Faston: everything you need to know about these elements

Surely you have not heard of the faston, but if you have worked on electronics projects you have seen and used it more than once. They are great unknown, since it is not an essential element, you can carry out the DIY project without it and it would not affect the operation, although its use is highly recommended for comfort and to maintain good "health" of your cables.

In this guide you will learn All you need to know about this electronic component, from what they are, how to use them, how they connect, to the tools you have at your fingertips to work with them ...

What is a faston

: Female

: Macho

Un faston, terminal or terminalAs you prefer to call it, it is nothing more than a connector to add to the termination of an electrical cable to be able to connect it to another device or network. This termination can be simply a conductor at the end of a cable or also have other extra elements such as screws for anchoring, etc.

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Various factors can be addressed in order to catalog the types of faston that exist in the market:

Clips type
For splices
Wire females
Test leads
Ring
Screw
De / fast connection
Hairpin or tongue
Cylindrical

Of course, you will find components both male and female, as you need to fit the connector.

In addition to that, you have in the industry a series of designations to catalog these components, such as the series with which they are cataloged in the American market:

312 Series: they are 7.92 mm male connectors.
250 Series: also male type and with dimensions of 6.35 mm.
205 Series: in this case they are male type and 5.21 mm.
187 Series: dimensions down to 4.75mm and male type too.
125 Series: 3.18 mm male.
110 Series: 2.79 mm male.

Within each of these series there are also variations under the AWG designation (American Wire Gauge) that determine the dimensions of the diameter according to the colors of the plastic that accompanies them.

How it is used

According to the type of faston, or terminal, usage may vary slightly. Some include grimaces that you can snap onto certain connectors to make the electrical connection. Others are screwed in for placement, etc.

There are also some faston type connectors that are temporary, that is, they can be easily disconnected when required. These are the most frequent in circuits that are usually disassembled frequently or in parts that need to be replaced on occasions.

Others are of the permanent type, since they are welded and are permanently attached. However, it is not a welding irreversible, since a soldering iron could be used to remove the connection and replace the affected component. But this is much more bulky ...

What should I consider?

There are many types and manufacturers of faston on the market. That makes it difficult to choose at times or you end up choosing the first one you find. But you should take into account some considerations to be able choose the best for your needs. And that happens to attend to qualities such as:

Quality of materials. Some are sturdier than others. Sometimes cheap ones can be so bad that they break during manipulation with the crimper. The best thing is that you always choose those made of special manganese steel and high-density plastic. Copper and PVC are also good, especially for electronic applications.
Dimensions. This will depend on the use that you are going to give it and the tool with which you are going to work. Do not use very large fastons for thin cables, or vice versa, or you will end up with problems. For example, with a faston that does not hold the intensity with which you work or a too large faston that stays loose on the cable and does not make good contact.
Type. This is also personal and will depend on your needs. You may need an easy connection faston if you are going to use it for an application in which you must connect and disconnect periodically, or you want one that allows you to use a screw to adjust it and that does not disconnect in mobile applications, that vibrate , etc.

Where to buy faston

A faston is an extremely cheap that you can buy in many specialized stores. In the market you have a wide variety of these terminals for your projects, such as:

Tools to work with them

To be able to properly adjust the faston elements to your cable, the ideal is that you do not use other unsuitable tools such as pliers, pliers, etc., since you could end up with the element broken or poorly adjusted. Ideally, you should use crimpers that you will find in the market and that also allow you to adjust the faston to your cables in a professional way.

For example, you have at your disposal some cheap tools on the table:

Qlouni multi-function crimper 0.25-1mm2 / 28-18AWG.
No products found.
JBM crimper for cheap faston terminals
Presch professional pressure crimper

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