Wire Connectors

The idea is to make a usable wire connectors that only consists of wires and 3D printed connectors. No other pieces.

Tried to make them according to these specifications:

• Ease of assembly
  • This is the third version I designed from scratch. Some prototypes seemed like good ideas, but after printing, I realized there was no easy way to put it together or insert the wires. These are ok.
• Small Size
  • They're larger than standard wire connectors, but still small enough.
• Reliability of connection
  • Going to need to test this. Work in Progress.
• Ease of Printing
  • There are small features so the first layer has to be printed very slowly to stick properly. Also if the first layer has elephant foot, the edges might have to be trimmed slightly to allow fitting.
• Low risk of shorting
  • Should be unlikely. The only scenario is where the the wire strands are loose. If you twist tightly or lightly solder them, shouldn't happen.
• No other parts required
  • No screws, no springs. Just press fit.
• Easily separated yet firm
  • The male and female can be quick connected and disconnected. Still adjusting tolerances to make tighter, but not too tight.
• Wires are held tightly
  • The holder is tightly holding the wires to the bases, yet can be removed with conscious force, a sharp yank.
• Tolerant of wire size
  • Need more wires to test. Mine are around 0.6mm diameter speaker wire.

I'm hoping to test these for replacement fans on my printer, at least until some JST connectors arrive in the mail. These are definitely far from perfect so if anyone can think of a better one, please do.

I recommend pliers to squish down the wires before slotting the female and male bases together. This flattens the wire, giving more surface for contact, but also relieves some pressure from the female end.

v1.1 Changes

• Added a version of the holder that you can drill out instead. It's not good printing design to have such small holes.
• Changed tolerances slightly to allow better fit between male and female.
• Added fillet to female base to ward off squished first layer/elephant foot.
• Elongated wire holding part of base for holder
• Deepened the V on the holder.
• Added video: https://youtu.be/v-mV1HiuYus