Got a question for all you guys that are way smarter than me! I have one of the new kits from Ryan here and this new power supply has the “cylindrical doohickie” much closer to the end than the old power supply. I am assuming I need to keep that on there but wanted to be sure. Would be much easier if that was gone, so if I am wrong and it can be cut off I will for sure. Going to take up much needed real estate in the jackpot box if it has to stay but I’ll make due.
I don’t know much about them but that’s a “ferrite core”. It’s some kind of noise filter so you probably want to keep it. It might just be snapped on so you may be able to move it. I’m not sure I’d rely on my opinion.
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That’s it. I couldn’t think of the name for anything!
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Ferrite bead.
It provides some electrical noise suppression.
I’d leave it on and I’d possible.
That one looks molded on.
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That’s what I figured but wanted to be sure. Thanks!
Not a ton of room but should work. Its also the style with one wire and the “shielding” around the cable is the ground. Any one see any issues with this? And if so have any suggestions to make it better?
Haven’t used a Wago, but any terminal like that I would put on a ferrule on it first, or at the very least tin the wire.
Not sure what the rules are with Wagos though. Looks like that have specific instructions for Ferrules
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I haven’t been using any ferrules on the wires going into the wagos. But I do use them on the ones going into the jackpot connection.
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I’d probably solder a red and black wire to it and hide all that with heat shrink tubing.
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Meh probably not worth another connection point imo
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Yeah there isn’t a ton of room inside the box for adding more. I think it will be just fine like this. The connection in the wago is very tight. I cant pull it off at all.
Although if I did like @jeyeager said I could leave that Ferrite core outside of the box like it was with the old power supply’s…
Wagos do not need ferrules. That’s another of the nice thing about those lever clamps.
I would shrink tube exposed wire, thought.
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Yes I was thinking about that. But ended up backing up and taking @jeyeager suggestion just to get that doohickie out of the box and make it “hopefully” cleaner.
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Ahh the joys of ferrite beads.
Ideally if you have a ferrite, you want it as close to the DC load (jackpot board) as you can have it. Right next to the inlet for the board would be ideal.
Better to have it, though, than not.
Your build up is fine.
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Should I be tinning the wires like @srcnet mentions? I was always under the impression that they clamped down the best on the bare wire.
For a spring compression or lever lock terminal, you don’t need to tin the wires. The spring or lever lock provides the tension to aviod bird caging releasing. The wagos support solid wire, so it doesn’t technically hurt to tin them, just not necessary at all.
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Thanks @MakerJim and everyone else!!!
No.
Tinning wires with screw terminals is actively bad. It actually promotes joint failure.
With things like the wago connectors it is passively bad. The end of the tinning becomes a stress point in the wire where it will break if there is any vibration or flex at the join point.
Ferrules should be crimped on for screw terminals. This still allows the stranded wire to flex, but gives a solid foundation for the screw terminals to clamp down on. Ferrules are not needed for wago connectors, and are not recommended. They probably won’t hurt but they just become an extra expense.
This is my opinion, but it’s been backed up by people who ought to know.
Personal history: I used to be much in favour of tinned wire ends, if only to keep fraying and other issues to a minimum. I have had some wire failures as a result, and “fixed” it my going all in even further. Not a great idea. Soldering wire ends with the join floating is fine, and works wonderfully. Tinned wire ends into a connector, not so much. I also used to solder otherwise crimped connectors, and back when I had only a cheap crimp tool, it probably was better, but with a good crimp tool, the failure rate increases again.
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I ended up really liking just extending the wires a little bit. So I picked up some larger Solder Seal connectors. The white ones I had weren’t big enough but these should work nicely.
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