Re: mountable power ports

On 3/26/2025 1:50 PM, Liz Tuddenham wrote:

Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> wrote:
 

On 3/26/2025 8:56 AM, Christopher Howard wrote:

Hi, my project box is a large tin cookie box. I need to bring in +15V,
-15V, and GND lines from my external bipolar power supply. (I was
thinking I would have a separate bolt for the chassis ground, which
would go off to a big ground bus bar near my workbench.) For the three
lines from the power supply, I am wondering what would be the best (but
economical) choice for a power connector to mount into the side of the
project box. Something that sounded appealing was the spring speaker
terminal clips I see on Amazon, but the downside there is they only come
in pairs of two or four, rather than three, and they are color coded
red/black which does not quite make sense here. I am inclined to leave
the wires on the power supply itself bare on the end, rather than
attaching some specialty connector to those.

>
There's always the old benchtop standard of binding posts.

  I second this.
 Screw pillars with 4mm banana sockets in the centre.  Available in a
wide range of colours, rated to 500v and 10 amps.  Easy to fit, easy to
plug-up and easy to see what you are doing so you don't make silly (and
expensive) mistakes.

Though if you are sloppy and let wire strands (think: non solid
conductors) bridge the gap to the other post -- or, metallic items
on the desktop -- you can be in for an unexpected surprise (esp
if the power supply has any muscle)

Use matching colour-coded wires and plugs, so there is even less chance
of a screw-up.

There are two (primary) downsides:
- they are physically large
- they require deliberation when making (breaking!) connections
   (and, diligence to ensure the connection is SECURELY made)
If sequencing of supplies is an issue, then one would have to
impose self-discipline in how the attachments (and removals)
were made.
OTOH, there is no possibility of one signal momentarily connecting
to an unintended signal on entry/removal as is the case in phone plugs.
But, the added value is that one can dangle pigtails from them
to daisy-chain the supply to other devices without having to
fabricate a special cable.  (this is when I drag out benchtop
supplies instead of relying on "bricks" and their ilk.