the point is Scott, for the spade terminal to work in a relay base you need the locking tab on the spade (so it locks into base and does not fall out when you remove relay from base).

And the spades with the double crimp- ie one crimp on the bare wire, the other on the insulation hold much better than the regular spades with only the single crimp.

alistair

On 2013-02-08, at 9:35 PM, Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:

> I am unaware of any weakness in standard crimp spade terminals,
> the ones with the insulation on them.
> Some even are waterproof ( like for marine use ) with a heat shrinkable
> seal. West Marine most likely has those.
> 
> for regular ones,. with a bit of heat shrink tubing  - - works just fine.
> 
> and the funny thing to me is ..
> as long as you are using decent stuff (like not ultra cheap spade
> terminals, or the ones that are flat ) ..
> how carefully and intelligently they are used is much more important
> than the actual terminal used, as long as it's a quality part.
> Pull-test all crimped connections of course
> 
> "It's in the workmanship, not the parts used so much."
> 
> scott
> turbovans
> 
> 
> On 2/8/2013 6:17 PM, Dennis Haynes wrote:
>> It is extremely important for these terminals to be matched to the wire size
>> and that the correct crimping tool is used. Particularly on high current
>> circuits. If installing new wireing in damp or outside areas tinned wire
>> will resist the elements a lot better than copper. Shrink tube sealing the
>> wire crimp area also helps longevity.
>> 
>> Dennis
>>