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Use a ferrule, save a board (Low Voltage RGB/Pixels)


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Dealing with low voltage wiring brings with it a new set of challenges.  We tend to be more lax when it comes to things like wire strip length, how tight we make the connection, and a host of other things.  Since we are dealing with low voltage connections,  the terminals are usually much closer to each other.  

All of these things conspire together and lead to controllers that won't work, or boards that are blown, and a lot of hair pulling.

I have previously talked about being able to burn down your house as quickly at 12V as you can at 120V, so we are going to skip talking about that.  Instead I want to focus on channels/ports that don't work, work improperly, or worse:  you blow them up because of a short.

It is very easy to short a port on a CMB24, Pixie, or Pixcon:  The screw terminals are located close together, and you may have over-stripped the wire by only a few millimeters.  You lightly pull on the cord, the wire slides out a little from the terminal, touches another and BZZZT....Or, you don't twist all the strands of a wire tight enough.  One strand gets loose ends up near the next terminal, BZZT.

Now you've blown a Mosfet, a fuse, or worse - damaged the board itself.

What happens the most with me is I try connecting things with the proper strip length, and the wire from a different terminal will 'pop' out.  I put that wire back and really honk down on the screw.  There is just not a lot of wire for that connector to grab on to.  Blam.  I just busted the connector.  

Most of the wire leads LOR supplies are stripped to the proper (short) length and 'tinned' - dipped in solder to prevent the stray strands from escaping. That is usually enough.  But what about wires you strip yourself?  I am guessing that many of you don't have a solder pot around.  Or what about if you want a little MORE security than just tinning a wire?  There is another way:  insulated ferrules.

What the HECK is a ferrule?  It is a small metal tube that you crimp onto the end of the wire that holds all the strands together.  Because it is a sold piece now it is much easier to insert into a connector.  It is large enough that you can make a good connection without over-tightening the screws.  The insulated end protects you from shorts.

Here is a good video on how to use them:

Ferrules are CHEAP.  I recommend an assortment of sizes from 10-22/24 AWG as your first purchase (or these) - that should cover both power leads as well as leads from pixels/etc.  When you run out of the smaller ones, just purchase that size in bulk.

The person in the video is using a different kind of crimp than I would suggest for smaller gauge wire - like what we deal with on pixels and dumb RGB strips.  Instead, I would recommend a 'self adjusting square' crimp.  Do not use any manual crimp (the strip tool in the video) or ones like this.  You don't need to break the bank, but do purchase a 'better' (more expensive) crimp.

Yes, you can add ferrules to wires that are already tinned, if you like.

There is one thing I would like to add/correct/comment on from the video.  If I remember it correctly in there he says to only strip the wire to the length of the ferrule.  I personally don't like that suggestion. 

Instead, I like to strip mine a little longer than the barrel part, and then trim the excess.  

When you insert the wire, do so until it 'bottoms out'.  If you are using a ferrule of the right size, that will be the insulation hitting the inside top of the barrel, and you should see the wire come out the bottom of the barrel.  Now crimp and then use a sharp pair of side cutters and remove the excess wire flush to the ferrule.  

Just don't forget to do the cut.

My reasons:

  • If you strip a little too short, you don't get a full connection on the entire barrel length when you crimp.  You won't be able to tell.
  • If you use a ferrule that is too small, you may only catch a few strands, which you'll see instead of the actual full wire come out the bottom.
  • If you use a ferrule that is too big, the insulation won't 'bottom out', and instead you will see it exit the bottom of the connector.
  • If the ferrule slips during crimping, you'll be able to tell.  If you don't see wire out the bottom after the crimp, cut it off and re-crimp a new ferrule.

Oh, and make sure you CLOSE that container!  Don't do what I just did about 10 minutes ago.  I was putting some ferrules on some CCR II ribbons for testing, and knocked the box on the floor.  

1000 small ferrules on the ground, and they need to be sorted by  color.  Some one kill me now! :) 

Do a professional job:  Ferrule your wires!

(4/5/2017 edit note:  I combined several of my messages into this one, and removed some others to keep things clear)

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks DevMike. I'll be using these as I'm adding 72 channels of rgb to the display. I'm in the process of deciding how to wire them right now.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Yes, excellent tip - and another gob of money sent Amazon's way... :)

Fortunately, having not seen this beforehand, I did not blow anything up or otherwise ruin it. :)

This appears to be the exact same crimper as Mike mentioned, but as of this moment is $5 cheaper and has Prime shipping, which the other does not offer. 

 

Edited by jtomason
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Yep, I did that as well today. Jtomason, Thanks for the link on the crimper with Prime. Gotta make use of my Amazon Prime membership regularly [emoji3].


Sent from my Droid Turbo via Tapatalk, so blame any typos or spelling errors on Android

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  • 11 months later...

I agree with this method totally.  I've went back through and redid all my connections with Ferrules!  Makes it look very nice!

Ferrule shot.JPG

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I was going to re-work my CMB24D's after this year's show anyway and I'll be sure to add Ferrules to all of my connections!

