VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 1929 headlight Socket Insulator

working on wiring my 1929 headlamps and one of the original headlamp insulators broke/fell apart. it was very brittle.

i saw that you can get them from TFS, what are they made of and what about the original ?? was wondering if their MAIN purpose is to isolate the 3 wires from touching and space them properly to connect to the corresponding connectors in the socket when hooked up.

I was wondering if i could just design them and 3d print them out of high temp PLA and not have any issues ?? yeah i can order a set for $13.00 ($6.50 ea) then ship for another $8.50 or a hour or so on the 3d printer

does not look like TFS sells the copper buttons, so would have to make solder buttons, no issue there. saw them in RI Wiring or YNZ for about 30 cents each. plus shipping.

I would 3D print them. I made the contacts out of brass stock.

When I wired my headlights I was able to re-use some of the original buttons and used copper tacks with a drop of solder for missing ones.

Call the Filling Station and ask them what type of material was used to make the insulators that they sell.

well spent 5 minutes this morning generating a 3d model of the insulator
modeled it after the original one i had, put a step in the insulator so that the wire with shield (fabric) will stop at the step and only the bare wire will come through.this should make it easier to solder and handle. will print out a test piece tonight for fitment and function then adjust from there. fine tuning :)

here are some pictures of the original one and the broken one. very brittle

Here are a few shots of the model i generated this morning that i will 3d print this afternoon.

on the rear side you can see the step for the wire stop

will try to post pictures when test fitting. hoping it works on first try :)

thinking of using #2 brass washers for the solder base. tin a #3 brass washer, push wire end thru insulator, then place a tinned #2 brass washer over wire, solder up and build a nice connector. file as needed. figure the washer would help keep heat off insulator from solder iron plus would assist in making a nice round connector button.

I drilled all three holes to take a brass rivet and turned the head of the rivets in to a dome, You can fit the three wires right through the insulator push the stripped end of the wires right in to the modified rivet solder the wire in and pull the three wires back until the rivets sit flush with the insulator and the wires are fully insulated and will never pull out.

well made of 3 concepts for the replacement insulator one that:

1-mimics the original
2-mimics original with chamfer  lead for easy wire entrance
3-same as above bu with radii on entering edge to seat smoothly against the TFS replacement sockets

took about 1 hour to print them out, they looked really good. i tried 

1- it fit fine, had to work the wires to get them to come through. it fit nicely in the socket housing. it was a little recess inside the housing.
2- general fitment is the same wire was a lot easier to feed into each hole with the chamfers. also recessed a little inside the housing.
3- same general fitment, a lot easier to get it into the housing with that leading radii wires are easy to feed with the internal chamfers and it also seated better in the housing, sits almost flush

ordered some #2 brass washers today, should be here wednesday, no one local carries them that small. plan to tin one side of the washers, drop one washer over each wire tip poking through, solder the tip and washer with a nice solder ball. then file them down nice and even and flat on top. should be good to go at that point.

for those interested here is a model view of the printed part that works best for the TFS Armor Cables I got.

Here are some shots from the model:
1-front angle view (small holes)
2-rear angle view (large holes and radii edges)
3-front section View showing the chamfer to feed the wire to the front hole

I use copper pop rivets for my ends. Cut through the copper with diagonal cutters to selected length. Rotate a couple of times to get all the way around separated. Push out the steel center shaft. It's just the right size to fit the wire. I clean the rivet with wire brush to make it solder easier. Push the bare wire end in and fold wire over a little to hold in place. A drop of solder completes the terminal end. Have don't hundreds of them that way with not a single failure. Get the rivets at local hardware store.

Thanks Chipper, i looked at using tubular brass rivets since they have a hole in them i could solder the wire into. never thought of using the good ole pop rivet !! take out pin, push wire through solder up :) i will lok and see if i can find some locally. all the good ole hardware stores that sold hardware are now gone, only the bog box boys around anymore. i really miss the lil ole hardware store where i could buy a few nails if i wanted to. throw em in a bag and buy em by the pound. to the guy behind the counter ask is that all you need ?? i say yeah, he says get out of here, and take them with you... lol

We have three "real" hardware stores in our area and they all have really cool stuff and a great selection too! You can buy one nail or a thousand.....makes no difference. And they carry items that our local Lowes store doesn't even have.

I tried hollow rivets and other possible terminal ends. Found hollow rivets could be crimped onto wire with some success but were tougher to solder. Tinning the wire and adding a good flux to hollow was required for the best connections. When heating tended to melt some insulation on the wire. They do make a more consistent terminal end.

the #2S brass washers were the perfect size for the wire. installed the 3d printed insulators on the wires, then slipped a washer over the tip of the exposed wire, then applied the heat to the wire, waited a few seconds then applied the solder to the washer and bam had a nice round ball. the solder sent right to the brass and made a near perfect mound.?

very satisfied with how they came out, will have to do a light check before going further, still waiting on reflectors

complete details nad more pictures are in my other post: Rebuilding Headlamp Assembly on 1929

What is the vendor, "TFS" that is mentioned in the above posts?
Thanks!

*The Filling Station in Oregon
.....Website:The Filling Station
.....Phone:(800) 841-6622