Big Wires - Small Holes

bsabel

bsabel

Well-Known Member
I am about to solder my transformer leads to the power switch and am anticipating some trouble. The wire is bigger than the hole on the switch. Compounding the problem is that I have to connect two of them! Any suggestions on a work-around?

Is it safe to simply splice the two bigger wires to a 16awg? Alternatively, it seems like I could solder the wires into some kind of lug or connector that has a smaller contact point. I'm just not sure what the best part is for the job.

I will post some pics tonight so you can see what I'm working with.

TIA!
 
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Wrap the wire around if you have the room. If the lugs are long enough, make them into a hook to hold the wire.

Lots of work arounds. Some better than others.
 
All great ideas. But I'm afraid none of them will work! The lugs on the switch are pretty small - drilling would obliterate the things.

I do have stranded wire, so I'll look into removing some strands. My only worry is that I won't get enough strands from each wire to get a solid hold. This isn't a huge departure from splicing them to a smaller wire, though. So we may be on to something here.

The lug is also pretty short. Bending it to make a hook won't get me a much bigger hole than the existing one.

I feel a little better by your responses, though! I suspected I would hear a chorus of, "Stupid kid! Everyone knows you should [fill in the blank]!"
 
How about feeding as many strands as possible through the hole, and soldering the rest alongside the lug?
 
bsabel said:
All great ideas. But I'm afraid none of them will work! The lugs on the switch are pretty small - drilling would obliterate the things.

I do have stranded wire, so I'll look into removing some strands. My only worry is that I won't get enough strands from each wire to get a solid hold. This isn't a huge departure from splicing them to a smaller wire, though. So we may be on to something here.

The lug is also pretty short. Bending it to make a hook won't get me a much bigger hole than the existing one.

I feel a little better by your responses, though! I suspected I would hear a chorus of, "Stupid kid! Everyone knows you should [fill in the blank]!"
Click to expand...
You stu.....:D
Nah, there are a lot of little tricks they don't tell you about. I try not to remove any strands, if possible. The primary leads are sized according to the amount of draw that is anticipated and a lot of the toroid's have 12 ga. wire.

Here is how I would do it: Connect the line terminal of the IEC inlet to the fuse socket. Connect the remaining terminal of the fuse socket to the switch. I would use a piece of 12 ga. wire to do this. You can use an insulated connector and it makes disconnecting easier. Lacking the proper disconnects, solder the wire to one terminal of the switch. The remaining terminal of the switch is connected to the transformer primaries. It can be both primary's twisted together and soldered or, again, an insulated connector can be used. An alternative is to solder the twisted primary's to another length of 12 ga. wire and connect that wire to the switch. The neutral leads from the transformer are, of course, connected to the neutral terminal of the IEC inlet module.

Hope this helps.
 
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I think I would try to find an appropriate sized fast-on connector and attach that to the transformer wire, then slip that onto the lug on the switch, soldering if necessary.

Fast-On connectors look like this:

W101_FastOn.jpg


.

...someone let me know if there's a good reason not to go this route.
 
Is the use of connectors recommended because of ease of use or is there a safety or function benefit, as well.

I have piles of 16awg wire. Will that suffice for mains or should I get some 12awg? I think the only 12 I can get locally is solid core. If I must go 12, will solid core work?
 
most older transformer primary and secondary leads i've seen were no larger than 16awg. as long as the wires are rated properly, i think it should be ok. the connector suggestion above sounds like a great idea.
 
It turns out that the primary leads are 18awg. So I think I'm pretty safe.

Here is a pic of what I'm dealing with on the switch:
IMG_20110212_164907.jpg

Sorry for the focus - I couldn't get a clean shot that close.

To give you an idea of how little clearance I have, here is the full kit:
IMG_20110212_164814.jpg
 
bsabel said:
Is the use of connectors recommended because of ease of use or is there a safety or function benefit, as well.
Click to expand...

Just to answer the question - I was thinking in terms of convenience of not having to poke large wires through the small whole in the lug.

Seeing the wiring and switch terminals you have pictured it looks like you are all set to go. Nice looking chipamp amp.
 
I bet my ears are about to start burnin' :sigh: I sure didn't leave you a whole lot of room between the transformer and the back of the switch. Sorry about that but I was trying to keep the tranny as close to the front, as possible.

The easiest thing to do is to unbolt the transformer and slide it back so you have some working room. You can attach the primary in a few ways but this might be the easiest: Take a small piece of solid bare copper wire and solder it into the switch terminal (hooks are nice). This wire should have a lead length of about 1/4" (or more) and shold be 90 degrees from the terminal orientaion and horizontal, the lead would be parallel with the faceplate. Strip the primary wire, slide some heatsink on, and solder the primary to the copper lead. Heatshrink to cover the joint. You want to make sure that when you reattach the tranny that the primary wire is led fair so the switch terminals don't bend. I assume the other wire to be attached is the AC line. It can be attached in the same manner.

It looks like you are close to start-up, keep on a buildin'.:thmbsp:
 
In westend's defense, the layout is exactly what I was looking for. I knew it would be tight up there but in an abundance of sonic caution I wanted to get the tran as far up as possible. I'll give your suggestion a shot. Sounds like a nice, straightforward workaround. :thmbsp:
 
Now we can see part of the issue. I would just put a hook in the wire and put that over the lug on the switch and crimp it a bit for a tight fit and the solder the wire in place. Be easy to have a chunk of switch tab sticking out past the wire to hold a bit more solder.
 
Here's what I ended up doing:
IMG_20110213_152110.jpg

And here's how it turned out:
IMG_20110213_152902.jpg

Not too bad, I think. It works, anyway! :thmbsp:
 
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