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I'm designing a system for a high-vibration application. I need to land wires on circuit boards. Someone suggested that I use a Wago cage clamp, and that there might be similar things from other manufacturers. The cage clamp was described as useful for this application because the more the wire pulls, the tighter the clamp becomes.

I'm thinking that this might be the same as a spring cage, tension clamp connector. Is it? Is either of these things the "correct" terminal to use for this kind of application?

added: Vibrations are 0.4g peak-to-peak @ frequencies up to 100 Hz

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  • \$\begingroup\$ After looking at it further, the Wago looks pretty nice. The shock tests (100Gs) weren't really that stressful but the vibe test looks fairly stringent. Probably good enough for your application but I'd need more info to be sure. However, I don't like how they said "varying" amplitudes on their vibe test. If they mean random vibe, that's fine. But, if they mean that they reduced the amplitude at harmonic frequencies....well, I'm probably just being nitpicky. \$\endgroup\$
    – scld
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 20:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ah, just saw your comment. Those Wago clamps seem perfect. I haven't used them but that brochure makes it look like a good fit (again, not knowing too much about your application). \$\endgroup\$
    – scld
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 20:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ What wire gauge and what strand count are we talking about here? \$\endgroup\$
    – Anindo Ghosh
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 21:26
  • \$\begingroup\$ Wow, just reading the timeline on the fourth page of the document you link, they're amazingly full of themselves, even for marketing. Wankers. \$\endgroup\$
    – Connor Wolf
    Commented Sep 9, 2013 at 22:57
  • \$\begingroup\$ @AnindoGhosh Probably 18AWG. I've never considered strand count as a spec before, but it looks like about fifteen strands +-2. Those can all be changed if it turns out to be a bad idea! \$\endgroup\$
    – Stephen Collings
    Commented Sep 10, 2013 at 12:47

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Not having heard of either of these devices before, I did a bit of research into these parts.

To answer your first question, no, they are not the same part. A "spring cage, tension clamp" connector seems to be just an ordinary terminal block, which is not what you want.

As far as being the "correct" part, there seems to be no one solution to this problem. I am sure that there would be lots of ways of connecting a wire to a bord in a high vibration environment. The Wago cage clamp seems as good a solution as any, and looks pretty robust and well-made. I don't know how much they cost though, and it us probably worth looking around in case another manufacturer has a similar part cheaper and/or better suited to your individual project.

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