Reddit reviews 3M Scotchlok IDC Butt Connector, 100 Pack Yellow

If this were me, I would likely use some Scotchlok Butt Connectors. They would provide a more secure connection, and are very common in telecom/data cabling. Link To Scotchloks on Amazon.

Edit: The best part, the only tool you need is a pair of pliers. No guarantee this will fix the problem, but it should help- either way it’s a better way to connect them, compared to twisting the wires.

Facts as I understand them (which may not match reality):

• You have a battery pack that has a barrel jack (female)
  
• The polarity of the battery pack barrel jack (knick knack patty whack) is positive center
  
• You have a device with a barrel jack
  
• The polarity of the device's barrel jack is negative center.
  
• You have a double-ended wire with barrel plugs (male) on both ends that is currently wired "straight through"; i.e. center connected to center, outside connected to outside.
  
• This wire fits both the battery and the device physically.
  
  If all of the above are true:
  
  
• Look closely at the wire. It's likely (though not certain) that one wire has a white stripe, or a ridge or some other identifier. If it does not, mark one of the wires (with a sharpie, or similar) along it's entire length, or otherwise ensure that you can identifiy the wires after you cut them.
  
• Cut the wire. I usually give myself some space; DO NOT cut the wire right next to the barrel plug.
  
• How you re-connect the wires depends on your available tools, supplies, and skill. The best would be to put heat-shrink on each conductor, on one side, do an inline soldered splice, then slide the heat shrink down over the new connection and shrink it. Or you could use insulation displacement connectors ("IDC"), wire nuts, or even crimp connectors (crimping can be surprisingly hard to get right). Under no circumstances should you use black "electrical" tape. Wire nuts are probably the easiest, provided you get the correct size, but are ugly and bulky.
  
  And finally to answer your question:
  
  Only do the wire swap once. If you have a ohmmeter, you can check this by confirming that the outside of one end is electrically connected to the inside of the other. You should also confirm that the outside and inside are not connected to each other, or else you're going to have a bad time.
  
  
  
  
  P.S. Barrel connector is also known as a coaxial power connector.

3M Scotchlok IDC Butt Connector, 100 Pack Yellow https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0076AY6J8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_taa_nUp4BbHPMPP0X

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The connectors he used are 3M Scotchlok IDC connectors. They make wiring stupid easy, and I actually used them on my printer's replacement fan because I was lazy. You just slide red in, and red out into one, and crimp with pliers. Same for the ground wires. No wire stripping needed.

Any wire you have will work. You can even use some spare CAT5 or cut up one of those telephone cords you seem to get with everything. Then just get a momentary switch. If you can solder, the rest is stupid easy.

To avoid trying to find connectors and crimp them, I would just extend the wires. If you don't want to mess with them, buy some scotchlok splices: http://smile.amazon.com/UY2-3M-Scotchlok-Butt-Connector-Pack/dp/B0076AY6J8 Just shove the 2 wires in and pinch with pliers. Takes longer to cut the wires than it does to splice them. If you talk nice to the installer for your internet/phone, he may have some that will fall off the truck.

Look for 3M Scotchlok connectors, I bought these about a year ago and they're soooo useful