QLW Connectors – Why Originals Are Better.
Furukawa Electric, a Japanese company, designed and manufacture the QLW series connectors. They are available in 1, 2 and 3 Pin designs. The 3 Pin is only available as a female connector as the male side is designed to be PCB/screw mounted, as you would find in a rectifier/regulator.
The QLW is a high current sealed connector. The terminals are high quality copper alloy with tin coating for corrosion resistance. The connector shell is made from PBT. Terminals are rated at 34A
with intermittent currents up to 60A. Copy QLW connectors use .250″ terminals ( they are not compatible with QLW connectors and will not fit in an original QLW connector ) rated at 24A and intermittent currents up to 48A, if TE or similar brand name terminals are used, and lower ratings for unbranded copy terminals.
QLW original terminals in silver ( tin plated copper ). .250″ copy QLW terminals in brass. Copy QLW connectors use .250″ terminals and clearly are lower quality and spec than originals.
Viewed from the top, the size difference becomes even more apparent. The QLW original terminals ( silver ) can dissipate more heat and carry more current for longer.
Why Copy QLW connectors are bad value?
First off, the copy terminals physically much smaller than original QLW terminals. Secondly, copy terminals are generally made from a tin plated brass material rather than the more expensive tinned copper alloy of the originals. Further the female terminal, which clamps onto the male terminal via spring force, looses their spring force after a few insertions further the initial force to separate is less than half that required for original QLW terminals. We measured an average force of 52N to separate original QLW terminals on first insertion, over a sample quantity of 25. For the copy terminals, we measured an average separation force of 22N to separate terminals ( same conditions and sample size ). Further the drop off in separation force for the copy terminals after 10 insertions/removals was significant. The drop off was over 35% ( average across the 25 sample ), whereas for the originals the drop off was 15% ( average across the 25 sample ).
Then there is the quality of the connector shell. The original QLW connectors are made with higher precision. There are more mold flaws on the copies, sharper edges and excess of material due to mold flaws. With copies, it is often difficult to fit the male onto the female connector. In some cases even getting the female connector to latch onto the male means damaging the connector due to the force required.
Lastly, the seals that are provided with copy QLW connectors are usually of lower quality and due to copyright the copy seals generally use a different color material. For 1 and 2 pin QLW connectors the seal colors are blue – small and green – large. For 3 pin females, the seals are grey – small and red – large.
So before you buy “QLW” connectors, please make sure you are getting original, not low quality copies.Â
We will add some photo difference of the QLW shells so you can identify original QLW connectors, shortly.