Lockitt POSI-TAP Assortment pack wire connectors 10-22 awg

Product Information

Posi Taps are the easiest, surest way to tap power for an automotive accessory or otherwise. They're easy to use and give a clean installation and work every time. No more needing to pry off the failed tap and trying again an inch further down the wire, potentially damaging the wire in the process. These also do less damage to the tapped wire (just a little hole that can be taped or touched up with silicone)making the wire reusable as well as the Posi Taps themselves if need. I also decided to retry the scotchlok 560 to see if being super careful removing the insulation had any less breakage. The extracted metal bits mated on the left just to show what's going on inside the connector when you plug the feeder in. Seeing it close up like that gives me a little more confidence that it would be a good connection. It has a slim straight barrel design, rather than the tapered body found on the 16-18, making it easier to fit in the tight confines of a motorcycle.

Crimping any of these connectors onto solid wire somehow feels more positive, but I think that's a result of the sort of chunk into place as the slot gets spread around the wire. In other words, I don't think the feeling actually means anything. The solid wire does get noticeably less damaged than stranded, I think if you pulled the blades off solid carefully and covered the slices with electrical tape you could feel reasonably good about removing any of these from a solid bus. I did this test with Ticon T-tap connectors rated for #14-16 wire, Scotchlok 560's rated for #18-16 solid/stranded, #14 stranded wire, and Posi-taps rated for #12-18 wire (they don't specific solid or stranded but stranded is the intent - more on that later). I used a #14 stranded bus wire and a #18 stranded feeder. And then because someone asked about solid wire and Posi-taps on the suitcase connector thread, I tried a #14 solid, #18 solid posi-tap. I'd guess the T-tap is fine for model railroad purposes where the tap is only occasionally unplugged for debugging. But I feel better about the Scotchloks. I will definitely not be using T-taps on my layout, I'm going with Scotchloks or Posi-taps. With the system of running a tap off the bus into a wago connector, and then feeders from the wago to the rail, you can disconnect the feeder at the wago end just as easily, and I think the wago connectors will be good for a lot more open/close cycles than the spade tap plug on the T-tap.

And a second round of tests with a redo of the t-tap and more solid wire starting here: https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/connector-comparison-scotchlok-ttap-and-positap-12305916?pid=1332182021

I connected up each of the connectors as shown below. I didn't bother crimping a #18 wire into the space part of the unpluggable tap on the T-tap, that crimp connection isn't the focus of this test.Posi-Products (Division of Swenco) has done it again! Here’s their latest must-have product: the Posi-Products Posi-Tap in-line connector! And they’re removable, adjustable and reusable, so you can instantly add or remove more wires for accessories like horns, lights, radios and other gear with little effort. The Posi-tap connector is a little more complicated. It's got three pieces. The main piece has a metal stud through it that's sharp and pointy at the bus end, and cone shaped at the tap end. The other two pieces screw into the two ends to hold the wires in place. Posi-Tap connectors allow the connection of an additional 4 wires to an existing live wire, without the need to cut, splice or damage the integrity of the existing wire. The Posi-Tap connector is a fully insulated nylon casing that requires no crimping and only needs hand tightening. Even better - it is completely reusable.