Open barrel crimp terminals - UK source?

[Lomax]

I need help - and possibly from a doctor I have literally spent all evening looking at crimp terminals. And just when I think I've found the ones I'm looking for (on Digikey, Mouser, Farnell...), something goes wrong. Minimum quantity 30,000? I don't think so! Back-order delivery time six months? No thanks. £0.80 a piece? You gotta be kidding me.

I want to find 100 pcs each of tinned brass open barrel ring terminals (with insulation support) in the sizes below - preferably at no more than ~£0.05 each, though by now I'm so desperately fed up with the whole thing I don't really care. Clearly, open barrel crimping is only intended for factory production, where they machine crimp thousands of the same identical terminals all the time, and have no need, or desire, to stock a small but universal selection of terminals to cover most bases. Insulated crimp terminals are a whole different matter, and it's not hard to find complete series from the likes of TE/AMP or Davico in small enough quantities, but that's not what I'm after.

Metric   Stud    AWG      Area
------------------------------------------------------
M2.5     #4      24-20   0.2-0.5mm²
M3       #5      24-20   0.2-0.5mm²
M3       #5      20-16   0.5-1.5mm²
M3.5     #6      24-20   0.2-0.5mm²
M3.5     #6      20-16   0.5-1.5mm²
M4       #8      20-16   0.5-1.5mm²
M4       #8      16-12   1.5-3.0mm²
M5      #10      16-12   1.5-3.0mm²


Ideally, these should all be the same form, from the same manufacturer, not be too flimsy (min 0.5mm material thickness), not have too narrow rings, and bulk rather than tape packaged - more fun can be had than cutting 800 crimp terminals from strips by hand...

Any ideas?

[Lomax]

Aaand just after I posted that I found the promising looking Stocko catalogue, which has exactly the kind of product list (pp. 39) I was looking for. That might at least get me a list of part numbers.

[Monkeh]

M3 and up is fairly easily accomodated: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/47297.pdf

Just search for 'LRB'. They're in stock, perhaps slightly more pricy than you want (be prepared to order a lot more than 100 if you want to drive the price down that low).

M2.5 and M3.5 are typically easily accomodated with washers, although your minimum wire size could be a problem (but who uses <0.5mm² anyway?).

[Lomax]

M3 and up is fairly easily accomodated: http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/47297.pdf

Just search for 'LRB'. They're in stock, perhaps slightly more pricy than you want (be prepared to order a lot more than 100 if you want to drive the price down that low).

M2.5 and M3.5 are typically easily accomodated with washers, although your minimum wire size could be a problem (but who uses <0.5mm² anyway?).

That's amazing, thank you! I was literally about to post a list of JST product codes (I gave up on Stocko, as I have on TE/AMP), when I got the message that a reply had been posted I found the following on RS:

Metric   Stud    AWG      Area         JST Code         Packaging
M3       #5      20-18   0.5-1.0mm²   LRB-1.0T-M3       Loose
M3       #5      18-14   1.0-2.5mm²   LRB-2.5T-M3       Loose
M4       #8      20-18   0.5-1.0mm²   LRB-1.0T-M4       Loose
M4       #8      18-14   1.0-2.5mm²   LRB-2.5T-M4       Loose
M5      #10      20-18   0.5-1.0mm²   LRB-1.0T-M5       Loose
M5      #10      18-14   1.0-2.5mm²   LRB-2.5T-M5       Loose
M6       ¼"      18-14   1.0-2.5mm²   LRB-2.5T-M6       Loose

That's a pretty good selection, and I agree no need to support cables <0.5mm². These will cover M3-M6 studs, and 0.5mm² to 2.5mm², which is all I'm ever likely to use. Larger sizes (e.g. for high currents & large SLAs) can be bought when needed, and I'd likely want something heftier for those (i.e. hex crimp tube terminals). I can imagine a need for miniature (M2-M2.5 @ 0.2mm² - 0.5mm²) ring terminals, but that can also wait. The JST terminals are nice as they have a ridged crimp zone for better grip, and thankfully they are (as you point out) available in bulk packaging, so I'll be spared the blistering experience of cutting them from strips.

HOWEVER. Of course there are problems; one being the price (they come in at £0.07 a piece @ 100pcs), which adds up to £50 for the set, plus VAT. Ouch. The other being that the M5 sizes are both back-order items - with an estimated delivery time of... wait for it... November 15th I will be on site all of November, and that's precisely when I need to have an assortment of crimp terminals to hand, so that's no good. Sigh.

Edit: JST really deserve an award for having readable product codes that actually make sense. TE/AMP are just awful in this respect; "41332" is 0.51mm tinned brass M4 0.8-2.0mm² and "42037-1" is the same but for 0.3-0.9mm² - no clue whatsoever.

[Monkeh]

There's a reason I linked the datasheet at Farnell; they have all these sizes in stock right now, and at (slightly) lower prices.

[Lomax]

There's a reason I linked the datasheet at Farnell; they have all these sizes in stock right now, and at (slightly) lower prices.

Excellent, many thanks - I have placed an order! Phew. I opted to skip the M3 1-2.5mm², and the M6 0.5-1mm² as I don't really see a need for these - so that's six different sizes, 100pcs each, for £48 inc. VAT and delivery (free). I can live with that! Thank you so much for the help; I knew this would be the right place to ask - you have delivered me from product selection hell

Edit: I really look forward to moving away from the PVC insulated Faston type red/blue/yellow crimp terminals to open barell "F" crimp terminals - stronger, slimmer, visually inspectable and with your own choice of insulation (including none, e.g. for earth terminals). They also look at lot neater, which might impress some client... I recently got my first "proper" crimping tool, a Pressmaster MCT, with lots of dies, including the "F" crimp dies, so it's all very exciting!

[Lomax]

For the benefit of anyone else who might be looking for open barrel crimp terminals, I have since found the (rather obscure) direct ordering website for JST, with prices ~20% below Farnell, RS, et al. and with free international shipping on orders over ¥10,000 (£65 / $95). Lead times appear to top out at 7 days, and they seem to have pretty much every JST product available - apart from the DIN 46247 cable sizing for terminals (only the Japanese sizes are available, but that's good enough for me). Minimum quantity for loose/bulk packaged items is just 10 pcs, though unit prices go down when you order more. For tape/strip/chain packaged items only whole boxes or reels make sense, as anything less carries a huge premium. JST product codes for loose open barrel crimp terminals being with an "L" (e.g. LTO) and with an "S" for strip/chain (e.g. "STO").