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In Reply to: Re: HELP! Male AC connector termination problem posted by Glen B on February 28, 2007 at 11:44:51:
I would never twist a drain wire around (or with) a stranded ground conductor and try jamming that mess into the terminal of a cord end.Even if the (smaller) drain wire is not simply "pushed down" when inserting said mess, this is begging for a loose or high-resistance ground connection. This is a safety ground designed to accept ONE stranded conductor (within a certain gauge range) from a serpentine service cord.
There are much safer ways to do this. The safest way is to use a transistion junction box near the receptacle with through terminals to make the transition from standard service cord to shielded cable. Using jumper rail, one can create TWO terminals for ground and connect the cord (#14) grounds to one ground terminal and the (smaller) drain wire (#20?) to the other ground terminal.
No offense, but you guys are audiophiles ***ing around with ground terminations that are purpose built for life-safety.
Cord end terminations are NOT DESIGNED for more than one wire - especially two wires that are different sizes. Also note that not all drain wires are copper or plated copper!
Sure, these things are done from time to time. And from time to time we get house fires and electrocutions.
You decide.
Follow Ups:
but I've been doing it this way, rank amateur/idiot that I am, after seeing it described here on AA as the proper way to build the so-called "Asylum Power Cord" using Benden 19364. Then when I got lazy and bought some of the same PCs ready-made by RAM Electronics, I was happy to see they were constructed the same way too. No excuse, but there it is :-)
Then be sure to give both wires a good tug and make sure they're landed properly.Any shape other than a "round bunch of strands" that is pressed into a "flattened oval shape bunch of strands" can have a tendancy to cause screw terminals to loosen over time. Twisting helps. But how much can you twist 1/2" of #14 wire around 1/2" of #20 drain wire?
If I was "forced" to use this method at work, I would de-twist the strands of both conductors, hold them side by each, mash them into eachother (combined them), and THEN twist them together.
Try it. Take two #14 wires, strip them, then twist them.
Then take two #14 wires UNTWIST, COMBINE and RETWIST them.
Guess which one is harder to pull apart? :o)
They say there's beautiful music up in Heaven but I'm in no damned hurry to find out!
If you have the skill and the tools, the ideal solution would be to solder the drain and ground together. That is, if it has been determined whether the drain should be grounded at both ends....
Over the years I have done many terminations with more than one conductor on each pole (never with aggregate gauge greater than what the plug manufacturer recommends). I always solder the tip of the wire bundle together. I have never had any come loose. There are several high profile cable companies that make cords with multiple smaller conductors for hot, neutral and ground. One of them whose products I own, solders the tip of each wire bundle before termination.
Okay - you're doing something to hold the twisted wires together for when they enter the terminal.Soldering the drain wire (as the other poster mentioned) also came to mind but I was heisitant to recommend this to a newbie! :o)
If you can tighten down the screw good enough to flatter the soldered tip so that the unsoldered portion is clamped tightly, then it would be ok. If the soldered tip can go PAST the terminal and only stranded wire is between the terminal clamps this would be optimum.
I like the untwist/combine/retwist method because there is no solder joint being put in the terminal - it's only stranded copper, which is what the terminal was designed to hold. Clamping down on solid wire or soldered wire can cause the terminal to loosen on "convential" terminals. "Better" cord ends have the "locking screws" that are much less likely to loosen over time.
Anyways, all of this discussion is good for the amateur DIYers who might be inclined to stuff multiple wires into terminals and not bother to check that both wires are secured with sufficient tension.
I pulled and tugged until I was sure the connections were as tight as I could make them. Periodically I check the connectors (I made 5 of these things) for heat.
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