Classic clips that have passed the test of time

You say alligator, I say crocodile.

Whatever you call it, the ubiquitous electrical clip has become one of the most essential and well known parts in the electrical industry. Just think of soldering helping hands or jump leads. It was invented in 1908 by Ralph Mueller, an electrical engineering graduate. Few inventions have ever come at a better time. At first the main applications for the alligator clip were voltmeter leads and telephone linemen's clips for test sets.

Within a few years the development of the motor car would provide a natural application for the alligator or crocodile clip. In 1912 Robert Kettering developed the automobile electrical starter. Jump-starting dead batteries and cranking starter engines, the temporary electrical connection provided by the alligator clip would make Ralph Mueller a rich man. It also ensured the rapid growth of the company he would establish to sell his invention.

Then came the radio broadcasting industry, and soon there was scarcely a branch of electronics which did not have a use for alligator clips. The clips even went with Richard E. Byrd on his famous expeditions to Antarctica in the 1930s. 

Ralph Mueller told a reporter in 1962 that since its inception his company had made 500 million clips and insulators. At its peak it was producing 100,000 clips and 33,000 insulators every day. Mueller Electric was one of only three companies in the US in 1950 making the steel and copper battery-charging and test clips.

While the Mueller company itself has undergone some turbulence since then, it is still producing the classic copper and steel clips with which it has always been associated. Rapid is delighted to be introducing a wide range of Mueller clips, from the BU-60 to the fully insulated BU-65 and the BU-75K Kelvin clip with isolated contacts.

It does not really matter what you call them. With the product's serrated jaws and spring action head, and with alligators native to the US, Mueller's choice was both logical and inspired. The fact that we live in the croc-infested waters of the UK, and our famous sense of humour, explains our preference for the more alliterative name. Whatever you call them, these are clips that have stood the test of time.

View Rapid's complete range of Mueller crocodile/alligator clips