Sta-Kon A85U UNINS RNG TERM 90 DEG 22-16 BLT No6

The A85U takes 22 to 16 AWG stranded or solid wire. That covers most control wiring, thermostat and low-voltage runs, and 16 AWG fixture leads. Anything heavier than 16 AWG will not seat in the barrel, so step up to a larger Sta-Kon ring terminal for 14 AWG and above.

It is built for a No. 6 stud or screw. The ring tongue slips over a #6 bolt or terminal screw and gets clamped under the nut or screw head, so check the stud on your terminal block before ordering, a #8 or #10 post will not pass through.

The A85U's tongue is bent 90 degrees to the wire barrel, so the wire runs parallel to the panel or terminal block face instead of straight into the stud. That saves depth in a shallow enclosure, keeps the conductor from being bent sharply right at the crimp, and makes landing on a stud mounted flat on a back panel much easier. If the stud faces you with room to spare, a straight ring terminal is simpler.

It is a non-insulated terminal, bare copper barrel and tongue. In a tight panel or on a block with adjacent live studs you need to add your own protection, typically heat shrink or a nylon insulating sleeve over the barrel. The upside is that an uninsulated barrel lets you inspect the crimp and the conductor after crimping, which is why they are common on inspected control work.

A ring terminal is the closed-tongue type, so the nut or screw has to come all the way off to install or remove it. That is what you want on a vibration-prone connection or anything safety related, because the lug cannot slip out sideways under a loose screw. If you need to pull the wire without fully removing the screw, use a fork (spade) terminal instead, same wire range, different tongue.

Non-insulated barrels in the 22-16 AWG range are crimped with the non-insulated (open barrel style dies, bare metal) nest of a ratcheting terminal crimper, not the colored insulated nests. Using an insulated-terminal die on a bare copper barrel gives you a crimp that looks right and pulls out under load, so match the die to the gauge and the bare barrel.

Copper, which is what keeps the resistance across the joint low and makes it a proper match for copper conductors. Pair it with copper wire only; do not crimp it onto aluminum, which needs a terminal rated for aluminum and the right compound.

Country of origin on the A85U is the United States. That matters on government, institutional and some utility work where domestic-sourced components are written into the specification.