maintained.
I hate throwing out stuff like that too but I'm getting much better at it.
Boy, how it piles up!
I have the same clip leads you liked, Adam. Got them on Amazon and yes, they are very good and very strong. I was trying to pull a couple off a shelf and they were still attached to some wires, normally shittier ones would just disconnect, but these ones pulled the wires and stuff I was testing on across the bench. Was surprised to say the least.
I have the Fluke TLK281 set of leads...they have some alligator clips in them that action like the hook style but are actual alligators, you will love them. Also has piercing probes which come in handy.