Guest guest Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 Building this weekend. A couple of questions for the LOR braintrust...1> If stranded wire is used for the power pigtails, should it be tinned before going into the screw terminals? I would think that tinning would allow the screw terminal would get a better bite.2> Are pigtails (the female end of an extension cord) more preferred to mounting duplex outlets to the enclosure and cutting the jumper between each outlet?Thanks in advance,DavBro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 It isn't required to tin stranded wire in the type terminals used on LOR boards. They clamp down flat and evenly, and as long as you get 100% of the strands into the hole it will hold them safely and tightly. I tinned the ones that I was testing with, because I was moving them around quite a bit. The wires I landed to the boards in my controller case were not tinned (#14 stranded THHN) due to the fact that they are permanent(unless something fails) I am using molex connectors, so I will not have to remove them from the screw terminals. I found that #12 THHN and SIS wire can't be tinned because it becomes too large for the hole. I even tried shaping it square before it cooled, but it was just too close. I did find that if you tin it, then cut it close to the jacket and strip a 1/4" off again it fit OK and didn't fray.As for the pigtail/duplex outlet question... I have seen and like both applications. My back-up LOR controller uses Dollar Store cords. macrosill took the duplex outlet idea to the extreme and added a 4 channel SSR to the blue new-work box. He sticks it in the ground on a stake made from pvc, and runs a cat5 to it from his controll board. VERY NICE!Here's a pic of a 15 pin molex pigtail used for my mega tree cables...jeffedited: because I forgot to touch on the second question... Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 It is generally considered good practice to NOT tin the stranded wire before inserting into a screw terminal. Solder is very soft and a tinned lead will actuall loosen up after time. The pressure of the screw terminal causes the solder to flow very slowly over time, and thus the wire will eventually come loose.I beleive military specifications require that the leads are not soldered.Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 The leads on the plugs I bought from LOR came tinned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 10, 2006 Share Posted September 10, 2006 greenmeanie wrote: The leads on the plugs I bought from LOR came tinned.Tinning the leads is optional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Jeff, can you go into more detail on how you have the 15 pin molex pigtail wired. :shock:Thanks, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 Sure Mike,I have 64 channels dedicated to my mega tree. 12 slices of 5 different colors, and 4 channels for strobes, a string of multi colored and a string of white GE stars for decorations, and a star topper. I didn't want to run 64 cords the 40 feet over to the tree so I made multi conductor cables for each color and the extras.Each 12 channel cable has 15 conductors. 6 pieces of SPT2 lamp cord, and 3 pieces of #14 THHN stranded for the neutrals. (1 #14 neutral for 4 #16 channels) I label the neutrals A, B and C, and the SPT2 1-12. At one end I solder 15 female pins and put about an inch of heat shrink on. Using the Molex pin layout I insert the pins 1-4 then A, 5-8 then B, 9-12 then C.At the other end I cut up 12 Dollar store extension cords, and solder the neutrals together in groups of 4. Solder each group of four to a neutral and then all the individual channel wires to the extension cord hots.Five of these and one with 4 channels and a neutral on a six pin Molex, and that set up the wires for the tree. I made color coded pigtails with male Molex connectors for the LOR controller boards I have mounted in a big metal case. It really makes hooking up this tree an easy task.Here's the green cable ready to be installed in the controller box. None of these have been hooked up yet. I have one controller out for repair, and I'm not going to assemble the case until it gets back... I am so happy with these connectors. I'm also really glad most of them are done!jeff Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 14, 2006 Share Posted September 14, 2006 i was trying the molex idea a month ago but i seemed to be having a little problem to where the pins just didnt fit in right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Sorry if I hijacked the thread... OK, here goes... I decided to choose three sizes of connectors and just buy a couple hundred of them because they are cheaper in quantity. I ordered 4, 6 and 15 pin connectors, and now I wish I had gotten a hundred 2 pins too. The connectors are good up to 11 amps per connection. If you look up one of these numbers, it will have a link to the page from the catalog with all the sizes from this style connector. I chose them because we had a crimper at work, and they could carry the load. After I used the crimper twice, I gave it up for solder and heat shrink. I don't care for crimpers, and the pins are too visible at the back of the connector for my comfort. Heat shrink makes it all good.The Mouser P/Ns are as follows:538-50-84-1150 - 15 Pin Plug / 538-50-84-2150 - 15 Pin Recpt.538-50-84-1060 - 6 Pin Plug / 538-50-84-2060 - 6 Pin Recpt.538-50-84-1040 - 4 Pin Plug / 538-50-84-2040 - 4 Pin Recpt.538-02-08-2004 - Pins for 14 to 20 AWG538-02-08-1002 - Sockets for 14 to 20 AWG.Here's the stuff I needed to make this work...jeff Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Here's the 3 sizes I used. I'll assemble a 4 pin Male. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Strip about 1/2" off (This is #14 THHN stranded) Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Slide just the tip of the wire into the pin and fold the 4 wings tightly over the wire. The crimper wants to make the 2 bottom wings grab insulation. That isn't necessary when using heat shrink. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Now solder the pin. Not too much solder, you don't want the diameter of the pin to increase. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Slide a 3/4" piece of heat shrink on and heat it evenly. Make sure the pin and wire is straight before it cools Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Check to see that you haven't collapsed the lock wings. They need to protrude enough to lock the pin in the connector. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 Slide it home, and don't be like me and stick the pin into the keyed side. That's backwards and won't be good for anything but a laugh from your spouse. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 After I get all the pins in, I heat shrink about 3 or 4" of the wire. Attached files Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 2006 Share Posted September 15, 2006 jeffmill wrote: The Mouser P/Ns are as follows:538-50-84-1150 - 15 Pin Plug / 538-50-84-2150 - 15 Pin Recpt.Jeff, I was just going to order some but Mouser showing that the 538-50-84-1150 has only 1 row instead of 3 rows like the 538-50-84-2150 in the website.EDIT: I just looked at their PDF file and the part numbers you have are correct. I guess whoever enter info into their website got it wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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