Terminal Blocks

[Tedman]

I have flown dd succesfully before without using terminal blocks. I just see everyone here use them and im wondering what exacly their purpose is and how you use them. I somewhat understand the concept I just want to see a good picture or good explanation.

 

[...]

We just use them for practical reasons, they make it a heck of a lot easier to attach charges, batteries, switches, etc to the conroller board.

Operation is pretty simple... The 'pcb mount' ones have a hole that you can insert a piece of wire in, and some type of screw to hold the wire down, and then a pin that you can solder into a circuit board. You can also get ones that are used to connect 2 pieces of wire together, which is like two pcb mount ones attached back to back.

 

[Peartree]

I haven't used them for rocketry but we used them all the time in my last job. Reasons for using them are likely consistant. 1. Neatness - easier to trace wiring, 2. Speed - if parts need to be swapped out everything is immediately accessible, 3. Neatness again - looks way better than a pile of wire nuts but also because 4. is a better and more positive electrical connection than wire nuts. 5. Easier to connect multiple wires or wires of different size. 6. Gives you an accessible place to do any electrical testing necessary (continuity, voltage, etc.)

We used them a lot in assemblies that we would build in seperate cabinets in the shop and then install somewhere else. It was easy to reconnect terminal 1 cabinet A to terminal 1 in cabinet B, terminal 2A to 2B, etc.

Hope that helps.

 

[ADiehl]

I do it so when the ejection charge wiring gets caught on the shock cord and ripped out of the rocket, the pcb mounted connectors don't get violently removed...

 

[denverdoc]

Retention and neatness. For example on my ebays, I use terminal blocks on the bulkheads which are epoxied into place. The EC cannisters are wired to them. Even if i dont use some sort of charge cannister retention, I know they will stay put. There are about a thousand types for less than a quarter apiece on Allied, Mouser or any of the other major on-line electronic parts suppliers.

 

[FredA]

I use a x4 Terminal block on the end of my EBay's as shown.
Makes it easy to connect the ematches while having a permanent seal where the wires go through the bulkhead.
I put a piece of duct tape over the connections to avoid having the harness short out the connections.

Best place I've found to get these is Digikey.

 

[SpartaChris]

It will allow you to prep your avionics bay before you head out to the launch range without having to install the ejection charges. That's why I use them.

 

[uncle_vanya]

Ease of use. It's a lot easier to assemble the electronics bay and then hook up the charges to the terminal blocks than it is to hook them directly to the altimeter and then close it up.

It's also safer. Less time spent dangling and manipulating charges - easier to assemble and then check with meter before hooking up your charges etc.

Lastly - if you have a crash due to a non-fire event you can disconnect the ematches easier than if you have to dismantle the e-bay to reach the circuit board. As someone who crashed a rocket and then found that the internally mounted switch was no longer where it was supposed to be - but the rocket was still armed - I can tell you that terminal blocks are a lot easier to deal with than trying to cut live charges out and hope that there isn't a spike that sets them off.