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Connecting #1gage to PCB

B

Boris Mohar

Jan 1, 1970
0
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable of
handling such heavy wire?



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place
 
T

Tim Wescott

Jan 1, 1970
0
Boris said:
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable of
handling such heavy wire?

There are compression terminal blocks that you can use in such cases.
I've never seen one that goes up that big that's just stuck on a PC
board -- from a purely mechanical perspective I would feel comfortable
supporting a PC board with such a block, but doing it the other way
around brings up an image of a seriously broken PC board to mind.

Newark lists some standard ones that put the terminals on 5mm centers --
you could probably go from there to the manufacturer to the part that
you wanted.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Posting from Google? See http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/

"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" came out in April.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
 
J

John Larkin

Jan 1, 1970
0
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable of
handling such heavy wire?



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

Wire wrap it?

Weidmuller may have something useful, but their web site is so bad
that I'm not going to volunteer to find any links.

John
 
M

Martin Riddle

Jan 1, 1970
0
Boris Mohar said:
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable
of
handling such heavy wire?



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things)
http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

Look in the PV related DC terminal blocks. Compression fittings are the norm
for NEC. You may end up with a block of copper screwed to the PCB, one hole
for the wire and another for the compression allen screw.

Cheers
 
R

Robert Baer

Jan 1, 1970
0
Boris said:
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable of
handling such heavy wire?



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place
There are (large) special terminals, with a hole for the wire and a
screw (in the body) that clamp down on the wire.
I think ther are some with PC mounting tabs that make them
mechenacially acceptable, and flow soldering will take care of the rest.
So far, what i have been able to find in the Mouser catalog, is a
crimp-on ring, where a screw could go thru the hole and coresponding
hole on a PCB.
Hmm..look on page 1226 figures J and K which are close to what i
first mentioned (no mounting stakes tho).
Go to the Panduit site and search for the CX125-14-QY copper lug;
very much like the items just mentioned, but with a very nice close-up
photo.
Download their 2-page PDF to see the variants that are available.
Press-fit turret lugs are another possibility, i think that some have
a hole large enough to accept such a large wire sise, and then it would
have to be sweat-soldered in place.

Be advised that the copper foil beneath the lug needs to be thick and
rather wide to carry large currents.
 
B

Boris Mohar

Jan 1, 1970
0
There are (large) special terminals, with a hole for the wire and a
screw (in the body) that clamp down on the wire.
I think ther are some with PC mounting tabs that make them
mechenacially acceptable, and flow soldering will take care of the rest.
So far, what i have been able to find in the Mouser catalog, is a
crimp-on ring, where a screw could go thru the hole and coresponding
hole on a PCB.
Hmm..look on page 1226 figures J and K which are close to what i
first mentioned (no mounting stakes tho).
Go to the Panduit site and search for the CX125-14-QY copper lug;
very much like the items just mentioned, but with a very nice close-up
photo.
Download their 2-page PDF to see the variants that are available.
Press-fit turret lugs are another possibility, i think that some have
a hole large enough to accept such a large wire sise, and then it would
have to be sweat-soldered in place.

Be advised that the copper foil beneath the lug needs to be thick and
rather wide to carry large currents.


Thank you very much. That is something that I was looking for. The
copperpour will be 4 oz.



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place
 
H

Homer J Simpson

Jan 1, 1970
0
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.

Why? If you want to measure current you can do a '4 wire' setup and avoid
that sort of connection.
 
B

Boris Mohar

Jan 1, 1970
0
Why? If you want to measure current you can do a '4 wire' setup and avoid
that sort of connection.

I do not need to measure the current. I need to deliver it to the PCB. This
is for a electric furnace control board. The six elements will be switched
with individual relays. It adds up.
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable
of handling such heavy wire?

I'd go to the trouble of providing a substantial physical (mechanical)
mounting for the wire itself, such that it's positioned to hold the
terminal in its "natural" position where it connects to the board.

