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I have a heating element (essentially a very resistive wire) that has two threaded bolt-like connectors on each end. I want to avoid soldering any components of the heating element, so I asked a friend what would work best for this situation, as the heating element need to be connected to a power supply. He advised that I use two nuts on the bolt to hold what he called an "automotive connector" in place. He didn't know the actual name of this part, but described it as a washer with an extension off of one of the edges, where a wire can be soldered. I was hoping someone could tell me the name of this part, as I am looking for places to buy it.

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3 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

If you mean this

enter image description here

it's called a cable lug. You usually don't solder them, but insert the cable/wire and use a crimping tool to fix it to the lug.

They also exist with screw terminals:

enter image description here

or U-shape:

enter image description here

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That's them! Thanks a lot, stevenh! – Mike Aug 21 '12 at 16:01
@Mike - You're welcome, glad to be of help. ("Lug!", don't forget :-)! ) – stevenvh Aug 21 '12 at 16:08
up vote 4 down vote

What you're looking for are ring terminals.

ring terminals

You would usually crimp the wire into these. Although if you feel it necessary, they are solderable.

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That's perfect, thanks kyle! – Mike Aug 21 '12 at 16:02
@Mike No problem. I should point out that I'm American and I've only ever heard them called "ring terminals". But Steven's European so you might have better luck looking for "cable lugs" depending on which side of the pond you're on. – embedded.kyle Aug 21 '12 at 16:38
@embedded - But I'm not a native English speaker, and I think there's a bigger chance that I picked it up from Americans than from the Brits. (The word is exposure.) – stevenvh Aug 21 '12 at 16:49
@stevenvh Are you familiar with the English phrase "When you ASSume, you make an ASS out of yourself"? I assumed your polyglotism was influenced primarily by Britain since you're in Europe. And I assumed that the difference in terminology was an American/Britain thing. – embedded.kyle Aug 21 '12 at 17:23
up vote 0 down vote

If you plan to use solder on this connector, you need to be sure that the heating element will not make it hot enough to melt the solder! If that's the case, a crimp would be good enough. Make sure to buy the connector appropriately sized for the wire AWG you plan to use (not related to the size of the threaded bolt) so you get a good crimp.

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