How To Check Terminal Spring Tension

I have recommended this test many times and finally have had enough time to do a quick post about it. The terminal to be tested is a female 280 metri-pack terminal. To test the spring tension of a female terminal you need a male terminal. Most people do not have factory terminals just laying around so this is what I recommend.

Locate any standard mini fuse as shown in the following picture.

Bend one of the blades over or you could cut one off.

Slide the straight fuse blade into the terminal to be tested.

The test comes in checking the amount of force needed to remove the fuse from the female terminal. This is called a drag test. It takes a little while to develop a feel for what is good and what is not but you can easily test several and compare the results or feel.

I made up fused jumper wires a long time ago to do the same thing. In the next picture you can see that the fuse blade terminal and a factory 280 metri-pack terminal are the same size.

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