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Old 12th Aug 2020, 1:34 pm   #61
G6Tanuki
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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A honourable mention for the old rubber 13A plugs where you needed to remember to thread the cable through the hole in the cover before wiring up the pins, although some people (not me) used to cut a slit in the rubber cover instead of starting again.
I once soldered-up a 37?-way D-connector lead - proper pukka job, pink Hellermans on every joint - only to then notice I hadn't threaded the diecast shell onto the cable.

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Old 12th Aug 2020, 1:48 pm   #62
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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I've been surprised at the inadequacy of the industry standard 'caravan' type of mains connector, illustrated below. One was installed by the electrical contractor who wired a workshop for me (A CEng doesn't nowadays qualify me to do it myself!). Apparently it's regarded as an appropriate connector to feed mains to a 'temporary' building. For sure, they're to be seen in caravan sites and marinas all over the place, so I was quite confident.

However, when the autumn rains came, off went the relevant RCD - tripped. Naturally I checked first the various items of potentially flaky vintage equipment in the workshop - no problem there. The last thing i checked was that recently installed 'outdoor' connector. Problem solved: it was full of rainwater! I know that its IP44 rating only means that it survives splashed water, but unfortunately, there isn't a clause in the spec about whether it fills up or not! At the very least, some drain holes would be appropriate.

My solution was to fix a simple rain deflector shield above the connector, but I wouldn't have expected it to be necessary for such an industry standard device. Has anyone else been caught out by an outdoor mains connector unsuitable for the outdoors?

Martin
That doesn't look right to me, the lid is generally installed on the fixed part of the connector which has female connectors and is connected to the mains supply.

As you say these connectors are used in marinas and on caravan sites and I've never known then to give trouble.

The building appears to be "semi-permanent" rather than temporary or portable so the connections could have been made inside it.
In the memorable words of an erstwhile Engineering Manager colleague, “I wouldn’t have done it that way!”. I thought it a somewhat eccentric way of connecting a building that I regard as permanent. However, I do have the necessary certificate issued by a ‘competent person’. I’ll check whether the connector is installed the right way up.

Funny old world!

Martin
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 1:53 pm   #63
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Yes, these connectors are designed more to allow water to escape from them rather than them actually being waterproof, and yes the socket should have a cover, we have hundreds of the things (over 700!) at work and they all have covers.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:05 pm   #64
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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That doesn't look right to me, the lid is generally installed on the fixed part of the connector which has female connectors and is connected to the mains supply.
It appears the blue wire is the feed to the building. An externally mounted 16A wall mounted plug should have a skirt to deflect rainwater like this:-

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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:18 pm   #65
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

At one time I would have said PL259 but once assembled they are pretty bullet proof and some I assembled years ago, except for possible losses with old cable, are still serviceable.

These days I would say USB and similar miniature connectors. It's perhaps often cable faults or, more often, cable to connector interface but these assemblies cause all manner of issues after, often small, periods of use. They are used for many things that they are not really up to. How many people have had to replace an ipad, or similar, charging lead?
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:26 pm   #66
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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Quote:
That doesn't look right to me, the lid is generally installed on the fixed part of the connector which has female connectors and is connected to the mains supply.
It appears the blue wire is the feed to the building. An externally mounted 16A wall mounted plug should have a skirt to deflect rainwater like this:-

Attachment 213316

Cheers
Thanks. Yes, the blue flex is the feed to the building and the connector appears to be installed correctly. The socket cover is present, but of course it's held open all the time that the connector is mated. That rain skirt looks like the correct solution: my connector doesn't have one. Looks like I'm not the only user to have the rainwater problem.

I wonder whether officialdom would regard me as a sufficiently competent person to modify the installation with a rain skirt.

But I still think it needs a drain hole..........

Martin
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:29 pm   #67
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

How about those horrid PCB mounted screw terminal blocks.
They are like half a chocolate block soldered into a PCB.
If you remake one the little shiny plate between the screw and the wire blocks the hole stopping you putting the wire back in again.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:36 pm   #68
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I'm surprised no-one's mentioned the F-Type satellite aerial connector yet
It is a good connector (for solid core co-ax) remarkably good return loss, easy fitting, and cheap. Plus point all the way.
 
Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:38 pm   #69
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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The socket cover is present, but of course it's held open all the time that the connector is mated.
Martin
Yes. but I still think the lid should be attached to the fixed part. I believe the connectors will still mate if both parts have a lid, but as this connection is "permanent" lids probably serve little purpose apart from stopping the socket pulling or dropping out of the plug. The lid latches onto a lug.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:39 pm   #70
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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I wonder whether officialdom would regard me as a sufficiently competent person to modify the installation with a rain skirt.
You are allowed to replace existing items, simply replace with a drilled one!
 
Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:41 pm   #71
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

The F Connector, whilst at first glance a cheapo minimalist job, does have the distinct advantage of a reliable high pressure connection on to the solid copper inner conductor. Much better than an unsoldered Belling Lee coax plug with the inner conductor rattling about in the tubular centre pin..

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Old 12th Aug 2020, 2:41 pm   #72
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

The only good PL259 are those with a nut, rubber pressure ring and the metal insert that pushes in between the centre insulation and inside the braid. Of decent manufacture as well, like Greenpar or Amphenol. Usually silver plated and with ptfe insulation. I am afraid the cheap copies or worse "simplified" types are a waste of time. A decent make, correctly fitted gives a solid connection electrically and mechanically. Used by Pye Telecom by the thousand at hf and vhf. I never found them a problem.
Unfortunately, the cb expert taxi driver type, when faced with fitting a bnc to an aerial cable, has on more than one occasion just cut everything off and used choc blocks! Or, threw most parts away and tried fitting it like a satellite plug!
It was satisfying to know that the correction of this bodge could result in a hefty charge if they were a rental or maintenance contract customer.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 4:33 pm   #73
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

As long as you have the correct tool, many legacy RF connectors are available in crimp versions, eliminating the need for three hands.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:01 pm   #74
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

The "older" and "newer" crimp versions of the generic PL-259/UHF/F+E and probably several other colloquialisms for the same thing were at least easier to terminate than the solder versions (I still have a pair of Oetiker crimps for older type and different gauges of hex crimp for the newer type) but didn't overcome its other inherent problems. The castellated screen contact arrangement is a very poor and inconsistent way of doing things, thank goodness the likes of the BNC and other connectors ousted it.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:02 pm   #75
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Crimp connectors are good: when I was specifying building-infrastructure I always used to require coax cables [thick/thinwire Ethernet, G.703 and IBM '3270'] to be installed with crimps.

As mentioned, the 'clamp gland' PL259 plugs are probably the way to go for most people; much better than the silly solder-through-the-hole-in-the-side-and-melt-the-insulation-into-a-gooey-mess variety. A clamp-gland is largely waterproof too; moreso if you put a bit of silicone grease in there before tightening.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:08 pm   #76
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

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Originally Posted by emeritus View Post

A honourable mention for the old rubber 13A plugs where you needed to remember to thread the cable through the hole in the cover before wiring up the pins, although some people (not me) used to cut a slit in the rubber cover instead of starting again.
Duraplug disease I acquired piles of these from work when they went to shielded pins. I don't mind un-shielded - but I do mind that they're so old now that the moulded-in brass ferrule which holds the top on, often breaks off on attempting to pull the plug out, leaving exposed live pins.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:13 pm   #77
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

I wonder if the designers of the terrible connectors ever tried to use one in the field.
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:24 pm   #78
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Can I place a vote for my current least favourite connector, the Superspeed/USB 3.0 version of the micro USB connector? It's absolutely awful. Taking an already fiddly connector, making it wider, hanging a great big thick cable on the back of it, and making the sockets surface-mount only means that it's almost guaranteed to pull the entire socket and the pads off the PCB even with careful handling. It also suffers from the SCART problem of the cable being much too heavy and inflexible for the connector, so it falls out.

Utter rubbish, and happily mostly obsoleted by the (much more reliable) USB type C.

Chris
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:24 pm   #79
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

The rubber 5/13/15A Duraplugs (and their 'Hercules'-branded counterparts sold by Woolworths) had an annoying feature that over time the sulphur used to vulcanise the rubber would egress and cause all the terminals under the cover to go black. This was only really a problem with the 13A versions, where it corroded the fuse and the fuse-clips.

Also, if they weren't plugged into anything for a while the rubber base-part would distort and the 3 pins would end up tilting inwards by a few mm so they needed to be wrestled into the socket when you came to use them again - a particular problem, I found, back in the days when I had an electric lawnmower and the extension-lead would spend the winter unused in the shed.

Finally, after a few years the brass insert in the cover that took the screw which held the cover to the main body would sometimes pull-out, meaning the cover came off in your hands and exposed the still-active fuse/terminals. I'm glad the MK "ToughPlug", with its Nylon cover, came along!
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Old 12th Aug 2020, 5:26 pm   #80
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Default Re: The most horrid connector ever...

Not keen on the side swipe type of connections, where the fixed 'U channel' is meant to cut through the wire insulation and grip the wire. Had no end where the wire either breaks inside the insulation or does not make connection due to it's insulation. Typically used in the telecoms industry and I have also had them break at the base of the said 'U'.
Also if you think 3.5mm 4 pole jacks are bad, wait while you attempt a 2.5mm 4 pole version and yes they do exist! Another hate of mine is cheap crimp on BNC plugs, that don't have a means of clamping the inner wire core, it's just a push fit. These are absolutely useless and should all be melted down to make something that actually works!
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