Low voltage DC busbar things

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richms

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#168479 15-Mar-2015 16:12

Im sorting out my mame cabinet finally, and need to distribute the low voltage DC around inside it for various things.

Anyway, the positive is sorted by using a fuse block made for car/marine use, but the negative is a problem.

Ive seen in the past little busbars that take standard 6.3mm spade connectors on them on a phenolic base that you can just screw to a surface, had one big stud for the power input, and then a punched? piece of metal with standard spade male tabs to put terminals on.

All I seem to be able to find when searching is either brass with screws which I dont want to have to mess around with, or else ones that have screws that expect you to use either ring or fork terminals for all the outputs. I dont want to be messing around with screws.

Richard rich.ms

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#1259728 15-Mar-2015 16:47

Try looking for "tab busbar"

Stu

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#1259729 15-Mar-2015 16:48

Do you mean something like this? Don't recall seeing anything locally. Local auto electrictrician for ideas perhaps?

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ubergeeknz

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#1259730 15-Mar-2015 16:53

Probably more like this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/20-Tab-Type-Terminal-DC-Busbar-with-insulating-cover-and-boot-55-amps-12v-Blk-/231501488732?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e690625c

Aredwood

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#1259761 15-Mar-2015 17:30

Myself - I just used some neutral and earth bars from an old switchboard. Didn't even need to crimp spade terminals on any of the wires.

richms

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#1259797 15-Mar-2015 18:14

Stu: Do you mean something like this? Don't recall seeing anything locally. Local auto electrictrician for ideas perhaps?

That link gets me "Your search "Bus Bar With 6.3mm Blade Terminals" did not match any products."

edit: Rich text editor made a mess of that.

Anyway, the ebay one looks closest enough to what I am looking for, just need to try to find from a free shipping seller. In sayint that shippings not too bad for a US seller but I as a general rule try to avoid them.

Richard rich.ms

richms

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#1259798 15-Mar-2015 18:15

Aredwood: Myself - I just used some neutral and earth bars from an old switchboard. Didn't even need to crimp spade terminals on any of the wires.

I hate screw terminals. Crimp on spades are so much easier, and as I am using stranded wire I would need to put a ferrule on the end anyway if I wanted it to last.

If I wasnt going to be messing around with it on and off for the forseable future changing lighting etc in it, then I would probably use some wago terminals, but they are a pain to constantly change things around with.

Richard rich.ms

richms

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#1259807 15-Mar-2015 18:44

I think we have a winner. It was adding tab that made things work. I was doing spade and quick disconnect which wasnt helping -

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ELKAY-2001-4-CG-4-TERMINAL-BLOCK-TAB-4WAY-/271422984474?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3f3212111a
UK seller so not outragous shipping and shiold be here soon enough. Now to look thru their other listings and see what else is useful. I spend so much that way.

Richard rich.ms

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Stu

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#1259818 15-Mar-2015 19:31

oops I'd pasted the wrong link. Should have been http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Bus+Bar+With+6.3mm+Blade+Terminals.

Looks like you're on to it though.

Edit: hmm editor or something is screwing up the link. Have left it un-linked.

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richms

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#1259821 15-Mar-2015 19:38

That might be an artifact of the affiliate linking not being made to deal with search links I guess.

Couldnt find one with one side of them all commoned up but I figure with that many tabs commoned I probably only need 1 row of the 3 initially.

Richard rich.ms

Niel

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#1259837 15-Mar-2015 20:17

You get spring terminals for bare wires, no screws. I don't like screws either, they come loose. Spring terminals on the other hand always applies a force. There is a German brand we use at work, intended for electricians but we use it on low voltage signals as it will never come loose and suitable for customers to install themselves. If you have up to 5 wires to join, this is the ultimate (and suitable for AWG12-AWG28).
http://nz.element14.com/wago/222-415/terminal-block-pluggable-5pos/dp/8365849
The description is misleading, this is in fact a block for joining 5 wires together and I have no idea why they call it plugable.

6.3mm tabs are called QC tabs or Quick Connect tabs, which might make it easier to find what you're looking for. Crimping is supposedly a very good termination method, but only if you have a good quality tool. Personally I still solder the wires after crimping. But I'd much rather use the above WAGO blocks.

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richms

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#1259856 15-Mar-2015 21:06

IME bare stranded wire doesnt work well in the wago terminals without a ferrule on them. which is no drama as I have a bag of 2000 of them after a messup on aliexpress when I thought I was buying what was in the picture.

You dont need a good crimper to get good crimps, a cheap $20 ratchetting one with the right profile will work great. Its those ones that come in a set with the rubbish insulated terminals from repco etc that are not a lot of use, but even with a proper crimper those insulated ones are not too bad.

Richard rich.ms

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#1259865 15-Mar-2015 21:22

Go to a Stewart's/Radcliffe/JA Russell. There are many many different sizes and varieties of these to choose from. And no you want find it online on their catalogues.

k1w1k1d

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#1259882 15-Mar-2015 21:47

Sorry Richard, but my understanding is that ferrules shouldn't be used in WAGO connectors.

Ferrules are not fitted to the wires in the WAGO terminal blocks in the German equipment I work on.. This stuff is in a mobile application, subject to high vibration and shocks. We don't have issues with wires coming loose.
We do have problems with ferrules working loose in screw connectors.

richms

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#1259901 15-Mar-2015 22:01

Hmmm, I tried to remove some from the terminal and just ended up twisting it into a mess inside it when turning it to remove the wire from it. I was told that ferrules were the way to go when putting flexible cable into them, but that was by an aussie auto sparky so any bets are off.

They say they are good for stranded, but I have a feeling they mean stranded like 7 strands of thick stuff, not hundreds of strands in actually flexible cables. You can see the picture here I found on google shows some pretty heavy looking stranded cable in the seethru view.

http://toolguyd.com/wago-wall-nuts-pushwire-connectors/

Edit: forgot the damn link,

Richard rich.ms

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#1259930 15-Mar-2015 23:01

No ferrules used here.

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