Author Topic: Battery connection to board  (Read 9140 times)

Offline deplanche

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Battery connection to board
« on: April 02, 2012, »
Any suggestions for the size wire connecting the batteries to the board?  None of my "scrap" wire seems to be working well.  The lamp cord is too big to fit thru the holes of the PCB.  The thin stuff I have (no idea where it came from anymore), solders on well, but keeps breaking when I am trying to mount it or program the PIC. 

Offline rm357

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Battery connection to board
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2012, »
I had a servo extension cable that I cut in half. That gave me a connector between the case and the board should I ever need to remove it. I just trimmed off the third wire in a way that made it impossible to hook up backwards and cause any damage.

Nothing here is high power, so anything in the 20 to 24 gauge range should be ok. If you have an old piece of cat5 that you could pull a couple of wires out of, that would work.

I'm concerned about what you are trying to use with the breaking comment... You should use copper wire. Solid is ok, but stranded is better. Don't try to make the wires too short - there is room in the case to loop any excess.  The extra wire will make assembly of the case easier.

I almost hate to say this, but the wire does need to be insulated. Bare wire will short out and cause all sorts of headaches.

RM
Robert
Warner Robins, Georgia, USA

Offline chrisatpsu

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2012, »
try the cables you get with a prototyping breadboard, they come in a plastic box, and if you dabble in elextronics, it's good to have one
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Offline MrChristmas2000

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2012, »
Wire from an old string of lights should work as well. Got an old PC to scrap out, there is lots of possible wire in it.

Offline caretaker

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2012, »
I tried using the larger wire I have in my hand but I am having a hard time bending into the case, do you think the smaller wire I am holding will work?

Jeff Squires
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Offline n1ist

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2012, »
500mcm is a bit thick; 4-aught should do it. ::)

If you have a dead cat5 cable lying around, that wire works well too. 
/mike

Offline Night Owl

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2012, »
I cut the wires off a PC fan I had in my scrap box.  The wires were really long for some reason. 

Offline peteandvanessa

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2012, »
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I tried using the larger wire I have in my hand but I am having a hard time bending into the case, do you think the smaller wire I am holding will work?

Nope, you actually need larger wire and NOT the smaller wire. I know the larger cable is harder to bend, but it can be done.

I called my friends round for my installation.

See pic below:


Offline peteandvanessa

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2012, »
I will point out that you will need a special tool to cut the larger cable though.

Here's the tool I use to cut mine:

Offline rm357

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Battery connection to board
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2012, »
So what do guys do? Drill a hole in the wire for the end of the battery, then wrap the whole thing with heat shrink?
Robert
Warner Robins, Georgia, USA

Offline deplanche

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #10 on: April 03, 2012, »
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I had a servo extension cable that I cut in half. That gave me a connector between the case and the board should I ever need to remove it. I just trimmed off the third wire in a way that made it impossible to hook up backwards and cause any damage.

Nothing here is high power, so anything in the 20 to 24 gauge range should be ok. If you have an old piece of cat5 that you could pull a couple of wires out of, that would work.

I'm concerned about what you are trying to use with the breaking comment... You should use copper wire. Solid is ok, but stranded is better. Don't try to make the wires too short - there is room in the case to loop any excess.  The extra wire will make assembly of the case easier.

I almost hate to say this, but the wire does need to be insulated. Bare wire will short out and cause all sorts of headaches.

RM

I am using stranded copper wire.  Not sure what size it is.  I trim the inuslation off, twist the wires together and put a bit of solder on the ends so they don't come apart.  I put them thru the hold on the PCB and then solder to the board.  Three times so far, the wire has broken off on the backside, near where I trimmed the insulation.  Not sure if I am damaging it when striping it or maybe using too much heat when I solder it.  Once everything is closed up in the case, I don't think this will be an issue.  But getting it to that point has been one.

Offline MrChristmas2000

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2012, »
That seems to ba a symptom of squeezing too hard when you start the wire stripping process. Try using a magnifying glass after stripping and noting whether you have nicked some of the strands thereby creating a weak connection point. It happens more commonly when one strips solid copper vs stranded.

Offline caretaker

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #12 on: April 03, 2012, »
Yes, don't squeeze as tight with the strippers, your nicking the strands and it is causing them to break when you bend them.  That is a big problem when stripping the real fine stranded wire.
Jeff Squires
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Offline tbone321

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #13 on: April 03, 2012, »
You can get around this by using good strippers and adjusting them properly.
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Offline chrisatpsu

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Re: Battery connection to board
« Reply #14 on: April 03, 2012, »
these are the different wire strippers that I use...
1.) cat 3/5/5e/6 wire
2.) stranded wire
3.) 28-32 gauge wire
4.) 24-26 gauge wire
5.) tip: 12/2 romex stripper    main 12 gauge conductor stripper
6.) 10 12 14 16  gauge wire
7.) everything else : )
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