There's no way I'd depend on anything less than about 7/16 - 1/2"
epoxy glass to secure a monster like that. Geez, just stand the wire
up and screw the board to it! ;-)

Anyway, let us know what you decide, and how it comes out, m'kay? :)

Good Luck!
Rich
 
R

Rich Grise

Jan 1, 1970
0
There are compression terminal blocks that you can use in such cases. I've
never seen one that goes up that big that's just stuck on a PC board --
from a purely mechanical perspective I would feel comfortable supporting a
PC board with such a block, but doing it the other way around brings up an
image of a seriously broken PC board to mind.

Newark lists some standard ones that put the terminals on 5mm centers --
you could probably go from there to the manufacturer to the part that you
wanted.

Terminal blocks you say? ;-)
http://www.curtisind.com/products/tblocks/S/serieshome.asp

Cheers!
Rich
 
H

Homer J Simpson

Jan 1, 1970
0
I do not need to measure the current. I need to deliver it to the PCB.
This
is for a electric furnace control board. The six elements will be switched
with individual relays. It adds up.

Use wire. Truly. The repair people will bless you.
 
R

RST Engineering \(jw\)

Jan 1, 1970
0
Cheap and effective or expensive and effective?

Why would you want to stripe the insulation?

Jim
 
T

Tony Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
Boris Mohar said:
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire
to a PCB. Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable
that no other preparation of the wire is permitted.

That might be what your customer would like, but
you might want to check local industrial cabling
regulations first. I have worked on several jobs
where stranded cables were required to be first
secured inside a crimped ferrule. This is to
prevent loose strands from accidentally shorting
to another terminal.
Is there some kind of approved transitional component that can
be securely fastened to the PC board, provide a good interface to
the copper pour on both sides and be capable of handling such
heavy wire?

Bringing in multiple cables instead of one big one
could make life a lot easier.
 
D

D from BC

Jan 1, 1970
0
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable of
handling such heavy wire?



Regards,

Boris Mohar

Got Knock? - see:
Viatrack Printed Circuit Designs (among other things) http://www.viatrack.ca

void _-void-_ in the obvious place

0 AWG = 8.2mm diameter
There might be something at the electrical distributor...
Here's one scrappy example...
I'm not sure but I think I've seen a metal BX cable strain relief for
electrical boxes that could act as a cheap wire clamp.
Comes with ring like nut and can be fastened thru a hole in the PCB.
It'll bridge the PCB sides. It probably can be soldered on.
D from BC
 
F

Fred Bartoli

Jan 1, 1970
0
Homer J Simpson a écrit :
Use wire. Truly. The repair people will bless you.

and the prod people will trash him every day...
 
R

Ross Herbert

Jan 1, 1970
0
I'd go to the trouble of providing a substantial physical (mechanical)
mounting for the wire itself, such that it's positioned to hold the
terminal in its "natural" position where it connects to the board.

There's no way I'd depend on anything less than about 7/16 - 1/2"
epoxy glass to secure a monster like that. Geez, just stand the wire
up and screw the board to it! ;-)


I would agree with you Rich.

For making cable connections to a PCB using such a large gauge it is
better to have the wires ends mounted in substantial brass terminal
blocks which are in permanent fixed positions. When the PCB is mounted
in its final position the brass terminal blocks are then secured to
the PCB pads with appropriate sized screws and locking washers. You
certainly don't want cables coming from a cable form or some-such
arrangement and then trying to secure the flying ends to the boards.
Fix the cables solidly in place and then bolt on the PCB as though you
were using solid copper bus-bar instead of flexible cable.
 
M

MassiveProng

Jan 1, 1970
0
My customer desires to secure #0 or #1 gage stranded copper wire to a PCB.
Other than striping the insulation, it is desirable that no other
preparation of the wire is permitted. Is there some kind of approved
transitional component that can be securely fastened to the PC board,
provide a good interface to the copper pour on both sides and be capable of
handling such heavy wire?
I would certainly use .090" PCB construct form factor to start.

