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Wiring Questions:

This is really true. I've found one single kind of displacement spade lug that seems to never fail - ones sold by radio shack for use on the end of phone wire. I use a lot of these for lighting wires hooked to terminal strips, and they're bulletproof. Normal insulated spade lugs? Not so much.

Another kind of connector I experimented with and liked was a splice block that telco people use. It looks like a little circular 'wart' with a button on the center. You stick two wires to be spliced into it (no stripping required), squeeze the button with pliers, and it snaps shut with a satisfying click, stripping the wires and squirting them with some kind of conductive glue. 100% effective, but not cheap! *

Reply to
PV
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On 25/08/2010 19:59, Rick Jones wrote: [...]

Thanks, Rick. Several layout construction stories I've read recently mention IDC connectors. The price of the crimping tool and the connectors has deterred me, I'll stick to the tried and true. ;-)

wolf k.

Reply to
Wolf K

One more thing I meant to mention: When doing field service work on these industrial electrical and electronic installations, there are 4 things we told customers to keep in mind in order to keep their equipment operating reliably.

  1. Keep it clean. Dust, dirt and other contaminants on electrical and electronic circuitry is bad. Not only can it conduct current, causing sensitive electronics to begin acting flaky or major arcing in a high power circuit, but a heavy film of dust acts as an insulator holding in heat and adding further stress to components.
  2. Keep it dry. Just common sense that anybody working around electrical circuits should know, but I've seen some very poorly thought out variable speed drive installations that could easily get wet from wind blowing rain in through vents, or just the nightly fog that comes in off the ocean in some locations.
  3. Keep it tight. This applies mostly to the screw type terminals I mentioned previously since crimps mostly can't be re-tightened. They can work loose over time and we suggested that a maintenance person come back and re-tighten the power connections a few weeks after a new installation or retrofit is done, and then check them twice a year as an ongoing preventative maintenance routine.
  4. Keep it cool. As mentioned above in #1, heat stresses electronics and other electrical equipment such as motors. Keeping it operating within a comfortable temperature range will help lengthen the lifespan of equipment.
Reply to
Rick Jones

cad wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@enews6.newsguy.com:

*snip*

Update the documentation as you go along as well! (It may be a good idea to document the wiring under the layout on the layout framework itself, that way it's right in front of you.)

Puckdropper

Reply to
Puckdropper

'scotchbloc' connectors? you have to have exactly the right one for the right size of wire. I use a pair of pliers to force the comb in, then close the clip in a separate action ditto.

Reply to
bobharvey

I've been successful using a simple parallel jaw pliers(which I got at my local hardware store specifically for this task) to crimp IDCs. I like the ease of making splices with them compared to soldering -- especially connecting feeder wires along a bus wire -- and will use them again for future power wiring work.

I got my IDCs on-line at Mouser Electronics.

__________ Mark Mathu Whitefish Bay, Wis. The Green Bay Route:

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Mark Mathu

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