Road Fan

I'm looking for the female push-on connectors for the SON and the B&M Luxos headlamp. The brass one for the headlamp has spring and is not making good contact and I want some spares. I can make it work for a time by carefully compressing with a fine pliers, but it won't last a real long time. I'd really like to just make up a new lead to go up the fork leg, with new contacts. I found that seeming American equivalents are not good matches, also needing to have their shapes adjusted to make them fit.

Anybody have some or know of several sources? I could use 6 pieces of each.

I'd also like a source for Teflon or FEP-insulated hookup wire, if I actually make up new ones.

Tourist in MSN

I can't help with the hub connectors. I use the SP/Shimano connectors.

I think all the B&M lights use the same 2.8mm spade connectors, you probably just need to squeeze them a hair tighter to stay on. When mine have fallen off, I just squeezed them a hair tighter with a pliers.

cuevélo

I'd avoid Teflon, since that wire is usually silver plated, which is generally worse than tin-plated copper in wet environments. I like M22759/16 ETFE insulated wire. I've gotten it from the Allied Wire and Cable "Bargain Bin" in the past, but it doesn't look like they have great options in there right now; they just have regular stock.

unterhausen

At the hub, I recommend switching to the coax connectors. They are vastly superior to the terminal lug connectors

Germany_chris

If at the hub I just buy the SON connectors which I'm sure Peter White will have

Road Fan

Unterhausen, what coax connectors? Who sells them? What style? How are they attached to a standard SON hub with bladed connections?

Or do you mean the simple single-contact single-circuit banana connector?

GhostRider62

https://www.renehersecycles.com/shop...axial-adapter/

Jan sells a kit

unterhausen

You can also get them from Peter J. White cycles

Germany_chris

I’ll send you a picture tonight when I get home. IMHO the coax is only useful if you pull the front wheel fairly often.

unterhausen

I have too much experience fixing other people's SoN hub connections by the side of the road while I'm being eaten alive by mosquitos. It only takes one time forgetting to unplug the connectors while taking the wheel off before it's worth $30 to me. I know that price is a bit ridiculous, but having lights vs. not having lights doesn't really have a price. I used to bring a crimper to events for exactly this problem, because people would put their bike in their car with the wheels off and the wires ripped out of the connectors. I doubt that Schmidt would endorse this feature of their coaxial connectors, but it does work that way.

Germany_chris

One nice thing about the coax that I didn't think about until I was riding home is that if you run a wide body it's easier to to connect since you can put the spade end on then mount the wheel

Road Fan

Thanks! I have so much experience with ham-fisted misuse of spade connectors and resulting breakage, that one of two remove/replace cycles with no likelihood of breakage will help me a lot, at least make me feel a lot better! How does the connector, in this case, the male, tehe plug, water-seal against the coax outer insulation? Or does it want a twisted pair? In my aerospace tooling I always used shielded twisted pairs. Water exposure was not a common problem, unlike on a road vehicle.

unterhausen

You can get the coax wire from Peter White or other sources. It's a fairly normal coax cable except the inner wire is stranded. On edit: my memory failed me, I think it's just a two connector cable. Is it supernova that has a shield-like drain wire? Got to go look in my lighting supplies parts organizer.
You can see the innards of the connector on Peter White's page.
https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/sch-wiring.php

Here is what it looks like before construction and in a soldering fixture that they sell

unterhausen

I think the biggest problem with water intrusion is that it might corrode together. It seems like this connector doesn't have so much surface area that would be an issue, and you probably should use dielectric grease to stop it from happening. It does have that rubber seal.

steelbikeguy

my own approach to adding a low-effort connection in series with the SON dynamo connectors:



I've probably shared this in other threads too.
These are just basic pins and sockets from Amp (formerly Deutsch). I've got the Digi-key p/n's if anyone is curious.
They are high quality and nickel plated. Never had any issue with corrosion, even with frequent exposure to rain and snow.
Obviously, heatshrink tubing is used to insulate and serve as strain relief.

