Repairing jump leads

Repaired Jump Lead Clip in Use

Follow the repair of a pair of jump leads along with one of the volunteer repairers from Repair Cafe Gosport. By effecting a repair he was able to save them from waste for the cost of a £5 part rather than binning them and having to buy a new set for around £20.

This repair story is provided for information only. We are not repair professionals and Repair Cafe Gosport is a community self-repair event. You take responsibility for your own repair.

Diagnosis

This set of jump leads had got broken, the crocodile clip on the had snapped:

Photo of Broken Jump Lead Clip

Research

Turns out you can buy replacement crocodile clips from various places including eBay. However the best deal was the following: https://www.lsengineers.co.uk/heavy-duty-crocodile-clip-red-booster-cable-clip-400amp-peak-rating.html

Most people sell them by the pair but this allowed me to buy one individually for ~£5 including shipping

Repair

First I cut the wire out of the old crocodile clip, then stripped it back to have a clean section of the right length.

Photo of Cutting Wire on Broken Jump Lead Clip

Improvising Crimp

I didn’t own the crimp tool for this size but was able to use a vice to achieve the same effect. Using the body of a screw to ensure the central part was folded in like the real crimp was also useful.

Improvising a Crimp on a Vice
Improvised Crimp with a Screw

You should always be aware that improvised solutions are undertaken at your own risk. Once finished the crimp was tested by applying a firm pull.

Testing Improvised Crimp on a Jump Lead Clip

The finished repair

Completed Repair of a Jump Lead Clip
Repaired Jump Lead Clip in Use

Repair Cafe Gosport is the Second Saturday of the month (except August), between 10:30am and 1pm at the community maker space.

Residents of Gosport bring their broken items to fix them on the spot with the help of voluntary repairers.