For what it's worth I have both brands and they seem to work fine. I prefer the ISSPRO for ease of reading. That being said...I agree 100% with the comments on the ISSPRO connector. If you do what I did and try using the next gauge wire size, you will be in for a tough installation.

 

Yeah those connectionsdo suck. When I get done with honeydo's I will check them out

 

First thing...

DO NOT UP SIZE THE WIRE... The Isspro EV-2 use very little power, read less then 1/2 of a typical competitors gauge. The supplied wire size is MORE then adequate for the power sent. If you do this with the Performax gauges you can cause issues rather then help.

Otherwise talk to your supplier when you are ordering gauges, they should be offering or giving you a wire tool that you can use to push all the wires into the connector. If any of you need some of these please let your vendors know, or shoot me a message and I can send you one.

I'll talk to Michael about the wire connectors, but in reality they are the best way to allow the end user to install his or her gauges ANYWHERE you want on the line of gauges without butt splices or T connectors.

In 7 years of testing the Performax and EV-2 gauges I have never had an issue that ended up being because of a connector.

 

Oops, I should have been more clear....
My gauges came with supplied signal wire and the push tool but it did not come with power, ground or dimmer wire so I had to find my own. I could not find the correct gauge wire at any of my local hardware stores. They had solid core in the correct gauge but not stranded wire. I bought the closest size I could find and tried to use it but no joy.

I ended up taking the drop from the signal wires and made a whip for power and ground and pressed them into the connectors along with the signal wires. I then soldered the larger wires onto the whip for the power and ground (and dimmer).

If the subject comes up when you are talking with Michael...it would be nice if the connectors were uni-directional so they can't be inserted backwards.

 

You should not be able to connect them backwards... there is a ridge on one side that locks to the connector in the gauge...

 

Oh yeah...I remember that now. Somehow I was able to get it on there backwards anyway. If I remember correctly it didn't seat down all the way so I looked at the instructions one more time and flipped it over. I think I had to rearrange the wires too.

If there is a way to mess it up, I'll find that way.

 

LOL... You should have seen me installing the first set of performax alpha's... No directions, just a pile of wire, a big box and 18 gauges...

Huh? LOL

 

Joe, those little plastic POS's used to push the wire into the connector really do suck. I had to really baby them to get them to work right. If they aren't lined up dead on they just mess themselves up instead of push the wire in. Not sure there is a better way to design them, but it might be worth mentioning?

 

I messed with it today. It seemed maybe to be a loose connection. I have not road tested it though

 

If you know somebody in the telephone industry get them to score you a "punchdown" tool. Takes care of the hit and miss on the wire clips.

 

I have to say.. I hated the connectors on the back of the EV2s also. Until I figured them out. Getting the wires into the orange connector were the hard part. I used a pair of channel locks in combination with the black helper tool and it worked perfectly.

 

Hello Mark,

35 years in telecommunications, 32 years in switching COs. From step-by-step to X-bar to 1AESS and retired from 5ESS. Yeah, I have one. Ran across it a few years ago. Where? Heck if I know. Probably in the garage though. I still have a wire wrap gun. Haven't seen it for years but I'm sure it's still around. Heck, I've still got wire spring relay adjusting tools.

 

i cant say about the ev2s but the Isspro gauge i have is older but works great. i have also had 2 autometers on my toyota truck and they worked great never a problem. i just like the Isspro for the stock look.

 

Robin, you need the one we use for modular jacks, no the "66" head.

 

Is the one for modular jacks post 2001?

Say yes so I don't have to try and find the one I have.