What kind of cable and/or connector do I need to connect to this board?

February 10, 2020 7:28 AM

I have a board with a simple connector, and I can't find the proper connector for it.

This is a picture of the connector. I can easily put a cable in, and get a proper connection, but I know there's some sort of pin connector, and I can't figure out what it is. I think that there is something that locks in some way? This is for an LED board.

Thank you for any help.

posted by mhz to Technology (6 answers total)

Best answer: Can you explain what you're trying to do? That's a Wago clamp connector (or a close knockoff) and they're designed specifically to deal with clamping "loose" (ie not terminated) wires, so I'm not sure you need a specific termination for the wire, and something stiff (like a steel cylinder) might actually be tricky because the clamp connector assumes it will be able to compress the wire a certain amount, so a very stiff connector might be trouble unless it's got exactly the right dimensions.
posted by range at 7:35 AM on February 10, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: That looks like it is designed to take stripped wire, but you could also use an electric wire ferrule.
posted by mewsic at 7:35 AM on February 10, 2020

Best answer: Or to put it a slightly different way, to the best of my knowledge terminating a wire going into a Wago connector is like soldering to a spade lug rather than crimping -- something that might seem to add extra security but actually defeats some of the connector design. At most I'd probably terminate the wire with a ferrule like mewsic suggests, if it's stranded and you want to keep the strands under control.

That said, those Wago connectors are pretty new so maybe someone will show up in 5 minutes to say that my information is now obsolete...
posted by range at 7:39 AM on February 10, 2020

Best answer: no connector required: bare wires, trimmed to the right length get pushed in. The levers at the back lock the wires in place: might be a one-shot thing. This is a DC connector, so make sure all is snug and the rest of the cable is strain-relieved, or else arcing can happen.
posted by scruss at 7:47 AM on February 10, 2020

Response by poster: Thanks, you got me looking in the right direction.

It is (maybe a knockoff of) the Wago Cage Clamp connector. It doesn't work very well with stranded cable; I had no trouble putting solid or soldered stranded cable in. I hadn't understood the release mechanism, and the link was very useful.

Wago does offer board-to-board links which are solid, not stranded; what I really want is a connector to make it easier to use stranded cable, like this, but everything here has been so helpful!
posted by mhz at 8:28 AM on February 10, 2020

These clamps do feel mushy with stranded cable, but as long as the gauge isn't too fine will hold well. Clamping mechanically onto tinned ends seldom ends well: it frets, oxidises and can overheat. My first 3d printer has smoke streaks all up one side from the power connector where the tinned ends worked loose from mechanical clamps.
posted by scruss at 2:50 PM on February 11, 2020