wiring help.

[theob42]

hey everybody,

gonna finally wire up my control panel tomorrow and was gonna go get somre wire today. ive decided on 22awg wire for the buttons and for the power/ground 18 awg. i saw they had a wiring kit at ultimarc and that included some push on connectors. im getting my wires from home depot.
does anybody know what kind of push on connectors are needed? ?
since i dont wanna solder or twist the wire to the pushbutton microswitches.

thanks again

[jimkirk]

The connectors should be .187 quick disconnects.
Red for 22 Ga. and blue for 18 Ga. wire.
I order them from Bob Roberts. His site is www.therealbobroberts.net
You can get blue .250  from Home Depot,but not the red .187.
Here are the .187 red ones for cp's

[theob42]

ok cool thanks, just wondering, since ive never wired before. so i use the .187 connectors for the buttons (22awg wire) and the 0.250 connectors for the ground (18awg wire)? so i would need the same number of connectors, 2 for each button I have?

[brock.sampson]

The ground lugs on my happ switches are .187 as well.  You should also be fine using 22 gauge for the ground.  What power are you going to be running to the control panel?  I was able to find red .187 connectors at my local hardware store so you might call around before you order online.

[theob42]

umm not sure what you mean. I am wiring all the buttons and joysticks to an IPAC4. and wiring a trackball to an OPTIPAC

[brock.sampson]

hey everybody,

gonna finally wire up my control panel tomorrow and was gonna go get somre wire today. ive decided on 22awg wire for the buttons and for the power/ground 18 awg. i saw they had a wiring kit at ultimarc and that included some push on connectors. im getting my wires from home depot.
does anybody know what kind of push on connectors are needed? ?
since i dont wanna solder or twist the wire to the pushbutton microswitches.

thanks again

You said power/ground 18 gauge.  Wondering what you would be powering on the control panel?  You should be fine using 22 gauge for all connections for joysticks, buttons, and trackball.

[theob42]

oh, i was just thinking eventually I would be adding a few led's for a few of the buttons, and one under my blue translucent trackball.

[brock.sampson]

I haven't lit any controls yet but I'm pretty sure 22 gauge would be fine for led as well.

[Turnarcades]

Whatever you use, just be sure not to strip them down too far when crimping on the connectors. If you wires end up taught you may find stray exposed wires crossing other switches and creating a short which you really don't want.

[DeLuSioNal29]

Bell wire is great to use.  Just follow the sounds of the doorbells, they are in that section.  It is very cheap for a roll.  $5 or so.  You should buy black for ground and any other color for the rest of the panel.

Also, I found Home Depot's quick connects to be bulky and they fit very loosely on the microswitches, so I don't recommend them.  So I bought these instead (see link below) which were a perfect fit.  They arrived by mail relatively quickly and were a bargain at $4.65 / 100.  I would buy 2 packs just to be safe.

http://www.sherco-auto.com/wiring.htm

Part # is :  FDV1-187

Good Luck!

~ DeLuSioNaL

[brock.sampson]

Did you see these connectors? http://www.sherco-auto.com/krimpaseal.htm

Crimp connector with heat shrink tube built in, sweet.

[DeLuSioNal29]

They are actually more than that... they also have solder built in for a sure connection!  However, my enthusiasm for them went away when I saw the prices!  50 for $40 - $50!   

But it's great to know they are out there.

~ DeLuSioNaL

[theob42]

ok cool, thanks for all the help guys