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Wires connected without banana to binding posts (Rigol DP832 power supply)

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RoGeorge:
The binding posts in Rigol DP832 have a hole drilled sideways, like in this pic found online:



How is one suppose to connect a wire without banana?  Do I need to crimp some pin to a wire, or a spade/fork, or just tin the wire?

Asking because in practice I get unreliable contacts, and seems very cumbersome to connect/disconnect/tighten the wires.  Then, either the plastic cap of the tightening screw files itself on the soldered wire, or the isolation of the wire is shredded by the tightening cap.  Or, the wire strands are snipped if inserting the bare strands.

Talking about a 3.2A max, so not a huge current, yet the contact resistance is big enough that I see changes in the short-circuit voltage drop while over-tightening or when test-pulling the cable.

Then, if I solder the stranded wire on a piece of solid wire (meant to be inserted in the sideways hole), the wires become to high (the sideways hole is positioned vertically relative to the front panel), and the inserted wires will stay in the way of operating the buttons of the front panel.  If i make tilted upwards pins, then the tilted wire tend rotate the pin inside the sideways hole of the binding post, unless the binding post is tighten really really hard.


How are the binding posts supposed to be used with wires, in general?  Is there some other accessory I don't know, for when attaching wires without banana to a binding posts, or is this particular model I have really bad?

jpanhalt:
In the ones I have seen, the top knob needs to be tightened (turned clockwise) to hold the wire and make good contact.

RoGeorge:
In my connectors, turning the knob will either dent the knob edge, or shred the cable isolation.  And the resulting connection is not very solid.  And when tighten it really hard, it tends to cut the wire by shearing it between the nut and the sideways hole.  :-//

David Hess:
Maybe Rigol did not use good binding posts, because that is exactly how they are suppose to be used.  I tin the stranded wire, insert it through the hole, and tighten down the binding post, as shown below.  It should be good to at least 10 amps with properly sized wire.

IanB:

--- Quote from: RoGeorge on November 03, 2024, 05:00:23 pm ---In my connectors, turning the knob will either dent the knob edge, or shred the cable isolation.  And the resulting connection is not very solid.  And when tighten it really hard, it tends to cut the wire by shearing it between the nut and the sideways hole.  :-//

--- End quote ---

I think you should remove enough insulation from the end of the wire so that no insulation touches the terminal or twist knob. Then tin the wire end if it is stranded. Put the tinned wire through the hole and lightly finger tighten the knob, no more. Solder is soft and will deform at the slightest pressure, making for a good contact. If you try to clamp the knob down hard you will do more harm than good.

If you don't want to use the provided hole, you can also bend the wire into a J hook, place it over the pillar, and tighten the knob down to clamp it. Again, tinned wire is probably better than bare copper, which can oxidize.

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