Need fix for poor Yamaha wire clamp design

[Exit]

I have a Yamaha HTR 5890 receiver with speaker wire clamps for the presence channels. The regular channels use screw down plastic knobs and they work great. To use these presence channel clamps you insert bare wire into the clamp hole and pull a plastic lever to lock the wire in place. My problem is that the wires have pulled out of the clamps and the levers no longer lock the wires in place. Does anyone have any experience or ideas on how to secure the wires in place. Duct tape doesn’t seem to work as I keep getting a missing wire error on auto-calibration.

 

[jcPanny]

Speaker wire clips

I think those Yamaha speaker clips can also accept a banana plug. If that doesn't work, try folding the copper conductors in half before installing or use thicker gauge wire. Zip tie the speaker wires to another cable to provide some strain releif and prevent them from pulling out.

 

[Pyrrho]

I would probably try to find a screw of just the right size to fit in the hole with the wire to make it tight, but not so large that it enlarges the hole for the wire. Then I would insert the wire, and screw the screw in with it to hold it in place. Now, if you ignore the part of my advice about selecting just the right size for this, don't blame me if you do more damage to your connectors.

 

[TLS Guy]

I would open the unit up and change the connectors. Spring loaded connectors are a pain. I have had to switch a few in my time. It is usually safer to change them. Mickey Mouse solutions often end up with a short and a blow up.

 

[Pyrrho]

I would open the unit up and change the connectors. Spring loaded connectors are a pain. I have had to switch a few in my time. It is usually safer to change them. Mickey Mouse solutions often end up with a short and a blow up.

If he is up for it, that is good advice. But if not....

As a side note, I wonder why people have had so many problems with spring loaded connectors. I have had them on several pieces of equipment over the years, and none have ever become damaged or a problem while I owned it. It makes me wonder what people do with them who have problems with them.

 

[Exit]

My connectors are plastic lever locks with no springs. The wires came loose when I moved the receiver out to look at the connector labels for some optical cables.

I will look again but I think the connector holes are too small for banana plugs. The wires are about the thickness of the insertion holes. I am thinking about restripping the wires and removing a few strands to make room for a screw to be inserted, as suggested. I also will bundle them with the other speaker wires for strain relief, which I had previously done. If none of that works, I will probably order the connector part from Yamaha and install it if it is not too big of a hassle.

Yamaha used good connectors everyplace else but for the presence speakers. I wonder what they were thinking putting in something so cheap for just those two channels. I will look a little closer at the back panel next time I buy a receiver.

 

[Pyrrho]

My connectors are plastic lever locks with no springs. The wires came loose when I moved the receiver out to look at the connector labels for some optical cables.

I will look again but I think the connector holes are too small for banana plugs. The wires are about the thickness of the insertion holes. I am thinking about restripping the wires and removing a few strands to make room for a screw to be inserted, as suggested. I also will bundle them with the other speaker wires for strain relief, which I had previously done. If none of that works, I will probably order the connector part from Yamaha and install it if it is not too big of a hassle.

Yamaha used good connectors everyplace else but for the presence speakers. I wonder what they were thinking putting in something so cheap for just those two channels. I will look a little closer at the back panel next time I buy a receiver.

I would not want to remove strands of wire, if I could avoid it. I would go with a very thin screw that was about 1/4" long or so. Whatever you do, don't get a very long screw and screw it deep into the receiver, or you are likely to short out the connection to something inside, and destroy your receiver. And, of course, make sure you don't have any wires or anything on the outside that shorts that screw head that sticks out to anything, or you may have the same result of destroying your receiver.

To properly install a new speaker connector part, if you decide to go that way, you would need to solder it in. If you can solder, that is probably the best way to deal with this.

In the future, don't pull on the wires (either by pulling on the wires themselves, or by pulling on the receiver). If you need to pull the receiver out, and do not have enough slack in the wire to do so, disconnect the wires first. And, of course, when selecting wires, you should always select ones that are long enough for you to pull out the receiver far enough to make whatever connections are necessary. It isn't good for the 5 way binding posts, either, so you should not strain any of the wires. Of course, the 5 way binding posts are commonly more robust than the other connectors, but they still should not be abused, as you may damage them (or something else) by pulling on wires that do not have enough slack in them. If you had not abused your equipment, the connectors that Yamaha selected would probably last for the life of the unit.