Most Common Problems With Terminal Wires
A look at the most common problems with terminal wires
Most of the time, the terminal line is used to send data between electronic components and other electronic equipment. It is a line that sends data, like the link between two PCB boards. The quality of terminal wires directly affects the quality of electronic products. Choosing the right terminal wires is a very important part of making electronic products.
From a user's point of view, the terminal block should do the following: the part of the contact that should be conductive should be conductive, and the contact should be reliable. The part of the insulation that shouldn't be connected must be well insulated. There are usually two problems with the quality of terminal blocks:
1. Poor contact
The metal conductor inside the terminal wire is the main part of the terminal. It sends the voltage, current, or signal from the wire or cable on the outside to the contact on the connector that goes with that wire or cable. So, the contact must have a good structure, a stable and reliable way of keeping the contact in place, and good electrical conductivity. Due to the contact piece's bad structural design, wrong material choice, unstable mould, out-of-tolerance processing scale, rough surface, bad surface treatment process (like heat treatment and plating), bad assembly, harsh storage and uses environment, bad operation and use, everything will be broken. The part about contact and the part about working together make up poor contact.
2. Inadequate insulation
The insulator's job is to keep the contacts in the right place and keep the contacts and housing from touching each other. So, the part that keeps things from touching must have good electrical performance, good mechanical performance, and good process forming performance. With more and more high-density, small terminals being used, the insulator's effective wall thickness is getting thinner and thinner. This makes the requirements for insulating materials, the precision of injection moulds, and the process of moulding more strict. Because there is too much metal on or inside the insulator, the surface gets dirty with dust, flux, etc., and harmful gases and organic materials separate. The adsorption film mixes with the surface water film to make an ionic conductive channel. Moisture absorption, mould growth, ageing of insulating materials, etc., will cause short circuits, leaks, breakdowns, low insulation resistance, and other insulation problems.
3. Bad setting
The insulator not only keeps the contacts from touching, but it also usually keeps them in the right place and protects them. At the same time, it has the functions of installation positioning, locking, and fixing the equipment. If the product isn't fixed properly, the contact won't be as reliable and the power will go out right away. In the worst case, the product will break apart. Disintegration is the abnormal separation between the plug and the socket or between the pin and the socket. This is caused by the unreliable structure of the terminal in the mated state, which can be caused by the material, design, process, or other things. This will stop the power transmission of the control system and have serious effects on signal control. The poor fixation will happen if the design isn't reliable, if the wrong materials are used, if the wrong moulding process is chosen, if the heat treatment, mould, assembly, welding, and other processes aren't done well, if they aren't put together right, etc.
Also, the appearance is bad because of plating peeling, corrosion, bruising, moulded case flashing, cracking, rough processing of contact parts, deformation, etc., caused by out-of-tolerance positioning and locking fit dimensions, poor processing quality consistency, and excessive total separation force. Poor communication, which can be caused by a lot of different things, is also a common and often-occurring disease. Most of the time, these kinds of flaws can be found and fixed through use and inspection.
