Help: Connecting Leads to Pins

There are single row IDC connectors that will push right on, but you have standard post sizes and spacings that must be adhered to, and your posts need to be long enough. You don't want to get into crimping because that usually involves requiring a $350 tool.

On Feb 10, 6:36?pm, "Searcher7" wrote: was wondering if anyone new of the existence of crimp-

Underneath what?!

I've used Ferruls before with Din-Rail style terminal blocks. (I probably spelled "ferruels" wrong, but try some variations.)

Let's see, who makes terminal blocks:? Try:

Also, try Phoenix Contact, or just Google "DIN Rail terminal blocks".. There are plenty of vendors.

If you're were thinking those little black screw-type things with the big metal screws, the tops of which are open to the world when wired up, that's a different type of "terminal block". But I suppose you could still use ferrules with them... The purpose of which is of course, wire identification, solid connections, and to help prevent wire breakage.

-mpm

You have a mental picture of exactly what your problem is but, unfortunately, nobody else can see it. I can think of quite a few gizmos that could possibly be called "single row terminal blocks" and it might help to focus potential answers to the specific one that you have in mind. Could you post a link to someplace (like Digikey or Mouser or ...) that has a picture of it?

Could you tell us the make and part number of the terminal blocks you are using? - a web link to a datasheet would be good. With that information, we would have a better idea of your problem

Most of the strips I have are simular to these:

There are screws on one side and pins on the other.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

What is the diamter of the pins?

Will 30 AWG wire be big enough for your signals?

I would seriously look at wire wrap. You used to be able to buy the tool at radio shack, alas no more. The simple ones look like the odd man out of a set of jewler's screwdrivers, you put the stripped wire in the small hole in the bit and feed it up the slot, put the big hole over the pin, and twist to neatly wrap several turns of the wire. You can of course solder the result for extra security.

The common "official" wire wrap pins are .025" square. The tool should take the circular diametrical equivelent of that and maybe a bit more or less. Designed for .100" pitch, but I've been able to get wires into 2mm connectors with care.

Bigger versions did exist in a past era, but those would be very hard to source (I tried to make my own tool as a kid to recycle some 44 pin edgecard sockets from some NorPack racks)

these:

I searched eBay "wire wrap tool", but I really don't know what I'm looking at.

I'll need to connect 18g to 22g leads to the pins. But I have no way of measuring the size of the pins, which are actually flat and also rounded at the point.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

these:

Why not use a double-row barrier strip like

I have a difficult time soldering leads to fingerboards, so pins would be a nightmare.

And I already have a huge number of single row terminal blocks(strips).

Anyway, I'm assuming there is no crimp-on connector solution for this?

Thanks.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

these:

Looks like a PCB-mount style to me. If the nameplate goes on top that is. Otherwise...???

I'll bet you could find some crimps to fit those pins. Just measure them. And if you wanted to, (and had enough access to them), you could solder the crimps too.

I don't know about wire-wrapping 18-ga insulated on these??. Sounds like a headache. And as others have mentioned, I think it's OK to wire everything on top (using 2 spades or ring terminals). I'm reasonably certain these terminals are rated for more than one terminal under the screw, but if you need to check (like for UL Listing or something), then do so.

Obviously with this approach, you would not use the pins underneath.

-mpm

What's on the bottom -- that is, are you working with an existing circuit board or are you sort of free to roll your own? If you can use your own layout, something like stripboard might be the ticket. Just solder as many connector blocks as you need, in parallel, and do all of the wiring to the top terminals.

See

I still wouldn't know where to begin to look for whatever tool I'll need to do things that way.

No, this is definitely not a profession for me. Just a project.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

Ewww! There goes the soldering thing again. :-)

There is no existing circuit board involved here. I just need a support for the terminal blocks, and had intended to use stripboard providing the hole spacing would allow the pins through. Or perhaps I can find the stripboard material without holes and make them myself.

Thanks.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

On Feb 11, 7:40 pm, "Searcher7

I'm assuming that the pins on your connectors have the standard spacing of 1/10 inch or multiple thereof. The prefab perforated board you buy will have hole spacing of 1/10 inch. Get the kind of perfboard that has a copper pad around each hole; Radio Shack may have it, or order from a hobby house like allelectronics.com or use one of the big suppliers like digikey or mouser. Along with the perfboard, buy yourself a soldering iron and some rosin- core electronics solder. For your job, the solder diameter isn't critical. You may be able to go to Radio Shack and buy a little plastic tube with coil of solder in it instead of a whole half-pound roll. I'm only speaking from having glanced at the photo of the terminal strip you posted, but those pins look like they're meant for inserting into printed circuit board holes and soldering into place. That is their purpose. If you can do that, it will work. The other ideas, like wire wrapping, crimping, drilling etc. are just going to give you a big ice cream headache. There might be a way to achieve a firm mechanical mounting for the terminal strips without soldering them to perfboard, but you will have to continue looking for ideas on that, because the alternatives mentioned so far are going to be more trouble for you than simply soldering the pins to perfboard. Whereupon your terminal strips will have a mechanically sound mounting substrate, as it were, that you can attach to standoffs or such, and have a rigid assembly.

I just wrote a long post about soldering, but here's another idea... Drill a hole in each end of the terminal strip and mount it on standoffs. You might be able to just remove one terminal screw from each end of the strip and use the screw hole. Just cut the pins off with wire cutters. If the terminal strips are a bit flimsy you might have to put some material under them for support. Or instead of standoffs use a block of (electrically insulating) material under the terminal strip, and just screw the terminal strip down (after cutting the pins off, of course).

There are barrier strip lugs that are bent 90 degrees, so the end can go through a hole next to the barrier strip so you can solder to it "underneath".

There are also billions of header connectors out there - try a goolge on "AMP MODU".

Good Luck! Rich

Then wire-wrap is not applicable.

What's wrong with just soldering them?

Thanks, Rich