Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Joining Encoder Wires?

mmurray701 wrote:

>Just wondering the best mothod of joining longer wires onto the tiny
>ones that come from the encoder. I'm a little nervous of an encoder
>connection failure and just want to make sure is done right. Please
>advise. Thanks.
>
>

If the encoder has a plug-in type connection (ie. one or two rows of
.025" square
pins) then use a crimp-type connector designed for these, with gold contact
points. Molex and Amp (now Tyco, I guess) make these, but you have to
specifically ask for the gold contacts, or you get the tin-only ones.
If the encoder just has wires hanging out, you should solder a cable
with stranded wires (get as many fine wires as you can, they are more
flexible than the minimum number of coarse strands). Use heat shrink
tubing over the splices, and then maybe a big heat shrink over all of
the wires. You should strap the cable to the machine axes at such
points that it supports the cable, and keeps it from catching on
sharp edges, etc. You can take strips of spring steel and attach them
with a U bend to the axes as a cheap form of cable handler, and then
tie wrap the cables to the strip. this would be something like steel
pallet straps, but I'm not sure if that material has the right fatigue
life.

If you want to have connectors at the encoders, you can use 9-pin
connectors like the smaller RS-232 connectors. these make very
reliable, long term connections.

Jon