Hi,

I'd like to make the best contact possible between an alligator clip and a copper tube. The obvious solution is to just make the clip bite the tube's edge (1st pic below). This is good but it doesn't seem very solid since the clip can come off easily if we pull it without paying attention.

I found another solution (2nd pic below) which consists in drilling a little hole in the copper tube in order to place a screw inside it, so the alligator clip could bite this screw instead of the edge and make a more solid link.

But the major flow I see to this is that the contact between the screw and the clip won't be very good (if the screw is not made from copper). I don't know if copper screws exist, but a regular inox screw will not preserve the contact quality I think.

Do you have a better idea to improve this please?

Thakns for any help, and my apologize for my english it's not my native language

 

I'd like to make the best contact possible between an alligator clip and a copper tube.

What is more important? Contact resistance, reliability (grip strength), ease in connecting/disconnecting, ...? What voltage/current is involved?

 

Solder a 4mm socket to the tube and put a 4mm plug on the wire?

 

Bolt to copper pipe.
Drill two holes in the pipe and solder this to it.

On solid copper rod I use these.

 

Solder the alligator clip to The copper tube

 

Solid copper alligator clip would be a start...

 

My idea would be to solder a smaller section of tubing to the alligator clip so your connecting a radiused copper to the copper tube and a points on the outside.

We don't have what the requirements are.

You could also solder a banana jack. You might have to use Silver solder.

 

Jeeez you guys are very helpful I wasn't expecting so much help thanks a ton.
Here are some more details about the circuit. I'm building a little device that delivers a micro current (a few thousandth mA) to the body at a 30khz frequency (if you want to know more about this, you can google Dr Clarck's work, there are also studies on pubmed that show microcurrents are efficient to treat some deseases due to parasites. Anyway that's not the subject here).

So the person will keep one copper tube in each hand, making a closed circuit between him and the device, so the micro current can pass through him. That's why I need the best conductivity possible. Maybe I'm too paranoid about this and a simple inox contact should be enough. After all, all these banana jacks and clips etc are made from inox, not copper...

Concerning soldering I only have a regular iron with regular tin I don't know if I can make a copper-inox soldering with tin. So soldering the alligator clip probably requires more work than a simple soldering? In fact if I go the solder route, no need the clip anymore, I could directly solder the wires to the tubes I guess.
thanks for all your suggestions, this forum rocks.

edit : an image to illustrate the device

 

In fact if I go the solder route, no need the clip anymore

Exactly. Now you understand how we see it through our eyes it's all we have to go on.

 

Exactly. Now you understand how we see it through our eyes it's all we have to go on.

yep sorry not to have given more details from the start
Since wires are made from copper (I guess) the soldering to the copper tube will be perfect. That's the best solution I think.

Edit : @ronsimpson 's solution seems better than mine though, more solid. I'm afraid the tin soldering won't last long, they are generally very weak, no?

 

The resistance across a human will be orders of magnitude greater than any possible metal contact, the croc clip to the tube will work perfectly well.

 

tin soldering won't last long,

It will last 100 years with 100 pounds/sq inch of water pressure.

Have some pictures for you. Left side is plug & Jack (male & female) banana jacks. Bottom left comes with nut or the reverse comes with a screw. Top left, most are insulated but this one has the option of non insulated. The ides is to drill a hole in the end cap on the pipe. This will make a very good connection.


Or use the end cap, nut bolt lock washer and a spade lug. Is that the right word. The things pictured on the right.

 

What I would do is:

get a piece of copper pipe and an endcap. Put a hole in the endcap to accept the banana jack. You should be able to find an uninsulated one.




Solder the endcap to the tubing. You can out an endcap on the other side or use a plastic cap.

I'd use commercial banana plug to banana plug wires.

I would actually plate the copper. A mix of vinegar and salt will clean up the copper.

I'd actually plate it. Copper requires a barrier layer such as nickle. So, you would have copper, nickle gold. You can penplate or electroplate. That process you will have to look up.

Copper oxidizes easily.

 

That sounds like a fun project to make

if you want to know more about this, you can google Dr Clarck's work

Sure - Is this the person?
https://quackwatch.org/related/cancer/clark/

[edit]
I'd also recommend the banana jack for ease of connecting/disconnecting - The alligator clip will break and bend more easily.
[/edit]

 

Can you open the Clark zapper I just have to see what's inside.
I hate parasites!
Then they started to grow on me.
But now I think? that's just because I'm a very good Host.
And I must admit...It's been eating me up inside, to get that out!

 

@ronsimpson thanks a lot for all these suggestions. My soldering skills are not top notch that's probably why I think tin soldering won't last long. In fact many electronic gadgets have some soldering that fail after a short period of time so I'm not the only one with poor soldering skills I guess
Anyway with all the plugs you suggested I will surely find what fits my need, thanks again !

@KeepItSimpleStupid, thanks as well for this idea. Plating the copper is beyond my scope but it seems to be a clean solution to get an excellent contact.
I am considering using a multimeter to test the conductivity of different parts so I can choose the best one for me.

@click_here, yep probably. But I stopped reading at the title, because saying it's "bizarre" when science has already proved microcurrents and pulsed frequencies are effective to kill parasites in human cells... Mate I am tired of all this misinformation from medias so I don't read them anymore (and you shouldn't too). If people don't believe in this, no need to mock or treat people with desdain. those who should be mocked are marketers from big pharma selling dangerous chemo drugs to heal cancers for instance. But that's a another subject I don't want to dive in here.
Moreover, when FDA forbids a cheap and simple device from being used by people, that's all I need to know to be sure it's effective stuff
And Dr Clarck never asked for any money, she offered her researches and device's schematics for free. Those who are making money from it are just greedy people using her name to make money.


@Delta Prime, yep microcurrents associated with pulsed frequency will probably make your life better. Just try it out you have nothing to lose. There are hundreds testimonials in favor of this technique, and studies too. Search for "Rife's machine", this researcher used to treat all diseases with frequencies before the FDA and US gov destroy all his researches. Same with Dr Beck, whose life has been a nightmare due to FDA tracking him. Frequencies associated to microcurrents seem to treat a lot of things without any adverse effect, for cheap. There are videos on youtube about recent works using his previous researches to treat cancers and other diseases. Start with a TED talk on youtube which has millions views, explaining the link between frequencies and killing parasites.

Here is the circuit I'm going to use (you can find many other sources) :
https://www.maestro-zapper.org/fiz_montage_zapper.html
(not the first circuit but the one at the bottom, called "ZWS02" it's an improved version of the Clarke's original device that saves the battery and prevents shorts.


Anyway I've went far from the initial subject, sorry for this guys.

 

why I think tin soldering won't last long. In fact many electronic gadgets have some soldering that fail after a short period of time

Huh? I have projects still working that I soldered over 50 years ago...

 

Huh? I have projects still working that I soldered over 50 years ago...

My old Gramps used to say "If you've got a screwdriver set, an adjustable spanner and a soldering iron you can fix anything".Just don't go fluxing everything up!

 

I am considering using a multimeter to test the conductivity of different parts

Unless you have a very expensive and accurate multimeter you will probably find any of the above jointing methods and parts will have a resistance too low to measure accurately and likely below that of the meter leads themselves!

 

Are you aware that you are creating a thermocouple when you join two dissimilar metals?