Thanks, I've bought many alligator clips from many places to only find flimsy construction or obnoxious design; I don't mind paying a bit more for good quality clips. I'm looking for two different types, a set of closed type (where the entire jaws are covered by a boot) and an larger open type, where the jaws are open all the way to the pivot point.
My personal favourite are these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=171220194350 They just feel very well made in terms of quality. The spring is not very strong, but it's just the right springiness for me. The only one thing is that they don't have a lot of teeth near the front so depending on what you're trying to grip onto sometimes they may not be the best solution.
I also like these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=201061867934http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=171281675000I know some people don't like the boots which could slide around sometimes when you try to open the jaws, but it's not a big issue for me. The copper materials used on them are very solid. The springs are also not overly strong.
For use in higher power situations you could try these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200877470970http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200903199217Both of these have very strong springs. You don't want to clip them onto your fingers!
And I must also mention these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=171302315753These Brymen made clips are of really good quality! If you're looking for something to attach to multimeter probe tips these would be the ones I recommend.
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iloveelectronics, do you have sources for 230V FX-888D's (or maybe it's a problem because it's a Japanese company)?
Yes, I do have a few sources for genuine Hakko products. They are 220V rated instead of 230V though, as that's the voltage for China and Hong Kong, and they come with the Chinese style mains plug (very similar to the Aussie one).
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That should not be an issue using them in Europe though, right? Any information about the prices perhaps?
Yes, I think 220V rated devices should generally work fine in 230V countries. In terms of pricing it would be around $94 before shipping, and shipping (air parcel) would be roughly between $40-60 depending on location. You will probably find much cheaper ones on Aliexpress, etc. but I'm guess many of those would be fakes/clones.
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Thanks for the info! I'm pondering if I should order one internationally.
Why aren't you selling these on eBay, BTW? There seem to be a demand for ~230V/50Hz versions, and you have good rep, so it might work despite AliExpress and the US-based sellers of the 120V version.
I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the authentic Chinese version is still somewhat different from the EU versions (maybe to reduce costs?). I don't remember where I saw it, though. At least, there seems to be a potential distinction on the power PCB between 220V and 230V (there's 220V, 100/230V, and 110/120/240V?!), but I can't see why 220-240V would be different versions, assuming they're all 50Hz, which is the case in China.
I wouldn't be surprised if the authentic Chinese version is different from the EU version as China is an extremely price sensitive market so they would probably have to do something to reduce the price in order to stay competitive with all the other locally made products. Main reason I have not started selling these, and other bigger and more expensive equipment, is the size/space and the actual effort it takes to package and ship these things. I know there are sellers who sell things they don't even stock and only order or drop ship when an order comes in, but I don't approve that sort of operations myself. There's also the concern of potential problems that could come up. Returns and repairs etc would be difficult to deal with for these heavy items, especially when I only act as a reseller instead of an official distributor.
Having said that, I have privately sourced heavy equipment including power supplies, electronic DC loads, scopes, rework stations, etc. for many of my customers. I have in fact also going to start selling a new Yihua 2-in-1 rework station:
http://www.yihua-gz.com/Products_detail.asp?id=460&sortid=271 More details to follow in a future post.