Wire terminations

Hi,

I'm new to automation and I'm using the Allen Bradley terminal blocks (IEC)-

http://www.ab.com/industrialcontrols/products/terminal_blocks_and_wiring/iec/iec_blocks_family.html

For now I'm inserting stripped wires but I'm pretty sure this is not the intended usage. I have seen wires used with these blocks terminated with a small, square connections but I don't see any mention of it on the AB site.

Who makes these?

Thanks

Here is a vendor:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#insulated-wire-ferrules/=5bwcwu

The small square connector you refer to is called a ferrule. They are available in insulated and non-insulated varieties. The one pictured is an insulated ferrule. A non insulated ferrule doesn't have the colored sleeve.


I buy my ferrules from automationdirect.com. If you google wire ferrules you'll find tons of vendors however Automation Direct seems to have the best prices. You need a special crimper for ferrules, the crimpers you use for standard ring/spade conntectors won't work. I use crimpers from Wago - they have very nice self adjusting crimpers that aren't ridiculously expensive (they aren't cheap however) and give you a good tight square crimp. The automationdirect crimpers and the McMaster crimpers make a dimpled flat crimp. Both crimps are fine, its a matter of preference, but I think the wago crimpers are a little faster when doing lots of terminations.



Ferrules add quite a bit of time to assembling a panel. Depending on where you are, they are not necessary, you can just insert stripped wires into the terminal blocks, however is some countries they are strongly recommended or required. They are not required in the US. That said, I prefer using them where-ever possible. They make the wiring much neater and if you plan on de-terminating and re-terminating the connection a ferrule will really help in preventing frayed wires.

alexh1 said:

Hi,

I'm new to automation and I'm using the Allen Bradley terminal blocks (IEC)-

http://www.ab.com/industrialcontrols/products/terminal_blocks_and_wiring/iec/iec_blocks_family.html

For now I'm inserting stripped wires but I'm pretty sure this is not the intended usage. I have seen wires used with these blocks terminated with a small, square connections but I don't see any mention of it on the AB site.

Who makes these?

Thanks

Click to expand...

Your stripped wires should work fine in those terminals; ferrules are optional but usually recommended for very small wire sizes (example: 18awg or smaller). Some of my customers specify all sizes to be ferruled, some don't care.