"Neat" Control Panel idea

[Negativecreep0]

Guys you should definately check out this guys site

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jdpyle1/controls.htm

he does the control panel beautifully I never thought to use barrier strips and spade plugs, virtually no soldering necessary. No mess no fuss

[NoBonus]

Nice use of the barrier block!  That is definately how I am going to go with mine.

NoBonus

[patrickl]

I was thinking about doing that myself too. In fact I already bought the strips for it. But looking at this example it seems a bit messy.

BTW, with the strips I have, I wasn't intending on using "spade plugs". I would just screw in a blank end of wire on both ends.
AND I was planning on putting it at the back edge (where the connector is) so it wouldn't get in the way of the controls that will be in the middle of the CP.

[NoBonus]

Where does one get barrier blocks? RadioShack?

[Gideon]

Yeah.  I believe they're called "European style terminal strips."

[NoBonus]

Ahh, those clever Europeans and their terminal strips...

[patrickl]

In dutch these are called "kroonsteentjes" (I guess that would translate to "crownblocks" ) I'm not sure he's using the same thing though, since they are supposed to be used without any additional connectors (i.e. just put in a bit of blank wire and fix it with the screw)



I just checked the Radio Shack website and european terminal strips is the stuff I have. I just wonder if Radio Shack makes these things from solid gold, seeing how much they charge you for them!

[mp2526]

He's not using the European style terminal strips, he's using barrier strips ala

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F011%5F003%5F009%5F000&product%5Fid=274%2D670

[cdbrown]

I also went for the barrier strip or terminal strip.  I didn't want to do any soldering and wanted to be able to easily fix any wiring problems (ie not connected properly).  I was also connecting to DB25 cables and figured the strips would be the easiest method.  

[NoBonus]

Is it just me, or do the European style terminal strips seem like something that could be easily constructed at home using a piece of wood, some screws, and some little bits of metal?  All you would need would be a drill, a wood carving tool of some sort (saw, dremel, drill, knife) and a tin snip to do it.


NoBonus

[patrickl]

Well you could make em yourself but I spent 3 euro (about $4) on 6 12 terminals strips. I guess it wouldn't even be that easy to make em yourself.

A barrier strip would probably be even easier to construct yourself. Basically a strip of wood and some screws. I'd use one screw to tie down 2 spade connectors, but then, for the cost of the spade connectors you should be able to purchase the terminal strips  ...   So you could tie down bare wire, but you better make sure the barriers (between the terminals) are in place  

[Tailgunner]

Only down side to using terminal strips is it adds 2 (4 if you use terminals) more potential places for a circuit to break.

[HaRuMaN]

I used barrier strips as well as spade plugs in my last stand alone controller.  I tell you, it makes life a heck of a lot easier.

Plus, it looks neat.  

My controller:
http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=10;action=display;threadid=17483