Steve in Peoria

unterhausen

Peter White shows a similar thing using the coax connectors, but I think the rationale in his case was he wanted a splitter. I have used the Supernova connectors and RC connectors in a similar manner as yours. The Supernova connectors got really hard to disconnect after a few years of not being disconnected. I probably didn't use any dielectric grease on them, which likely would have made it a lot easier.

steelbikeguy

I imagine that a coax connector is simpler for a lot of folks.. if only because there's just one thing to hook up.
I've thought about using a proper connector with a shell and two pins (or sockets) in it, partly because you can get connectors with environmental seals (such as the Deutsch/Amp models). Unfortunately, they tend to be much too bulky for this sort of application (imho, etc).
The nickel plated contacts have largely eliminated the need for a sealed connector shell, though.

I do like the idea of using common electrical connections, such as what RC cars use. They are a model of Molex, aren't they? Any chance that they are available with a higher grade of plating than the tin plated ones I've seen?

I haven't used dielectric grease on my SON connections, and haven't noticed any corrosion... but also haven't tried to take them off. Most greases tend to migrate or will get washed off, so I'm not sure how effective dielectric grease would be over the long term. Perhaps marine bearing grease would be a good choice??

Steve in Peoria

noglider 

@steelbikeguy, I really like that. Can you please supply the part numbers? Thanks!

Road Fan

Go back to where you used to work, look up your team's senior technician/technologist (maybe he's on LinkedIn), ask him/her what's the best goop for connector sealing, and use that. Or maybe I can find mine - he's on LinkedIn all the time! I haven't seen a Group for fabricating wiring harnesses for reliable electrical systems.

Germany_chris

I think I like that more than the SON coax

steelbikeguy

Here are the Amp part numbers and the associated Digi-key p/n's. Of course, you can type the Amp p/n into the search field on digikey.com and it'll pull up the Digi-key number too....

machined versions:
Amp p/n AT60-202-20141 machined pin, 20-22 gauge wire
Digi-key p/n 889-1462-ND

Amp p/n AT62-201-20141 machined socket, 20-22 gauge wire
Digi-key p/n 889-1471-ND

stamped versions:
Amp p/n AT60-16-0122 stamped pin, 16-18 gauge wire.
Digi-key p/n 889-1048-1-ND

Amp p/n AT62-16-0122 stamped pin, 16-18 gauge wire.
Digi-key p/n 89-1049-1-ND

The machined versions are a bit nicer in construction and finish, perhaps, but a bit more costly. Not a big deal in small quantities.

The stamped ones are made from flat sheets of metal, stamped out with a die and then formed to shape. To my knowledge, they function just as well.

Steve in Peoria

steelbikeguy

We didn't use any sealant on connectors. The Amp/Deutsch connectors had seals at the mating surface of the plug and receptacle, as well as seals around wires where they exited.
Of course, our machines were intended for a harsher environment than autos see (I hope), and we could charge a bit more (a lot more?) for the parts.

Steve in Peoria

unterhausen

I went looking at rc connectors and realized I was talking about what is commonly called, "banana bullet connectors." They seem to all be gold plated. Who knows how thick the plating is though, and if the common ones are really plated with gold. I have 10 pairs of either Supernova or RC connectors on my travel bike. I'd like to simplify the wiring somehow. Not sure I can afford the SoN connectors. The supernova connectors are $. Velolumino sells something like that for $2 a pair.

I went looking at Peter White's site and now I want a Supernova M99 DY pro

2_i 

Don't they have ultrathin springs, directed along the axis but spread over circumference, that bend in a most unfortunate moment, making the connector unusable?? In my memory I banned these from my bikes and turned to the straightforward spade 2.8mm ones that just work - primitive can be good on a bike.

Tourist in MSN

Reading the complications of these other options, I am becoming really happy that I chose to just standardize on 2.8mm spade connectors for everything when I saw that was the standard connector from B&M. Getting the female ends squeezed just right so that they do not fall off but still are removable was often an iterative process, but it worked for me. I bought my first dynohub a decade ago last month, have not found any reason to use anything else for the past 10 years.

That said, I use SP and Shimano hubs, not Son, so I have no experience with Son connection.