To give some perspective of the size wire we are dealing with in this article I placed a blue 14-16GA ring terminal terminated to 16GA wire next to this 24GA wire.
19-APR-2013
Three Ring Sizes
In this photo I have a #4, #6 & #8 ring terminal shown. Two of them have been strain relieved with dual wall adhesive lined heat shrink and the bottom one is how it comes out of the crimp tool.
The black shrink was only used for photographic contrast. Normally I would use red, as shown in the last photo, so as not to insinuate this red wire is a negative conductor.
19-APR-2013
Dual Wall heat Shrink
Because these wires are so delicate I prefer to use a "dual wall" adhesive lined heat shrink as strain relief. I also use a 1/8" diameter so when it shrinks to fit a small wire it is a tad thicker than a smaller diameter shrink. This provides great strain relief and creates a water tight seal between wire and terminal.
20-APR-2013
How Do They Fair..?
All the terminations in this article were made with the GC Electronics 12-464 D-Sub crimp tool.
The proof is always in how they perform. To test these two terminals I held the ring end with one pair of pliers and the wire end with another set of pliers. I then pulled. In both cases the wire failed right in the middle. The crimp held perfectly which is exactly what you want with these small terminals and wires.
Good luck with your project!
MAY-2006
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