Astron terminals

[jjwhiterr]

We have several Astron switching supplies in our public safety network. They all have the 12V terminals with a hole and set screw. The slot in the set screws breaks off making it impossible to either tighten or loosen, in spite of grinding down a screw driver that is a perfect fit for the hole and slot.

I understand that Astron had to make them with the metal parts covered. But these are a pretty poor overall design.

Can anyone suggest a way to retrofit these with 1/4" stud terminals?

 

[prcguy]

I really hate those too. I've repaired and modified a lot of power supplies using 1/4" dia copper bolts and hardware from a marine store. If you can get the original terminals out you could sandwich the openings inside and out with some strong plastic like 3/16' or 1/4" thick Plexiglass then install the new bolts through the plastic centered in the old openings.

I usually drill new holes and use the same copper hardware and insulated shoulder washers. If this is for low current you could just buy some 5-way binding posts and drill new holes or cover the old ones with a chunk of sheet metal since the binding posts will be insulated from the case.

I have a couple of Astron SS-25 and SS-30 supplies and will be replacing their terminals with a plastic chassis mount block that holds 4 pairs of Anderson Power Pole connectors but that requires cutting out a large hole in the power supply case. You can buy these blocks with anywhere from 2 to a dozen Power Pole connectors.
prcguy

We have several Astron switching supplies in our public safety network. They all have the 12V terminals with a hole and set screw. The slot in the set screws breaks off making it impossible to either tighten or loosen, in spite of grinding down a screw driver that is a perfect fit for the hole and slot.

I understand that Astron had to make them with the metal parts covered. But these are a pretty poor overall design.

Can anyone suggest a way to retrofit these with 1/4" stud terminals?

 

[jjwhiterr]

Being unfamiliar with this I see I posted to the wrong section. If an admin can move this I'd appreciate it.

I've sent a note to Astron to see if they have a solution. Meanwhile I got two of the set screws out by making a second screw driver that fits very tightly (several others can't be removed at all). The set screws are 10 x 24 so for the ones I can get out I'll replace them with hex bolts that are just long enough. Not ideal because those bolt heads will come too close to the case but it seems like one way to save these supplies.

Another solution might be to 3D print a terminal block to replace the originals, with a 10-24 or 1/4" stud sticking out. I can do that but the ABS material is not as strong as I'd like.

I will not use Power Poles because they do not latch. I used them in one fire dept truck console and had to tear it apart after three months because the PPs vibrated apart. I wired them together with small zip ties. The same problem would occur in a rack where these Astrons are, I believe fan vibration would eventually loosen the PPs, and/or a tech doing service on the rack would pull them out just by bumping the wires. It baffles me why so many folks think they are so great.

If no one has a better idea, and Astron doesn't have a solution, we will probably buy new terminal blocks from Astron, pull out the set screws and replace them with hex head bolts. Then we will probably look for an alternative manufacturer who provides a robust terminal and uses LEDs for meter lighting (about 1/3 of our Astron's in remote tower locations have burned out lamps).

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

We have several Astron switching supplies in our public safety network. They all have the 12V terminals with a hole and set screw. The slot in the set screws breaks off making it impossible to either tighten or loosen, in spite of grinding down a screw driver that is a perfect fit for the hole and slot.

I understand that Astron had to make them with the metal parts covered. But these are a pretty poor overall design.

Can anyone suggest a way to retrofit these with 1/4" stud terminals?

If you can salvage the terminal, or as a preventative measure, go to a good screw supply house and look for some "grub screws" of same thread pitch, and length. Buy some that mate with a Hex or Torx driver and use those instead. I have a couple of these supplies and find they need tightening from time to time. Maybe Astron will send you replacement parts. Even so, change to the grub screws.

 

[jjwhiterr]

Good point on just switching to Allen drive set screws. That would solve the problem. And it wouild be much easier to tighten these units that are side by side in a rack mount.
I have a fastener store nearby.
Thanks.

 

[n5ims]

Being unfamiliar with this I see I posted to the wrong section. If an admin can move this I'd appreciate it.

Don't expect an admin to read every post and act on the requests imbedded in them. Use the "Report Post" feature (that red triangle with the ! in the center in the upper right corner of every post) to alert an admin and use that to make your request. That will make sure that an admin will see your request fairly quickly.

 

[Voyager]

I've seen several connection methods on Astron supplies. Some of these include pigtails with Motorola connectors on that I swapped out for PowerPoles.

I've also used bananna plug adapters that accept flying lead power cords.

But, perhaps a good solution if you hate those is to just install pigtails with the connector of your choice, and be sure you use grommets on the pass-throughs.

 

[Thunderknight]

I will not use Power Poles because they do not latch. I used them in one fire dept truck console and had to tear it apart after three months because the PPs vibrated apart. I wired them together with small zip ties. .

Not to get too far off topic, but these are available for that issue
Powerwerx Retention Clips for PP15/30/45 Powerpole Connectors [PCLIP] - $0.49

 

[Voyager]

I missed that original comment. Too many places sell powerpoles without the locking clips. That is not the powerpole's fault that the installation was incomplete. They have those holes in them for a reason.

 

[jeepsandradios]

I have used similar to above. Brass bolt and plastic washers and bushings from lowes or home depot. On my last one i swapped in banana jacks from RS.

 

[N9JIG]

I will not use Power Poles because they do not latch. I used them in one fire dept truck console and had to tear it apart after three months because the PPs vibrated apart. I wired them together with small zip ties. The same problem would occur in a rack where these Astrons are, I believe fan vibration would eventually loosen the PPs, and/or a tech doing service on the rack would pull them out just by bumping the wires. It baffles me why so many folks think they are so great.

I like PowerPoles for consumer installations and agree they really are not suited for commercial or public safety operations. That said, they do come with plastic clips that snap in to keep the connectors together, I have used them in my POV mobile installation and they have never come apart.