Jiffypins are great for airborne applications, but for use on chargers, meters and other ground-based devices, I like Sermos connectors better because they make it easy to attach anything to anything else while keeping everything properly polarized. Also, both metal contacts are fully enclosed by the plastic shell to better guard against accidents and mishaps
A good solution is to continue using Sermos for all ground-based gear, install Jiffypins on all airborne stuff and make a nifty set of adaptors as shown here to make the different sets of connectors hook up to each other.
Each adaptor requires 2 Jiffypins, 2 Sermos connectors, a little bit of heatshrink and (optional) 2 plastic sleeves.
- Widen the Sermos connector slightly with a cutter or similar
- Expand this slot with a screwdriver till the Jiffypin fits inside
- Insert the Jiffypin fully into the Sermos contact and tighten the contact in place lightly with a pair of pliers
- Make sure all 4 pins are fully and equally seated and solder them in place. (here I'm using a piece of tape to keep the pins from rolling around)
- The male pins don't need any insulation but the female pins have to be fully covered with heat-shrink tubing like shown here, or with a plastic sleeve as shown below.
- Finish the adaptors by inserting the male and female pins in the Sermos sleeves to match your connectors.
- Because these adaptors are likely to end up rattling around the bottom of your field box they'll end up taking a little bit of abuse and the heat shrink might end up getting a bit ratty. A better solution is to protect / insulate the ends of the adaptors with yellow (#10) plastic sleeves from the Totally Tubular Page. Just press one into the end of each Sermos shell and glue it in place with a couple of drops of CA.
- Jiffypin adaptor in use with my modified Infinity charger. If you're interested in this mod see the How to Void the Warranty on your Charger Page (:-)
The Infinity and many other chargers have faceplates connected to circuit ground so it's a good idea to sheild any adaptors you'll be using with your charger.
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