Third hand damages insulation

Question

My third hand damages wires insulation because it's holding them too tight. Any tips how to avoid this?

third hand

Put some heat-shrink on the clips? – Chris Johnson Feb 05 '14 at 12:14 — Chris Johnson, Feb 05 '14 at 12:14

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 05 '14 at 12:25

13

Wrap the teeth in heat-shrink tubing or electrical tape. It will still hold just as tightly, but without the teeth, the pressure on the wire being held will be less.

answered Feb 05 '14 at 12:25

Phil Frost

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score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 05 '14 at 13:38

I like to tightly wrap rubber bands around the back of the clips to take some of the pressure off. That way, you can adjust the pressure to your liking. Sometimes I use the alligator clips to hold a pair of cheap soldering heat sink clips and use those to actually hold more delicate components.

See the heat sink clip in this picture: enter image description here

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered May 12 '14 at 23:30

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I have the same tool; I just bent the teeth on the clips inwards using a pair of pliers.

answered May 12 '14 at 23:30

Danny Beckett

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If the O.P. goes the heat shrink route, he'll be able to remove the heat shrink and restore the holder to its original state. Bent teeth are more permanent. – Nick Alexeev May 12 '14 at 23:57

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered May 13 '14 at 02:40

You could also change out the alligator clips for a spring clip instead. I found some small clips similar to this at a hardware store (http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-3-4-in-Mini-Spring-Clamp-80001/100656782?MERCH=RV-_-RV_nav_plp_rr-1--NA--100656782-_-N). They still squish the insulation a bit, but at least they don't bite into it like an alligator clip does.

Third hand damages insulation

4 Answers4