Back Probing

[James O’Hara]

Back probing is something that can cause insulation problems and also weather pack protection issues. Using T- Pins that are huge is the main issue. I have found a trick through school and some knowledge of my own that there is a way to circumvent this. If you use solid guitar wire a c or d string and then solder it to a pair of alligator clips it lets you back probe with rather low chance of damage and if there is damage it is minimal and normally not enough to cause an issue. The reason behind alligator clips is it allows you to connect or disconnect feeds or good grounds to determine actual circuit problems. You can essential jump entire circuits and go straight from source to destination or connector to connector to diagnose possible broken or partial broken wires or resistance or shorts.

Topic

[Andrey Lukovenko]

Also recently found a tutorial on this. They suggest using a piano wire and banana jacks.

http://dtec.net.au/Tech%20Articles/Automotive%20Test%20Probe%20Construction.pdf

[dave]

this looks like a great tool.. all this time i’ve been using t-pins and terminal kits (yes, sometimes i used paper clips although it’s bad practice, but i go out of my way not to damage connectors.) i’m gonna get my auto electric professor to take a look at this…

[Sam]

Using the metal in wiper blade inserts works really well too if you grind it down.

[Kyle Maccallum]

I used a peice of wiper blade insert to hold a nut in place to weld it one time and quickly learned a lesson in heat transfer LOL

[R.G.Young,Jr]

Thank you , sounds like a good ideal.

[spelunkerd]

That pdf file showing how to make a professional looking set of back probes with female banana plugs looks interesting. I was a little surprised he suggested using acid core flux when soldering, since I thought rosin core was more appropriate for electronics. It would be a fun little project, but mailing away to get the parts would be a drag.

Fluke sell excellent back probes. But, like everything Fluke, you pay way more than they are worth. I got one in a kit, but I wish I had more. Hat pins are small enough to cause less damage. But, as stated above, they tend to wiggle and cause static in the line when the vehicle is running.

[Andrey Lukovenko]

I’ve made some T-pins (they look exactly like T-pins that Scanner Danner uses in his videos) from piano wire. Works like a charm.

[Author]

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