Electrical problem with stage pin/adapter

So I bought the light tester - it shipped very quickly - and tried out the offending light. It was giving a short, but nothing waws obviously wrong with the pins. I took the lamp housing apart and found a surprise. The shorted out wire was actually pinched underneath the plate that the spring is on.
 

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You've got 2 connectors and plugs here. The male looks like some arc flash when it was plugged in, the female as well, though we cannot tell if the flash was caused by the female hot terminal being located in the wrong slot inside the connector. The female is as BTW, incorrectly wired. There should not be that much bare copper showing off the insulation, as well the copper is supposed to fit into a silver aluminum crimp connector (not seeing those, bad photo angle), that goes under the screw terminal and held in place by the brass screw.
I want make sure I'm understanding that I can use crimp ring terminals with these pin connectors. I thought I could only use the rings on pins with a flat side but if I can use them here that's excellent!
 
I used to strip about 1-1/" of the stranded conductor, twist it tightly, dip in flux and saturate with solder. Then trim to a workable length and wrap around the screws just like a solid wire. No terminals, ferrules, crimp tools, etc., needed, and if you're any kind of electrician you can solder things and you're equipped to do it.
 
I used to strip about 1-1/" of the stranded conductor, twist it tightly, dip in flux and saturate with solder. Then trim to a workable length and wrap around the screws just like a solid wire. No terminals, ferrules, crimp tools, etc., needed, and if you're any kind of electrician you can solder things and you're equipped to do it.
I have done such things in my callow youth. I was advised that solder cold-flows under pressure and over time was creating a less reliable connection. I was also advised that where wires terminate to contacts, the point of transition should be mechanically supported, and I was introduced to the Hellerman sleeve and later, heat shrink tubing. Skoolin' about ferrules came much, much later. :cool:
 
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I have heard the same thing as Tim: that you shouldn't tin a wire that's going to be clamped in or under a contact.
It's permissable to tin the very end to keep the strands together and tidy but not the portions that are being clamped.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard
 
There's also a risk, if you tin the whole end, that the solder wicks up into the insulation, causing a weak spot where vibration and flexing can fracture the strands, but where it can't be seen. one reason why, these days, automotive, aircraft, military etc connectors which are subject to vibration are crimped, not soldered.
 
There's also a risk, if you tin the whole end, that the solder wicks up into the insulation, causing a weak spot where vibration and flexing can fracture the strands, but where it can't be seen. one reason why, these days, automotive, aircraft, military etc connectors which are subject to vibration are crimped, not soldered.
One of the new-to-me tools I became acquainted with was "anti-wicking tweezers" (search hint).
 
I wouldn't be using rings on those, I'd be using ferrules.
Ferrules meaning shoes?

I grew up shoving the wire into the ferrule and calling it a day but now that I'm grown I prefer crimped rings. I can't find new connectors suitable for them, though, that aren't five million dollars apiece. I would be happy to move to these shoe/ferrules it that is the best way though.
 
That dead short (hot to ground) would explain the dramatic arc flash when plugging in; more current flow than with the resistive load of the lamp. And a good outlier reason to avoid hot-patching (plugging), even though you can almost always get away with it. Also, the body of the fixture would have been energized, so it's possible the student could have felt some current if touching it. Did a breaker trip? Maybe she unplugged before it had a chance.

Tester is best(er), but another way to avoid hot-patching is to include a power strip with a built-in switch and breaker.
 
Ferrules meaning shoes?

I grew up shoving the wire into the ferrule and calling it a day but now that I'm grown I prefer crimped rings. I can't find new connectors suitable for them, though, that aren't five million dollars apiece. I would be happy to move to these shoe/ferrules it that is the best way though.
And by "wire into the ferrule" what I meant was "wire into the pin" but clearly was having One Of Those Days.
 

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