How are these mini clips intended to be used? I've never used them before and they only have one odd shaped hole that doesn't look like you would secure a wire to the contact inside.

Also not sure how they come apart if they do.

Are they supposed to be used with probes or something?

 

I couldn't use them with probes, the tip kept falling out.....

To take them apart you have to squeeze them open, exposing the hook, and straighten that out....
the end will then come apart, but be careful with the spring that is inside.

You can then solder a cable to the copper contact, don't forget to feed the cable through the main body before soldering....

HTH Steve

 

The cap (on the left in your pic) comes off and you solder a wire to the exposed contact.

See here for a better explanation:
http://ecee.colorado.edu/~mathys/ecen1400/labs/lab02/index.html
Scroll just past halfway down the page.

 

Do be careful as you solder these as the plastic will MELT and leave you a useless slag heap.

The tip is very prone to melt back into it's slot.

 

Ahhh!

Anything special about the wire or is it just some regular wire?

 

I just use the same gauge wire as used for breadboard jumper wires (assuming you have the micro test clips?)
A better solution rather than soldering the wire directly, since handling will eventually cause the wire to break inside the clip, is to solder a pin from a 0.1" header and use a female socket on the end of the wire to connect to the clip.

 

I just use the same gauge wire as used for breadboard jumper wires (assuming you have the micro test clips?)
A better solution rather than soldering the wire directly, since handling will eventually cause the wire to break inside the clip, is to solder a pin from a 0.1" header and use a female socket on the end of the wire to connect to the clip.

wow....that's genius. I guess these would never really be measuring a high voltage or anything.

 

What's to stop them from measuring a high voltage?

High compared to what?

My usage is for up to 12VDC and low current, so they are sufficient for my needs.

Others may be using them for >12VDC or mains voltages, so I'd rather they give a little input.

 

I don't think I'd be using them anywhere but breadboarding or smaller TTL circuits so I wouldn't have a need for heavier wire.

I don't think I'd trust the thin hook on these for high voltages such as mains.

 

I haven't seen those in years. I used to use them for heat sinks on transistors I was soldering to pc boards. They work great -lightweight and everything - but the plastic at the hook melts after a while.

 

Thanks for the info. I figured it out, but it's good to have confirmation. I had some years ago but they came with "wires".

 

The cap (on the left in your pic) comes off and you solder a wire to the exposed contact.

See here for a better explanation:
http://ecee.colorado.edu/~mathys/ecen1400/labs/lab02/index.html
Scroll just past halfway down the page.

Used that way to hook the IC pin is quite dangerous, it's easy to shorted with another pin, so I changed to using another wire insert to the related hole and using the clip to hook the wire.

 

I tried 18 gauge automotive prime wire, and it's too stiff, thick,
I need to re-do them with something thinner, more flexable.