Connecting a 4mm^2 cable to a pcb track

[Phat Bytestard]

Hi, i'm designing an inverter, and i'm having problems connecting the
pcb tracks to the output cables, the current is 40 A. I have thought to
solder the cable to the track but i think this solution is a little
shoddy work, so some suggestions to make this?, thanks in advance.

You can place traces (big and wide @ 4 Oz copper) on both sides of a
two side PCB, and then place an area (tab shaped at edge of board)that
has six or eight huge through hole vias in it. with a notch about 5 or
6 mm in for the wire sheath to fill, the strands get split up and fill
the eight vias evenly. Place two non plated holes around the notched
area so that a tie wrap can hold the large wire sheath tight A set of
four non plated holes would allow TWO tie wraps, but the notch would
have to be 15 mm or such other appropriate depth. The multiple vias
split up the current rushes and dissipate any heat better than mere
traces do as well. The dual trace allows for some current sharing,
and is not typical for this industry. Single sided is cheap for power
supply industry. 2 sided is Cadillac.

There are also edge mountable solder cups that would allow you to
attach one (I still recommend the vias for heat distribution if
needed) and then place the cable end in the solder cup, and one solder
joint later, you are in business.

For 40 Amps on the input side, I would not recommend a single sided
PCB solution.

 

[Phat Bytestard]

Without trying to belittle your efforts, if this design task presents
a problem for you then I would suggest that your inverter isn't going
to work either....

You are almost as bad as Phil. You just come across a little nicer.
Are all you guys like this? This group is a place for both folks that
have experiences, and those that do not. Those that do not need
assistance, not "belittling".

It wasn't his efforts you belittled. it was him.

 

[Ross Herbert]

You are almost as bad as Phil. You just come across a little nicer.
Are all you guys like this? This group is a place for both folks that
have experiences, and those that do not. Those that do not need
assistance, not "belittling".

It wasn't his efforts you belittled. it was him.

Sorry you see it that way...

I assume that you do know how complex it is to design a working
inverter capable of 40A output? If so, what I was getting at was that
if he is capable of designing the inverter, then the complexity of
selecting a suitable output cable connection system would be a
relatively simple task by comparison for someone who has this level of
design experience. He only needs to study the numerous examples
already enumerated and do a little bit of connector research, and if
the OP knows anything about designing a PCB then this part is
relatively straightforward. I am convinced that he didn't do a whole
lot of searching and just thought of the easy way out. The OP didn't
ask about any of the problems he might encounter in the design of the
inverter, just about the relatively simple task of how to connect the
output cables to the PCB. If he is capable of designing the complex
part without assistance, but has a problem with the simple connector
part, then there is something lacking in his capability I fear. I
think he may be a little out of his depth and he needs some hands-on
guidance to get to the desired goal. For us to suggest via this forum
how he might connect cables to the PCB is a little premature in the
design phase. I'd like to see the the basic design up and running
reliably using an open structure prototyping method before looking at
the PCB design.

I notice that in his response to John Larkin he appears to have
decided that the Molex Busbar connector 45711 is the way to go
http://www.molex.com/customer.html?supplierPN=45711 but I think he is
not making the best choice here either. It depends on his cost
structure to a large extent.

I don't know what his manufacturing run is likely to be but the going
price for the Molex 45711 is US$6,532 (or thereabouts) per 1000, with
an MOQ of 500. That makes them quite an expensive method to use at
2/per 40A output rail. Plus, he has to design a suitable male blade
connector and a method of mounting that part. In addition, these
connectors are for attachment by metal thread screws to a solid
busbar, not the copper layer on a PCB. I dare say at a pinch they
could be attached to a PCB but even if he uses 2oz copper he would
have to provide a large track width to handle the current effectively.

 

[Aristotle Eisenglas]

What do you know about me? maybe i'm not going to make the inverter and
is only a prototipe design, or maybe i'm in a team, and my design part
is only make the pcb,and the hard electronic part is done by another
people, or maybe another person give me all the design except the pcb i
have to make the pcb, or maybe..., and if you are so smart that you can
tell the people what they can do and what they can't do, why don't you

In another month or so, the cranberry beans will start coming in
from the sides during bright scenes, I wouldn't worry about that
Communism thing. They gave up it some time ago for National
Socialism. Dirk You can damn well bet your last dollar on it !
Graham I was only 4 years old.

I grew up shooting as a sport. I never killed anything except a
lot of use.