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I vaporized a couple of these with current somewhere under 200 ma, and was amazed to find out how thin the wire was inside all that plastic insulation. Anyway, I'll be soldering some lamp cord to the clips and considering it as a fairly cheap source of alligator clips.

Nice bit of history there

Wow, those are absolutely terrible. Maybe re-use the clips?

I always solder my test leads as soon as I get them, before I even use them. I despise crimp connections on them. I also make my own heavy gauge leads using 8 gauge wire. Somewhere in my stash I even have some homemade leads made from 15Kv high voltage wire for special applications.

The poor design of the Mac mini has forced everyone to use these ridiculous storage expanders for years. Apple could easily add an ssd expansion slot on the bottom of the Mac mini. The Mac mini is on par with the stupid Apple mouse charging cord.

👍👍

Make your own test leads.

Cheap Chinese use crappy steel wire for all the crappy products, anything from test leads to led fairy lights. Their power cables were band here because the cable caused vairious house and commercial fires and i'll bet they use the same conductors in their BYD and other EVs.

Amazon, eBay, Ali, bangood etc wouldn't surprise me. Unfortunately, they managed to contaminate other channels, too, I got the same set from an electronic supplier. Low prices are just irresistible, I guess. At least I can file a proper complaint with them, likely they don't even know.

This is a stage we ALL go through. We buy these cheap crappy cables only to find, like you they are 100% useless. We then go out and by decent crock clips, proper copper cable and do what we should have done in the first place. DIY.

It's same with jumpstart cables, they look thick, but in fact, it's thin wire inside unnecessarily thick isolation. We all know why. They started to melt and you can throw it away.

Just bought some leads that look like these from ebay UK.... I'll check them before use 😊

Hmm, I’ll check my leads bought from a local electronics parts supplier here in Australia.

well. i have a bunch of those.

Brought some electrical items from eBay. Total junk. Fluke only for me and not from eBay.

P & Moan. If you are a serious electronics hobbyist/experimented you make your own. You don't buy cheap stuff from Amazon. "Separating the men from the boys."

I make my own jumpers but thaks for the heads up ya they look like junk 😢😮

Another thing about those cheap leads is is clips spin inside the rubber insulation when you squeeze them. Annoying.

Save the clips and use your own wire.

Ahhhh never mind the quality , feel the width! They are very cheap.

sad that our govrment so called agencies that were posted to protect us from such crap DONT DO THEIR JOB,,,,dont be surprised if the same is with the clothing we buy,WE GET SOLD THE REJECTS,,,I ALSO HAD THE SAME EXPERIECNE TROUBLESHOOTING AND THINKING IT WAS THE CIRCUIT,,NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE THIS CHEAP ASZ CHINESE CRAP,,THEY LAUGHING AT US LIKE NO TOMORROE,,BUT WHEN YOU HAVE THE TOP PEOPLE SHAKING HANDS WITH THEM ,,THEY DONT CARE,,,LETS GO BACK TO BEING AMERICAN MAKE OUR OWN,,,,WE BECOME LAZY,,,,,

what did you expect from Scamazon

So you make and repair electronics all the time but don't make your own test leads!

I have always made my own alligator clip test leads. Going back to the 70s, test leads were made this way, albeit with copper wire, not iron. I recently needed more test leads, so I ordered the alligator clips ONLY from DigiKey. With the rolls of wire I had, I then soldered everything together (not simply folding the wire and crimping it together). I then folded the 2 large "ears" over the wire insulation for stability. I've always homemade them this way. My old clip leads that I made so many years ago still work.

I just checked mine. Copper wire with crimped-only alligator clips

I bought them at a dollar store.

Used to be able to find good ones at Mouser Electronics - But they're a bit spendy. Last time I looked they had like a 10 week lead time so they're not an 'in stock' item.

You got 0.6 ohms? Many of the ones I bought on Ebay had no continuity at all. I wish someone would start making and selling decent test leads. I'd pay a lot for them. I buy nothing from Amazon, at least Ebay will refund your money.

I bought a bunch of test leads years ago and noted the poor connection to the clips. They've been sitting my workbench waiting to be soldered. I'm going to pull out my specialize piece of test equipment and see if they are magnetic. If so, into the trash they go!

if it aint copper it aint good

Good video. You're 100% correct. I bought the same leads on Amazon and almost immediately after receipt tossed them in the trash. The insulator voltage rating and wire current carrying capability are below safety standards for use with old electronics. Radio Shack test leads are the best, even though they're pretty scarce. Making your own will give you much better peace of mind.

Good Show. I keep a trusty magnet near buy while opening packages from China. Wires made from Chinesium are difficult to solder after the plating rubs off. Chinesium is magnetitic.

Old news

Yes. I had the exact same ones. I tore them all apart and reused the alligator clips with old stranded copper wire and SOLDERED them to the clips. Those things caused some grief with intermittent poor connection problems.

Beware of the copper coated aluminum wires used in so many China made Amazon products.

Never by from AliExpress and if you by from Amazon, checkout who is sending it to you. If it's from Amazon direct you're OK.

There is no better source for alligator clips for cheap. You just have to rip the old wire and add your own!

Hol lehet megvásárolni? Wo kaufen? Where to bulit?

Who would have expected this. Not me.

Some of the misogyny in this comments section is deeply concerning, and proves Mr Brown's point. Can I also say, I'm a STEM lecturer, with female students, and I have had to warn them about the existence of this mnemonic. It's one of the most uncomfortable things I've done in my job. It is neither funny or trivial, and believe me, people DO care.

maybe could have use for battery charge-discarge case. integrated resistor. cable itself is a resistor eh. but this is only benefit. a singular one

Had some of these garbage test leads too, after a while replaced the wire with proper stuff and soldered them to the alligator clips. The next this that was crap is the clips would slip in the outer insulation cover and you couldn't open the clip without it twisting. After a bit more time threw them away !

I prefer the Pomona Minigrabber type instead of the aligator style. Look up Pomona 3781. Availble in various lengthss.

Usually i replace the wires with good ones. Soldering the conductor to the clip is a quick and easy job and results in perfect connection. A big advantage to do so is to cut and make different lengths. I like to have some short ones, 10cm is great for so many uses...

Interesting. I bought leads from Amazon and because of your video I checked them out. The wires were soldered to the clips so all good. They tested at .1 ohm. They are WGGE brand w/copper wire. The discriminating buyer needs to be careful what they buy. There's good stuff out there. If you buy the cheapest, that's what you'll get. I tested some leads that I bought years ago and they are just like yours. No solder. Iron alloy wires. Almost 1 ohm resistance. Thanks for the video. It was an eye opener.

Thanks for the heads up, I checked my Harbor Freight test leads and sure enough they were similar to the ones shown.

More cheap garbage Chinese crap. Send them back and get your money back. Don’t support these crappy products.

Test leads MUST be soldered. Friction fit connection of wire to the clip is not acceptable. Always solder them if they are not already soldered.

Has anyone else received theirs? Ordered mine on the same day (ironically) as Mr. Brown's.

I make my own test cables and starter buttons with different gauge wire and different lengths. I use copper clips a nice bead of solder and finish them off with heat shrink tubing.