Bootlace ferrules French or German colours

Selfmade · Sep 29, 2018

Hi Folks

TLC have bootlace ferrules in French or German colours. Is it legit to use these in the UK? If so, is either preferable and why? And why have these not been harmonized?

telectrix · Oct 1, 2018

if iwant a bare ferrule, i insert the wire the other way in then snip the plastic bit off.

freddo · Oct 2, 2018

If you pop the plastic bit off with some small cable croppers you keep the flared end to make poking the wire in easier.

[ElectriciansForums.net] Bootlace ferrules French or German colours

Deleted member 26818 · Oct 2, 2018

How much of that is insulated?

Crimp-N-Fix · Mar 3, 2023

In case anyone is still wondering...

There are actually 3 colour ranges of cord-end ferrules:

1. French colours.
2. German colours.
3. DIN colours (which might arguably also be regarded as a second German range, because the DIN standard originates from Germany).

Some DIN colours are the same as French: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 35 and 50 (mm²).
Some DIN colours are the same as German: 0.14, 0.34, 2.5 and 4.0 (mm²).
For all the remaining sizes: 0.25, 0.75, 6, 10 , 16 and 25 (mm²), the DIN colours are different to French and German.

The only difference between them all is the colour. Everything else about the products is identical. So presumably you can just use whatever colour is specified by your customer or the control panel designer.

In terms of popularity, our customers in the UK buy about twice as many French ones compared to German ones, but both sell well. So I'd guess that the French colours might be more popular in the UK. I hope that helps

nicebutdim · Mar 3, 2023

Crimp-N-Fix said:
In case anyone is still wondering...

There are actually 3 colour ranges of cord-end ferrules:

1. French colours.
2. German colours.
3. DIN colours (which might arguably also be regarded as a second German range, because the DIN standard originates from Germany).

Some DIN colours are the same as French: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 35 and 50 (mm²).
Some DIN colours are the same as German: 0.14, 0.34, 2.5 and 4.0 (mm²).
For all the remaining sizes: 0.25, 0.75, 6, 10 , 16 and 25 (mm²), the DIN colours are different to French and German.

The only difference between them all is the colour. Everything else about the products is identical. So presumably you can just use whatever colour is specified by your customer or the control panel designer.

In terms of popularity, our customers in the UK buy about twice as many French ones compared to German ones, but both sell well. So I'd guess that the French colours might be more popular in the UK. I hope that helps

I use French as they're what I first bought and just restock in the same colours.

Could it be that pricing or availability influences choice between colour ranges?

Crimp-N-Fix · Mar 3, 2023

nicebutdim said:
I use French as they're what I first bought and just restock in the same colours.

Could it be that pricing or availability influences choice between colour ranges?

Yes good point, it is possible that we've been offering the French colours at lower prices, but generally I guess that our customers probably just stick to buying the colour range that they have always bought.

We might have bought stock of different colours at different times, which tends to mean that the prices are rather individual per part number. Currently, several of our French colours are cheaper than their equivalent German colours, but that might even out once we do the next price review and/or the next purchase of stock.