Project boxes – connecting up external wiring

I’m building one of my multigauge setups for a friend.

Given that this is all being constructed by hand on stripboard (yes I know a PCB would be better but I don’t have time to sort this out), I need to get 10+ easily disconnectable wires into a small project box. This needs to be achieved _without_ aggregating them outside the box somehow.

The plan was to use a row of screw terminals with the legs poking through drilled holes in the box which the internal connections could be soldered to, but to be frank this is pretty crap and not very secure.

I’ve seen some right angled 2 piece terminals that could work with the inner pieces soldered to the stripboard… anyone tried these? Eg these on ebay -> https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2Pin-8Pin-HT … rk:19:pf:0

So, any ideas on how I can get signals and power into the box from an array of analogue sensors cables that can be quickly and easily disconnected if required?

In the past I have used female dupont connectors glued together in 2 rows, then cut a access hole in the box the size of your block, glue the block to the inside wall/floor of the box depending on orientation. Then glued male duponts for the external connector. Obviously its not going to take a lot of abuse, you can block off a spare male connector to stop it being plugged in the wrong way round …if powering from a external source best to use a separate much stronger connector.

Good point regarding power.

I think I’m going to bite the bullet and try and get a PCB layout done.

I have used this to interface at the enclosure… the screw terminals allowing easy interfacing inside by individual wires.

https://www.amazon.com/SIENOC-D-SUB-Ter … 01N0R3QXV/

Good idea Ray, I had thought about this previously and promptly forgotten it.

for power i did use the screw terminal block
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2Pin-8Pin-HT … rk:19:pf:0
for signals, i actually used ‘dupont’ wires connections, as after all that is what the bp/mm is made up of
the really *bad* thing about the ‘dupont’ headers and wires / connectors is that it consume a lot of unnecessary *height*, that makes it necessary for the box to be higher. and dupont pins comes loose easily and often cause erratic connection problems.

but accordingly there is a shorter (height) alternative – JST XH connectors and pins
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?ca … ext=jst+xh
i think the china ones have those that fit those 2.54mm spaced holes common on the headers

i’ve got a bunch of them but at a last attempt i made do with ‘dupont pins’
what i actually did is that i get those dupont (female) pins (i didn’t bother with the shells as the shells simply increase the height)
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?ca … pin+female
got a (cheap ebay, lousy but works) crimp and crimp the pins and wires myself, then i simply used scotch tape around the pins to insulate the pins and prevent them from shorting an adjacent pin
i went with this as i figured that my connecting wires will be of different lengths and buying stock ‘dupont wires’ would make a ‘mess’ as some wires are bound to be too long while others too short

those ‘dupont female pins’ is also imho the ‘lowest cost’ solution when looking up the alternatives. note i didn’t bother with shells, i simply get the pins and crimp my wires to the desired length, scotch tape insulate the pin (i think another way is those heat shrink tubing but i’ve not tried those yet) and connect them to the mm or bp headers.

i think soldering is actually a better bet, you would get less loose and erratic connection issues. i insist on my ‘dupont’ pins as i keep thinking that at some point i may change those connections. but till date i’ve not changed anything just yet

and oh while looking for pretty much the same solutions
i stumbled into this pretty cool blog
http://tech.mattmillman.com/info/crimpconnectors/

The problem with using crimped terminals is that the ‘end user’ will be supplying their own sensors and wiring to the project box, so it’s important that they can simply screw the wires into some blocks – conveying those screw terminal type connections into the box is the bit that concerns me because up until not it’s just been me drilling holes for the legs of the terminals to be ‘poked through’ and then soldering leads from those legs to the relevant parts of my homebrew board. It works, but it’s ugly, not very secure, unlikely to survive long term vibration in vehicle.

in that case the screw terminals well may be a ‘noob proof’ solution. but i find the screw terminals somewhat costly, hence in my own case i use the ‘dupont pins’ and custom wires + pins. i actually soldered the screw terminals to the protoboard (but in my case simply power 2 pins)
the screw terminals i used is something like this
https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?ca … w+terminal

Yes I have a couple hundred assorted 2T & 3T versions of those that clip together, but I’d need to cut a big hole in the box to be able to have them soldered to the stripboard – maybe I just need to do that…

Yes I have a couple hundred assorted 2T & 3T versions of those that clip together, but I’d need to cut a big hole in the box to be able to have them soldered to the stripboard.

I think that perhaps right angled ones would work much better mechanically…

i’d guess it would also depends on how feasible is it to take the PCB / strip board out of the project box and how willing is the user to meddle with that.
if it is difficult as there are lots of inter-connections i’d guess a big hole would probably be a practical way, the hole can possibly be covered say with a tape or some covers later if it is feasible

The user is a willing test subject, aka they get a free system (well, free as in they just buy all the sensors).

Down the road I really want to learn kicad properly and build a custom PCB. —– I already have another project that I’m about to embark upon, a WBUS controller with GSM remote for later model Webasto fuel burning heaters… I’m fitting one to my Land Rover so I can turn it on via phone from bed in the morning and have a nice warm defrosted car by the time I head to work, and a 2nd to my shed to run a central heating system