Wire routing question and extra holes

[WhiteB0rd]

First, thanks to dzach for this thread:

http://www.buildlog.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1256#p10951

I'm finally close to having all the component parts in one place, and was laying out the makerslide and misumi extrusions for the holes to be drilled according to the top level PDF, and I hit a question:

For the stepper wiring for Z and Y, where are folks exiting the wires from the extrusions to hook up to the motors?

It looks to me like another set of holes on the bottom side of the misume and Y makerslide about 30-40mm from the ends might be the right place to come out, and have a modular connector of some sort to plug matching connectors from the Z and Y axis steppers.


Make any sense at all?




WB

[Enraged]

I've been working on my wiring tonight, and I had room to slip my 4 conductor wire out of the end of the extrusion, and then install the motor. It's tight, but it works.

[dzach]

Me too. I run the wires to the end of the extrusion into a female connector matching a male connector on the stepper side. There is enough room for the cable (mine is 4x0.5mm^2+shield) and there is no need for extra holes.

[orcinus]

I'm running them unshielded through the end of extrusion, but since i couldn't find a small enough connector, i'm sticking them with double sided tape to the under/rear sides of the extrusions.

I was originally looking for Molex Micro-fit connectors, but couldn't find any in the local stores.
So i ended up using bigger MATE-N-LOKs (rated for 9.5A) that don't fit into the extrusion itself.

[WhiteB0rd]

Well, I'm contemplating either a hole near the end, or a "1/2 hole" at the end, ie assuming 10mm hole diameter, 5mm from the end to make SURE there is clearance and no chance of wiring getting in a bind. The wires I THINK we're talking about (for the steppers) I have been planning using telephone wiring, either CAT5, 2 pair phone wire or "silver satin" 4 conductor, in either case with modular connectors. I'm going to crimp the connector onto the stepper wiring, and am looking for a nice small jack that can be doublestick taped to the bottom of the extrusions.

The "1/2 hole" is dremel hand work, no precision required, and come to think of it, so is most of the rest of it (exception spring holes), once you have a pilot hole.

Maybe I've been over-thinking the whole (yes, pun intended) thing?


WB

[Enraged]

My worry while wiring was all of the holes have sharp edges on the inside of the extrusion, and its hard to get anything in there to deburr them. I'm using 4 conductor 22 (or 24, can't recall) cable, and its a tight fit.

If I were to do it again, I would get some of the Misumi slot covers and just run them in the extrusion slots: http://us.misumi-ec.com/us/ItemDetail/10302263310.html

You wouldn't get the use of the springs, but it would be a heck of a lot easier to install. I've probably spend 4 or 5 times longer doing the wiring that the actual assembly.