Heavy-Duty pp3 Snap/ Clip (Dinotte)

[palinurus]

My (ageing) Dinotte headlamp is cranky. If I wiggle the wire going into the battery clip moulding it goes on and off. It does this in use too (ooh, light's gone out, aim for that pothole...)

This sort of design.

It isn't my main lighting setup any more, I use a hub dynamo for commuting. I do use it on other bikes though and as a backup.

I could send it to the US and get it refurbished but its pricey. I wouldn't. I'd buy a new light.

Or I could replace the connector, but I can't find a sturdy-looking pp3 snap.

This is typical, heavy duty pp3 snap from Farnell. Maybe it'd work, they are cheap enough so even if they don't last long it'd be no big deal. Generally the heavy-duty versions have a plastic former under the PVC coating rather than cardboard. They don't look as rugged as the Dinotte connector.

Any suggestions?

 

[Wobblers]

The main point of failure tends to be where the wire enters the clip - repeated flexing over time causes the copper strands to snap. It sounds like this is what's happened in your case. The Farnell pp3 connector might be good enough, if you reinforce the wires where they go into the connector with electrical tape or, better, heat shrink. This will act as strain relief and hopefully increase its life. But, as you say, it's easy to replace even if it doesn't last long.

Oh yes, one more thing - I've found the pp3 connector on my Dinotte works better if I bend the contacts of the hexagonal connector in a little. Left on its own, the connection gets a little loose and contact becomes intermittent giving symptoms just as you describe. It might be worth trying to bend the contacts a little on both the battery holder and pp3 snap to ensure you're getting good contact.

 

[palinurus]

Last time I tried bending the contacts didn't seem to help- I will check it again though.

If I have to replace the snap I think I'll do some reinforcement, as you suggest. It occurs to me that I could perhaps pull off the PVC, make up a mould and seal up the connector with a potting compound.