Connecting 10AWG wires to PCB

Question

I have 4 wires 10AWG stranded, that I need to connect to a PCB that I'm designing. They will be in a high vibration environment, so direct through hole soldering may not be the best solution.

I've thought about ferrules, but those are usually used with screw terminals, which are also not ideal for high vibration env. I've also thought about crimping the ferrule onto the wire and then soldering the ferrules to the PCB, but I can't find any information on that idea, good or bad.

What other options are there?

Answer 1

My general strategy for dealing with vibrating wires is to provide strain relief. I would consider adding holes in your PCB specifically for wire retention, like in the image below. You can use superglue or a potting compound to adhere the wire to the PCB to further prevent the solder joint from vibrating and failing.

Answer 2

Ferrules on each conductor, then into spring cage connectors on the PC board.

I do a lot of work on very large earth-moving machinery and the field techs tell me that connections done that don't ever fail.

I've since started using those spring-cage terminals on some of my products and have had zero failures since going to them.

The following link shows Phoenix rail-mount terminal blocks but will allow you to find PC mount variants.

https://www.phoenixcontact.com/online/portal/ca?1dmy&urile=wcm:path:/caen/web/main/products/subcategory_pages/Spring-cage_connection_P-15-03/c252a030-3764-4828-a692-d0ba1dd45a27

Sorry for not enclosing the link in the proper hyperlink format but I can't find how to do that on my new phone.

Answer 3

Can't you just use a Faston? They'll do AWG 10.

Answer 4

I used to work in a lab that tested high speed cables. These cables were much thinner than what you're dealing with, but you may be able to use the same technique for strain relief.

We would zip-tie the cable to the PCB an inch or two away from where it needed to terminate and then solder the wire to surface-mount pads on the PCB. The zip-tie passed through holes in the PCB and wrapped around the cable

Here is a blurry picture of how it was done:

Answer 5

Spring loaded terminals are one option worth considering. This really depends on the vibration strength.

Answer 6

A terminal block is a pretty normal way to get big wires onto boards. They come in a dizzying array of shapes, sizes, styles, etc. If you don't like the spring clamp or screw terminal types, there are also ring terminals of a variety of types, etc. Whether you choose something like this depends on whether or not the wire ever needs to be disconnected again (service, replace parts, user connection point, etc).

Answer 7

depending on vibration strength, you might probably want to consider pcb mounted circular connector. might be expensive depending on size and number

Answer 8

How high is high vibration?

My default answer would be to use an appropriate connector. There are many good, high current options.

Spring loaded contacts from Wago, Phoenix Contact, and others are available in this wire size. Watch the current ratings carefully. Many of these have surprisingly low current ratings for larger wire sizes.

You might also consider a locking Faston - these have a locking tab that goes onto the hole on the tab. You could also consider riveting a ring terminal to the board. You could even reflow it after it's riveted. It all depends on your application.

10AWG implies pretty high current. How are you getting the current capacity in a board as small as you imply?