Two methods. The industry standard is to crimp a lug on the cable
end and either solder the flat lug to the PCB or clamp it through a
plated hole with a copper stud/screw/nut. The wire then need a huge
strain relief clamp directly after the connection within the first few
inches of the board. That way both the PCB and the connection never
sees any mechanical stress. If the cable has to be free all the way
up to the board, you are asking for a failure mode.

To do it with no crimped lug, I would still us .090", and place a
good 2,25 sq inch (1.5x1.5) unmasked area on the board with a series
(array) of at least .200" plated holes in the area. Un furl the cable
strands, and make a series of "dredlocks" to place into the holes.
For vertical, perpendicular entry, you fan out the dredlocks, fit them
through the holes, and commence solder operations after using liberal
amounts of externally applied flux. For a horizontal, co-planer (as
it were) entry method, the same dred locks can be used, but would need
to be longer. In BOTH cases stantioning/fixturing of a cable that
large is required

You need a huge iron and tip for this, and I would recommend s good
ACTIVE flux, and the cable must be new copper.

A third way would be to maybe make a small 0.090" inch PCB not much
bigger than the cable diameter... say 0.250 or 0.375 apron bigger that
you would fit onto the end of the cable, and then mate it to a hole in
a 0.090" "main board" that is the rest of your layout. The cable end
PCB would then get SMD mounted to the main PCB.

All cases require very good fixturing on both the PCB and cable as a
single immobile pair respective to each other. A cable that big may
not break free from the pcb, but it may well tear up the PCB
surrounding elements through flexure. That's why I suggested the
0.090" material.

You can strengthen the board by adding layers inside too, but then
cost goes up.

A fourth way would be to solder the dread locks onto some 0.040" or
0.050" (or more!) copper sheet square or round cut with holes drilled
in it, and SMD that onto the PCB. You could even give it rows of
perimeter teeth that way

That would be:

Holey slab-o-copper with toothy apron, 0.2 inches bigger than the wire
dia. with 0.200 long teeth which get bent down 90 degrees all around
(square is easier but round is doable).

A PCB with your circuit or feeds to it, and a square plated hole
pattern to match the teeth (like 24 teeth a couple mm wide each) and a
big through hole in the middle to clear the big wire array.

The solder flow makes perfect standard through hole solder joints on
all the teeth, and a nice SMD fill on the part of the copper plate
that overlaps the PCB on th top side, VERY strong method, but a
custom part. But hey, so is the PCB!

The apron on the PCB which accepts the SMD fillet(s), the through
holes, and even an extended area can be fitted with an array of plated
VIAs that allow for better thermal handling, and likely add some
strength and ampacity.

You could make a strain relief in the form of a bunch of solid copper
(tinned of course) wires that go from this attachment PCB over to your
main PCB at like a two inch vault. Like 15 or twenty 18 Ga pieces.

Bend a slight S shape in the center of each. That separates your
main board from any flexure problems and makes the whole thing more
serviceable.

Any way one looks at it, such a big cable is not an easy attachment.

Fanning it out into the "dred lock" thing will give it some flexure
capacity too as long as you do not let the solder wick up into them
too far (not easy).

The crimp method is actually far more serviceable, needs no soldering,
and is only one additional part, and a hug crimper away.

All the VME chassis us 0.090" PCB media. They clamp copper bars to
the board, and the tie the wire terminal lugs onto that via studs.

You could do that too. Make the bar/PCB combo fit your rules of
attachment to both sides via the clamping methods used, and either
stud it, or drill and tap it for a bolt and crimp a ring lug on the
wire and viola!

OR you could make the bar/PCB combo, and add a CLAMPING bar to the
top of that, that you fit the wire into. Two tightened bolts later,
and she's clamped!

That one is likely the most serviceable. Make sure to use
antioxidant on that one though.
 
M

MassiveProng

Jan 1, 1970
0
For making cable connections to a PCB using such a large gauge it is
better to have the wires ends mounted in substantial brass terminal
blocks which are in permanent fixed positions.


Nickel plated copper bars.
 
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