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Amazon has a great deal going on right now:  The crimper and 800 ferrules, plus you get 10% off on solder seal wire connectors (which I highly recommend as well for weatherproof wire connections).  For Prime members, you get free one-day shipping with an order over $35, which this qualifies for ($45).

https://www.amazon.com/Sopoby-Crimping-Terminals-Insulated-0-25-6-0mm²/dp/B06XCZC89W/ref=pd_day0_60_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B06XCZC89W&pd_rd_r=X7A5VVCXZ7HCKKV515P1&pd_rd_w=XLrV5&pd_rd_wg=HlAJh&psc=1&refRID=X7A5VVCXZ7HCKKV515P1

Look for the discount link on that page where you can find the 10% off on these:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LYXN6PO?ie=UTF8&m=A1YLL9HRCJCGO9

 

Not a bad deal!

 

Edited by jtomason
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Although these will arrive after christmas, these are the solder seal wire connectors I got:

https://www.amazon.com/Kangnice-22-18AWG-Shrink-Connector-Waterproof/dp/B01GCOCSJI/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1513187624&sr=1-1&keywords=Kangnice+50pcs+22-18AWG+Heat+Shrink+Butt+Wire+Splice+Connector+Solder+Sleeve+Waterproof

50 of them for less than $10!  I looked at a website (on a holiday?) and these are the same ones but a bit cheaper.

 

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  • 4 months later...
On 12/13/2017 at 8:24 AM, BluMan said:

I agree with this method totally.  I've went back through and redid all my connections with Ferrules!  Makes it look very nice!

Ferrule shot.JPG

I decided  I'm going to place an order for some of these connectors. However, What is the largest gauge the cmb24 will hold without being too tight? I see you did it with yours. I just ordered a new cmb24 from lor and am wanting to do this to the connectors. I have 18 gauge pigtails. Will the 18 gauge ferrules be ok to fit into the cmb ports?

Also does color make a difference on them? I know I was recommended to go with 10-12 gauge wire and yellow lugs for the board from the psu which I did on my used board I bought. So just curious if the same rule applies to the ferrules on the ports. I see the kit comes with different colors. I would just feel safer knowing I took this extra step so I can do this to my new board I just ordered.

Oh and for those with a cmb24, What gauge power wire do you use for your 3 prong power cord to power your psu? Would 16 gauge be overkill? I am finding alot of 18 gauge power cords for the psu but looking for some advice,. 

Edited by GriswoldStyle
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I am glad I found this.  Thanks for the tips.  So doing this!

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Here is the crimper I bought although it's twice as much now as it was:

https://www.amazon.com/Wovier-Ratcheting-Self-adjustable-0-25-6-0mm2-End-sleeves/dp/B01MYQ9F12/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525799343&sr=8-2&keywords=wovier+adjusting+ratcheting+ferrule+crimper

I paid $23.99

And they don't even sell the Ferrule's I bought anymore.  Do an Amazon search for "insulated cord pin end terminal" and you'll get tons of hits for the Ferrule's.

The color does mean what gauge wire it will fit on.  I might have used a slightly bigger size then I needed to simply because I had a hard time getting the tinned end's of the wires to go through the next size smaller.  I'll put what I did in pictures on this thread.

 

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You will see that I stripped the outer casing on the pigtail to expose more of the wires.  You can also see from the first screen shot that you should stip the wire a bit longer than the length of the ferrule shaft.

On the second picture, you see where the ferrule is now on the wire and I pulled the wire to make sure the tinned end was hanging out of the ferrule.  I wanted to ensure a great connection.

On the third picture, you see where I crimped the ferrule around the wire.  This is nice because now you have one solid piece of metal to deal with rather than a bunch of loose wires.

On the fourth picture, you see where I used some "nippers" as HC likes to call them and cut off the wire hanging out the end.

Again, the color of the ferrule does indicate the size of the wire (my ferrules can handle from 22-10 AWG wire) but I used the smallest I could that the wire would fit through.  I didn't really go by color and maybe on second thought, maybe I should have.  I'm not an electrician and didn't realize the color of the tips really meant anything.

 

Hope this helps!

Small Pic 1.JPG

Small Pic 2.JPG

Small Pic 3.JPG

Small Pic 4.JPG

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FYI: The plastic ends on the ferrules are usually heat-shrink-able.  If you have a heat gun, try hitting them a little with it.  The plastic should seal around the insulation of the wire.  Just don't do it with the wires connected to the board.  I don't know the heat rating of the terminals, and if you heat gun is too hot, you'll start melting solder.

The ferrules that I use are not color coded for size, but I can see where some would be (like wire nuts and other terminals are)

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#themoreyouknow haha Thanks for the info guys. I actually ordered the crimper and the ferrules kit linked above with prime. Will be working on that this weekend since my new CMB24 shipped out today :) That is if ups gets it here on time lol. Just want to say I appreciate everyone taking the time to answer questions it really helps some of us newcomers out and I'm sure it will help others in the future when they search and find this post like I did.

Special thank you to @BluMan for providing those step by step instructions and photos as well as @DevMike for posting this.

 

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