itty bitty terminal blocks with all connections common

[signal15]

Using these for power to my motions and glass breaks instead of twisting a bunch of wires together in my panel.

Who makes these? All of the terminal blocks I find have each pair of terminals isolated from the rest. I don't want to do jumpers. I just want to run the power into one side, and then have like 12 screw terminals that have power.

I checked out http://www.ebyelectro.com but I couldn't really find anything that would do this.

 

[beelzerob]

I think what you're talking about is a "grounding bar"...it's just a big piece of metal with a bunch of screw contacts in it. It's mainly used for (duh) grounding wires, but it'll obviously work for anything that you want to tie together.

It took looking for a long time, but I finally found them at Lowes. They were more expensive than I thought they'd be, given how simple they are, but they fit the bill. They're near the power panels.

Edit: Of course, if you're talking about using this to distribute power, it's probably not a good idea to go with one big exposed piece of metal. But for the common wire of a bunch of sensors, it's great.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

You might want to consider using a power distribution box such as THESE two. If you distribute power via raw terminals you are not fusing the individual runs and if a problem occurs it has the potential of taking down the entire bus. Of course this is JMO!

If you still want to do terminals, Radio Shack has the standard black ones with the pre-built jumpers so you can just screw those in to make a complete 'bus'. Also you can easily custom the jumper by just cutting them (say if you only want four strung together).

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...oductId=2103227

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...oductId=2103229

 

[Neurorad]

Isn't something like a 66 block available, that isn't punch down?

 

[signal15]

Isn't something like a 66 block available, that isn't punch down?

Actually, I could just use a 66 block and punch it all down. I might actually do that. I'm probably going to be using one anyway where all of my alarm wires come into the basement, and then use it to patch into the panel.

 

[beelzerob]

If you still want to do terminals, Radio Shack has the standard black ones with the pre-built jumpers so you can just screw those in to make a complete 'bus'. Also you can easily custom the jumper by just cutting them (say if you only want four strung together).

I had no idea about those jumpers for terminals things. That would have saved me a lot of work connecting lots of my screw terminals with little wires. I saved money but (always) at the cost of anything that looks even slightly professional.

 

[Neurorad]

I've never used a 66 block before, but I've read that the wire guage is limited (22-28 or maybe 24-28), and it needs to be solid (not stranded) wire.

What's the advantge of a buss bar? Doesn't each termination have to be screwed down, anyway, to the bar?

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

What's the advantge of a buss bar? Doesn't each termination have to be screwed down, anyway, to the bar?

You can easily create power or speaker busses so you don't have to manually 'daisy chain' many common connections.

 

[Neurorad]

BSR, any chance you could explain with a pic? All I can imagine are the neutral and ground buss bars in a circuit panel, where each wire is screwed down inside a hole, providing no advantage compared with screw terminals.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Here is an application for distributing power to four stations (A through D) using one terminal strip. The bus bar can be used to create a plus and minus zone on the strip.

 

[Neurorad]

Ah-ha!

This image makes perfect sense now.

Though I guess the jumper would have to be specific to a given screw terminal block, given the need for a size match.

Ah-ha #2! - 2 links in your post above, checking, and...Got it!

Sorry, no coffee yet this AM - waiting on my wife for a ride to work. I should be making a pot of coffee instead.

 

[beelzerob]

BSR, aren't you a little concerned having a + and a - for a power source so open and touchable? It just seems like it'd be a prime candidate for an accidental shorting.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

BSR, aren't you a little concerned having a + and a - for a power source so open and touchable? It just seems like it'd be a prime candidate for an accidental shorting.

That is a good point. Sometimes at work we would place a plexiglass cover over the terminal strip and mount it on standoffs using the mounting holes for the terminal strip. You could then drill a small hole in the top for a probe if you wanted over each terminal. It really depends on what your are distributing and the amount of hazard you think it represents. I certainly would not distribute any (AC) high voltage with this setup (unless it was contained in its own box).

Also, like I stated above, I think a power distribution unit like the Elk's I linked to above are a superior solution.

 

[sleepovr]

What you are looking for is a terminal block made by Weidmuller or Phoenix Contact. A Weidmuller w-compact terminal block used in conjunction with their screw in cross connection bars would achieve the desired affect. They are readily available at the local electrical wholesalers in Canada but I don't know where to find them in the USA.